Washington, D.C.--Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) issued the following statement after sending a letter to Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) on the planned vote to reauthorize the Congressionally-mandated school vouchers program:
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home rule
On August 2, 2015, the HBO show "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" aired this excellent segment on the District of Columbia and our lack of voting rights, budget or legislative autonomy, and Congress' meddling in our local affairs. This is must-watch television!
For Immediate Release
May 2, 2015
Contact: Dionne Johnson Calhoun
(202) 724-8105; (202) 285-6447
Grosso's Bill to Protect Workers from Discrimination Goes into Effect Today
Washington, D.C.--Today, the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014 (RHNDA), introduced by Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large), becomes law in the District of Columbia. The RHNDA, which was passed unanimously by the D.C. Council and signed by the Mayor, prohibits employers from discriminating against workers based on their reproductive health choices. Grosso's bill was the target of a House vote on Thursday to disapprove--or overturn--the law, an action that has not been pursued for decades and was ultimately ineffective without subsequent passage in the Senate and approval of the President.
"This is an important day for all workers in the District of Columbia--to be free of discrimination based on their reproductive health choices," said Grosso. "My bill ensures that women and men can decide on their own health choices, in consultation with their medical professionals and without interference from their employers. I am especially gratified that D.C. residents and others across the country stood with us to defend my bill in the face of bullying and mischaracterization by members of the House. The failed effort by Chairman Chaffetz and other members of Congress to overturn my legislation reiterates, once again, the urgent necessity for D.C. to have budget and legislative autonomy, and ultimately statehood."
In addition to the RHNDA, the Human Rights Amendment Act of 2014 also came into effect today. This Act closes a long-standing loophole--the so-called "Armstrong Amendment"--to the D.C. Human Rights Act that allowed religious educational institutions to discriminate against LGBTQ students.
"It is a great day for human rights in our city with the elimination of the Armstrong Amendment as well," added Grosso. "I call on all members of the House and Senate to cease political grandstanding with their attacks on D.C. laws and instead focus on issues in their own backyard."
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For Immediate Release
April 21, 2015
Contact: Dionne Johnson Calhoun
(202) 724-8105
Grosso: Chaffetz Should Stop Attacking Human Rights
Washington, DC -- Today, Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) issued the following statement on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s vote to disapprove D.C.’s Reproductive Health Non-discrimination Amendment Act of 2014:
“Coming on the heels of efforts by Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz to bully the Mayor and Council in February, Chaffetz has decided to again attack D.C. self-government. Despite his avowed dedication to limiting the federal government, Chaffetz called for a vote today to overturn a local D.C. law that I proposed last year, the Council passed unanimously, and the Mayor signed.
I call on Congress and the President to reject this inappropriate meddling by Chairman Chaffetz in D.C. affairs. Surely the Congressman’s constituents in Utah would prefer that he focus on their concerns, and not on waging ideological battle against D.C. residents. Interestingly, Utah recently enacted a new law to provide limited non-discrimination protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in that state. If Chaffetz is so concerned about protecting people’s right to discriminate, perhaps he should seek to overturn that law, in his state, and leave D.C. alone.
As I have said before, in D.C. we stand for the human rights of everyone, including reproductive rights. There is no human right to discriminate. Chairman Chaffetz should stop worrying about the Reproductive Health Non-discrimination Amendment Act and focus on the very real problems facing Congress.”
The Reproduction Health Non-Discrimination Act of 2014 amends the D.C. Human Rights Act of 1977 to ensure that individuals are protected from discrimination by an employer or employment agency based on an individual’s or dependent’s reproductive health decision making, including a decision to use or access a particular drug, device, or medical services, on the basis of an employer’s personal beliefs about such services.
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For Immediate Release
March 19, 2015
Contact: Dionne Johnson Calhoun
(202) 724-8105
Grosso: Senators’ Hypocrisy Shocking but Not Surprising
Washington, DC -- Today, Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) issued the following statement in response to the introduction in the Senate of disapproval resolutions targeting two D.C. human rights laws, the Reproductive Health Non-discrimination Amendment Act of 2014 and the Human Rights Amendment Act of 2014:
“It is truly disturbing that Senators Ted Cruz and James Lankford are so interested in defending the right to discriminate. My bill to prevent discrimination against people in the workplace by employers regarding their employees’ reproductive health choices protects residents, especially women. The Human Rights Amendment Act, which I strongly supported, fixes an exception to our city’s robust non-discrimination laws to ensure that all educational institutions treat students fairly, and is in line with a 1987 court decision. It is my strong belief that the First Amendment of the Constitution safeguards both the exercise of an individual’s right to practice religion as well as an individual’s right to be protected from religions.
Equally galling is that just last month Mr. Cruz introduced a bill to allegedly defend states’ rights to set their own laws regarding marriage. On his website, Mr. Cruz describes himself as “a passionate fighter for limited government.” Yet here we find him actively undermining the unanimous votes of D.C.’s elected officials.
I am sick and tired of the grandstanding and political pandering of members of Congress who see meddling in D.C. affairs as an easy way to win partisan points. These Senators wouldn’t dare propose a bill to overturn laws in Texas or Oklahoma. Tactics like these highlight the need for legislative and budget autonomy for the District of Columbia.
In D.C. we stand for the human rights of workers, students, women, LGBT folks, and all people. There is no human right to discriminate. Senators Cruz and Lankford should sort out their ideological confusion and respect the District of Columbia’s self-governance.”
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Defiant D.C. Politicians Push Ahead With Pot Legalization
By Steven Nelson, U.S. News & World Report, January 8, 2015
Congress recently passed legislation intending to stop the District of Columbia from becoming an East Coast outpost of marijuana legalization, but district politicians are moving forward with efforts to open recreational pot stores anyhow.
Councilman David Grosso, an independent, quietly introduced legislation Tuesday to tax and regulate sales of marijuana like alcohol. Four Democratic colleagues on the 13-member D.C. Council are co-sponsoring the bill.
“I think we’re on the path to seeing this bill enacted,” Grosso tells U.S. News, noting that “by moving this bill forward, we’re directly confronting Congress.”
Grosso introduced a similar bill in 2013, and it passed two council committees last year. In November, district voters overwhelmingly endorsed legalization, with 70 percent approving Initiative 71, which would cast off all penalties for possession of up to 2 ounces of pot for adults 21 and older.
The initiative results have not yet been transmitted to Congress for a mandatory review period, but that’s likely to happen soon. Congress has the power to block district laws with resolutions of disapproval, but more often passes budget riders to dictate city policies.
That happened in December, when Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed into law a budget rider written by Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., that bans the district from spending its own funds to legalize marijuana in the nation's capital.
Harris told U.S. News last year that district leaders can unilaterally abandon marijuana enforcement whenever they would like, but he intended with his rider to stop the actual law from changing and to prevent shops from opening.
Congress passed a similar budget rider after district voters passed a medical marijuana initiative in 1998, stalling the opening of dispensaries for more than a decade. Grosso says city officials didn't put up enough resistance then, and hopes for a fight this time.
Some politicians say Initiative 71, which also allows home cultivation of six plants, was already enacted when voters passed it, and thus will take effect regardless of congressional input.
The initiative was not able to establish a regulated marketplace for marijuana sales – as successful ballot measures in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington did – leaving such regulation to the D.C. Council.
“This is a golden opportunity to do direct civil disobedience,” Grosso says of his bill, “because if Congress is saying, ‘No, you can’t do it,’ and we do it, it challenges them to do what they think they have to do, unlike going out in the street and blocking traffic, where it’s an indirect message to the cause you’re trying to move forward.”
Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, and most of the council appear to support moving forward with legalization. The council passed one of the nation’s most lenient decriminalization laws last year, lowering penalties for possession of 1 ounce to a $25 fine, with an eye toward going even further.
A spokeswoman for Bowser did not respond to a request for comment on Grosso's bill. But during a Sunday appearance on "Meet the Press," the mayor said, "We want to respect the will of the D.C. voters," and, "We have to have regulations in place."
Though Harris’ budget rider prohibits the district from spending funds to create a regulated pot marketplace, a successful bill like Grosso’s likely would still need to be killed with a congressional resolution of disapproval.
Grosso believes if the regulation bill is sent to Congress, it would technically survive review. But it's unclear what would happen then, given the Harris budget rider.
The councilman says districts residents can help.
"But for Congress we would have marijuana stores opening by the end of the year," he says. "Some person from middle-of-nowhere Maryland can come and tell us what's best for us, it's ridiculous. … Congress will give us our rights when 10,000 people a week show up on their doorstep and scream at them, but people aren't doing that yet."
For Immediate Release
December 9, 2014
Contact: Dionne Johnson Calhoun
(202) 724-8105
Grosso to Congress: Don't Blunt D.C.'s Election
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) issued the following statement on a potential rider on Initiative 71 that House Republicans are negotiating in the omnibus spending bill to prevent a federal government shutdown:
"It is disheartening and frustrating to learn that once again the District of Columbia is being used as a political pawn by the Congress. On Election Day, residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of Initiative 71, which would legalize the limited possession and cultivation of marijuana by adults who are 21 or older. To undermine the vote of the people--taxpayers--does not foster or promote the "limited government" stance House Republicans claim they stand for; it's uninformed paternalistic meddling.
The members of Congress and the residents of the 50 states they represent do not have to deal with the significant and growing collateral consequences of the marijuana arrests and convictions in the District as a result of the failed "War on Drugs". The people have spoken and they have voted. We are tired of a criminal justice system that has too often focused on vengeance and punishment, and does not allow for social and economic reintegration of returning citizens into our communities so that they do not turn to crime again. Initiative 71 was our start for a common sense approach to these issues. It's about social justice.
The District's medical marijuana program was delayed by Congress for over a decade and we will not stand by and allow this to happen again with Initiative 71. I urge the residents of this city to take a stand along with the Council in our continued fight for legislative and budget autonomy and call members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee to ask them to pass a clean CR and leave the District of Columbia out of their politics."
TAKE ACTION: Call and tweet the chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees to express your frustration with this proposal.
Senate Appropriation Committee:
Chair: Senator Barbara Mikulski, D-MD
(202) 224-4654
Ranking member: Senator Richard Shelby, R-AL
(202) 224-5744
House Appropriations Committee:
Chair: Rep. Hal Rogers, R-KY
(202) 225-4601
Ranking Member: Rep. Nita Lowey, D-NY
(202) 225-6506