1
1
Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr. 2
3
4
5
A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 6
7
____________ 8
9
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 10
11
____________ 12
13
To declare an emergency with respect to the need to amend the District of Columbia Housing 14
Authority Act of 1999 to establish a temporary Stabilization and Reform Board to govern 15
the District of Columbia Housing Authority (“DCHA”) and to require that the Board and 16
the Executive Director of DCHA take specific actions to reform and revitalize the 17
operations of DCHA. 18
19
RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 20
resolution may be cited as the “District of Columbia Housing Authority Stabilization and Reform 21
Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2024”. 22
Sec. 2. (a) The District of Columbia Housing Authority (“DCHA”) provides housing 23
subsidies for tens of thousands of District residents through programs including the federally 24
funded Housing Choice Voucher Program, locally funded housing voucher programs, and public 25
housing. 26
(b) In 2022, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) 27
issued a report describing the results of an on- site assessment of DCHA. The report identified 28
significant concerns with DCHA’s operations, leading to the development and implementation of 29
strategies and plans to improve DCHA’s provision of housing and services to low-income 30
District residents. 31 2
(c) Following the release of HUD’s report, the Mayor and Council agreed that it was 32
necessary to restructure the board of directors of DCHA, with a focus on providing the expertise, 33
experience, focus, and agility to support necessary reforms , successfully address HUD’s 34
findings, and revitalize DCHA’s operations. The Mayor and Council further agreed that it would 35
be necessary for the restructured DCHA board to work closely with DCHA’s executive 36
leadership to find a more sustainable path forward for DCHA to advance the mission of DCHA, 37
which is to build and maintain safe, decent, affordable housing for District residents. 38
(d) In December 2022, the Council passed and the Mayor signed the District of Columbia 39
Housing Authority Stabilization and Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2022. Pursuant to 40
this legislation, a new Stabilization and Reform Board (“STAR Board”) took office and assumed 41
control over DCHA’s operations at the start of 2023. Among other duties, the STAR Board is 42
tasked with providing recommendations for long- term governance of DCHA by July 1, 2024. 43
The STAR Board’s authorizing legislation contemplates a 2- year term for the body. 44
(e) The Council has passed subsequent rounds of emergency and temporary legislation as 45
necessary to maintain the STAR Board structure. The temporary legislation that currently 46
authorizes the STAR Board and lays out its operating mandates is scheduled to expire on August 47
1, 2024. Further emergency and temporary legislation are required to maintain the current 48
governance structure and allow the STAR Board’s 2 -year term to continue. 49
Sec. 3. The Council determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute 50
an emergency making it necessary that the District of Columbia Housing Authority Stabilization 51
and Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2024 be adopted after a single reading. 52
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 53