Mayor Muriel E. Bowser proposed a budget that doesn’t include the program, but a sponsor of the program said the city will fund it without the mayor’s support.
The D.C. Council voted in December to make boarding a Metrobus in the city free starting this summer, a program that wouldBut Bowser said Wednesday that the program’s annual
“It’s important for the council members to carefully consider the cost — what it would cost to provide free Metrobus in the District, not just this year, but throughout the financial plan,” she said, referring to a four-year span that Congress requires D.C. to project spending.Bowser’s decision to withhold funding is the latest challenge for a program being watched by other cities weighing similar proposals.
The council is charged with approving the budget and has leeway to introduce or remove proposed items as D.C.'s annual spending plan is shaped. Supporters of free transit have said the service would help alleviate financial burdens on residents facing high housing costs, erase a barrier for lower-income residents without cars, shrink the labor shortage, and increase visits to retail stores and restaurants.
Council members expected that trend to resume as the economic effects of the pandemic subsided. That appeared to be the case as of late last year, according to projections. D.C. Council President Phil Mendelson contested Lee’s ruling, saying the finance officer could not legally reverse his certification of funding for the free bus service. If there wasn’t money available next year, Mendelson said, it was within the council’s purview to figure out how to handle the shortfall.“It’s my view that the chief financial officer exceeded his authority and that the law is quite clear,The disagreement led Lee’s office to seek a ruling from the D.C.
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