Now this is a campaign I can get behind. DC Vote, the group working to give DC a vote in Congress and the other rights and privileges we don’t currently have, are holding a happy hour at Meridian Pint on Tuesday, the first of their Budget Freedom Happy Hours series.
Right now, along with no vote in Congress despite 600,000 residents, the city doesn’t have the ability to spend local taxes collected here without Congress’s approval. That means they can pick and choose what DC can spend its own money on, and often this means they stop the city from doing what the population wants.
For example, in the past, Congress has stopped the city from spending money on abortions for low income residents, needle exchange programs to lower disease rates, and implementing a medical marijuana law which passed in 1998, plus lots of other things.
DC Vote has worked to get a referendum on the city’s next ballot (which happens on April 23) to allow the city to spend its own money without Congress’s meddling. Make sure you vote for it!
The event is Tuesday, March 5 at Meridian Pint (3400 11th Street NW) from 5 to 8 pm. DC Brau is supporting the effort, as 100% of every DC Brau Public Pale Ale beer you drink goes to DC Vote.
There’s a flyer at right, click it for more info, and some more info from DC Vote below. Awesome to see local businesses get involved with this fight.
DC Brau Donating 100% of Sales at Meridian Pint Event to the Fight for DC Budget Freedom
DC Vote and the DC Budget Freedom Committee will hold the first of four Budget Freedom Happy Hours at Meridian Pint in Columbia Heights, Tuesday, March 5 from 5-8 pm (details below). District-based DC Brau has once again shown its commitment to full democracy in DC by donating all sales of The Public Pale Ale to the campaign.
On April 23rd, DC Voters will have the opportunity to take the fight for budget freedom into their own hands by supporting DC Charter Amendment Referendum 8. If approved by DC voters, the amendment would untangle DC’s local budget from the Congressional budget process. This would allow the District government to enact a local budget on its own schedule. DC will have control over its own locally-raised tax dollars just like every other local jurisdiction in the country.
The Budget Freedom Happy Hours, which will be held over the next several weeks, will highlight the broad community support for the referendum. DC Vote is also pleased to announce that DC United Head Coach Ben Olsen will host a Happy Hour at CAUSE on April 11.
“The support we have received from DC businesses for our effort has been outstanding,” said DC Vote Communication Director, James Jones. “It is encouraging to see that so many leaders in our community recognize that this is a critical opportunity for DC voters to take our fight for budget freedom into our own hands.”
