On Tuesday Mayor Bowser released her FY26 budget for the District, her proposal for how to spend our local tax dollars for the upcoming fiscal year.
We’re studying the details and it will take some time to fully understand where we stand, but what we’ve found so far is already concerning. It’s clear there are massive cuts to environmental funding and climate programs. We’ve confirmed at least $186 million so far, and we’re still counting.
We’re not helpless here, so let’s get together and make a plan. Scroll down to read some of the alarming things in the Mayor’s budget below, then join us for these three next steps:
Step #1 - LEARN: Get your questions answered on June 5 at 7pm. Join us on zoom for the Sierra Club DC Budget Briefing to delve into the budget with us. We’ll share what we know about the cuts and learn of ways to take action to fight for a green budget. RSVP here.
Step #2 - TESTIFY: Sign up for a key hearing on June 13 (all-day, sign up and we’ll let you know when your turn is coming up). The District Department of Energy and Environment facilitates many of our key climate and environmental programs. Sign up here to testify with dozens of other Sierrans, advocates, and residents from across the city. Testimony can be given in person, virtually, or in writing. Sign up and we’ll guide you through the process. This is a key hearing where our collective voices can make a big impact.
Step #3 - RALLY: Join us for Green Day on June 16 starting at 8am. We’re coordinating with over a dozen other local green organizations to help organize a Green Budget Day of Action at the DC Council. Join us at 8am for a rally and press conference, and then stay for a day of action all over the Wilson Building: meetings with legislators, sitting in on Council hearings, and other creative actions. WEAR GREEN, and come for what you can! We have to stop this pattern of cutting environmental and climate programs whenever our local budget is tight. RSVP here, more details coming soon.
We hope to see you soon - we’re going to need to dig in and fight hard over these next few months.
This year's DC budget proposal is complex, so we’ll have more to say soon. But here are some highlights from our initial read:
Reminder before reading on: All of these cuts are in the context of the Mayor’s $1 billion proposal for public subsidies for the development at RFK, including over $180 million for parking lots for a new stadium.
- The budget decimates existing clean energy programs, cutting over $193 million from programs that help DC residents pay their energy bills, lower those energy bills in the first place, and move our homes and buildings off polluting technology and appliances. There is some reorganization in the District government that makes it hard to exactly track how many of these cuts are ameliorated by new programs, but it’s clear these cuts are incredibly severe.
- The budget almost completely defunds the DC Green Bank: a 92% reduction in the bank’s funding that jeopardizes a financial backbone of the District's growing green economy. These cuts will mean lost green jobs, canceled clean energy and building projects, and more carbon in our atmosphere.
- The budget rewrites District law to raid over $3.4 million of FY25 funds from critical environmental and energy programs, including the Anacostia River Clean Up Fund, the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund, the Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund, and others. This sells out our health, our neighborhoods, and our future.
- The budget redirects over $70 million from the clean energy projects to pay the DC government's own utility bills. The Sustainable Energy Trust Fund is primarily funded by small fees on everyone’s electricity and gas bills, so redirecting that money away from its intended use is unacceptable (and possibly the same gimmick we saw last year).
- The budget ends DC’s parking cash-out program, directly taking money out of the pockets of residents who choose not to drive to work and take transit instead.
- The budget halts the implementation of the Greener Government Buildings Act, meaning District residents will continue to subsidize less efficient and more polluting public buildings using outdated technology, keeping DC taxpayers on the hook for the rising costs of dirty fossil fuels.
- The budget repeals DC law that requires a net zero energy construction for new construction by 2026. The law would have required new buildings to be highly energy efficient and prohibited burning fossil fuels on site.
- The budget delays the District’s flagship program for energy efficiency in existing buildings. The Mayor’s proposal is to delay DC’s Building Energy Performance Standard (BEPS) until 2032 for large buildings and even later for others. BEPS has been emulated across the nation and with this move the Mayor would effectively kill it.
- The budget eliminates the entire division responsible for environmental enforcement and environmental justice, setting us back decades in the fight for clean air and water for all of DC’s communities.
We have an opportunity to act together and influence the DC budget process. It’s an all-hands-on-deck situation for DC’s environment and climate. Join us to 1) Learn, 2) Testify, and 3) Rally.