D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed an executive order Monday implementing a hiring freeze for the city government as a means to cut costs during the pandemic.
“Just as residents and businesses are making tough choices, the District will make tough choices too,” the Democratic mayor said.
Miss Bowser said the D.C. government will have to cut $607 million in costs by the end of the fiscal year in September, and the same amount will have to be cut from the following year’s budget as well.
The D.C. Council will vote Tuesday on emergency legislation, among 37 other provisions, that would authorize the government to borrow $500 million in short-term loans.
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, at-large Democrat, stressed that the District is in a good financial position. He said the loans will be a one-year line of credit with the banks and most of the loans will be paid back by the end of the year.
Other measures on the council’s agenda:
⦁ Freezing commercial and residential rents.
⦁ Eliminating the graduation requirement of 100 hours of community service for high school seniors.
⦁ Deferring mortgages.
⦁ Reducing the sentences of D.C. residents in federal prisons.
⦁ Authorizing the mayor to give hospitals up to $25 million in grants to prepare for a surge of patients.
⦁ Extending the mayor’s authority to declare a public emergency until June 8.
However, the legislation does not include cash assistance for those ineligible for unemployment insurance, such as illegal immigrants.
“These workers have contributed a lot to our city, particularly in the hospitality industry which has been hardest hit in the public health emergency; they are our neighbors; and many are parents of children who sit next to ours in our public schools,” said D.C. Council member Elissa Silverman, at-large independent. “We need to do whatever we can to keep these households economically stable during this challenging time so they have an equal shot at recovery.”
Meanwhile, 14 inmates at the D.C. Jail have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least four corrections officers tested positive, as well.
In court documents associated with the American Civil Liberties Union for D.C. and public defenders lawsuit against the D.C. Department of Corrections, inmates said that jail authorities are not keeping them informed about the virus, they lack access to medical care and corrections officers aren’t wearing personal protective equipment.
Inmate Keon Jackson, 36, wrote on March 25 that the hand sanitizer dispensers have been taken off the wall at the jail, and said the cleaning supplies he received are watered down.
“We do not think CTF [Correctional Treatment Facility] and the Department of Corrections is taking coronavirus seriously,” Jackson wrote. “In fact, I know that they are not taking it seriously, because when I and other inmates raise our concerns about the virus the counselors on our unit tell us that we should stop watching the news. The counselors say that the media is blowing the virus out of proportion.”
Kamal Dorchy, 46, wrote on April 4, that he is being restricted to his cell 23.5 hours a day, he does not have a sink or toilet in his cell, and that he is preparing to die in jail from the virus.
The mayor’s staff did not respond to questions about how inmates are informed about the virus and what kind of cleaning supplies they are provided.
In Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam said he has secured a $27 million dollar contract for more personal protective equipment and the department of health is working on repurposing 1 million face masks.
Mr. Northam reported that the Virginia State Lab is collecting genetic data from those who tested positive from COVID-19 to provide insight to public health officials about the virus.
The data revealed that the virus was introduced into multiple communities in Virginia, rather than spreading from one single source, Mr. Northam said.
The contracts are being finalized with the Dulles Expo Center, the Richmond Convention Center and the Hampton Roads Convention Center for the additional hospital space, and construction will begin this week, the Democratic governor said.
• Sophie Kaplan can be reached at skaplan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.