Despite budget hole, DC makes investments in early education for future budgets

D C is moving ahead with budget plans for the fiscal year despite the Republican-controlled Congress not taking action to fill a billion hole it created for the city s budget that kicks in later this year The mayor s office declared on Monday that in the FY- budget millions of dollars will go toward a Pre-Kindergarten undertaking a Pay Equity Fund for early childhood training and the D C Child Care Subsidy activity What we re talking about is the FY- budget and no matter what happens in FY- we re going to have an FY- balanced budget and it will include these investments Mayor Muriel Bowser noted while making one of the first announcements on her future budget plans amid the emergency involving the current budget Right now Congress holds the keys to the money and Bowser announced a fix is needed She stated she s still hopeful the city will see one before feasible cuts are made in the summer Related stories Major DC budget cuts include hiring freeze no more overtime pay DC Council member offers crash program on B DC budget cut narrowly averted by Congress Top DC development leader outlines plans for the future but budget cuts are looming The Senate passed a fix which was supported by President Donald Trump for the budget hole but the House didn t bring that rule up for discussion before it recessed on April Bowser invoked a law which allowed the city to increase spending by and left the city with only a million shortfall It also froze planned spending in the city and called on her staff to consider what would need to be cut if the funding isn t restored While the city says the money is there for the fiscal year certain uncertainties remain including if this year s budget hole will be filled and if the city could see a similar scenario play out with the budget D C Deputy Mayor for Mentoring Paul Kihn commented the city must look ahead despite a really tough budget habitat and invest in the three programs which represent the foundations of training As we look forward of program we d love to continue funding these programs as we would love to continue funding all else across city authorities but we know that if the economic system is challenging we re going to have to make several tough trade-offs And that s why we re also focused on ensuring that we continue to strengthen our market Kihn reported Kihn reported learning will remain a top priority for the city The Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Effort provides free universal pre-K to all and -year-olds in the city Several of the programs are at schools while others are run by community-based organizations The budget promises million to keep the programs running in all eight wards The budget will also include million toward renovating the former Department of Parks and Recreation building on th Street into pre-K classrooms The next budget will also earmark million to fully fund the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund which helps preschools in the city offer equitable pay We are the only place in the entire country that does this We are ensuring that the salaries paid to our early child care workers equal those of the salaries paid in our population schools Kihn commented Another million will be set aside to provide subsidies for families at of the federal poverty line Bowser stated investing in schools is essential for the District and as families see increased costs in their lives offering programs helps not only keep people in D C but also encourages new residents in something that is central for companies looking to bring in new hires A lot of what we will talk about is our advancement agenda and how this budget will focus on addressing the changes to our financial sector that have been driven by federal workforce changes Bowser stated Source