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Councilmember Anita Bonds 2
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A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 5
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 9
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To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the District of Columbia Public 14
Records Management Act of 1985 to clarify that communications created or received 15
electronically in the course of official business are subject to existing record- retention 16
obligations. 17
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RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 19
resolution may be cited as the “Fidelity in Access to Government Communications Clarification 20
Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2024”. 21
Sec. 2. (a) This measure closes a gap in the law. The District does not currently have a 22
consistent, government-wide policy regarding electronic communications. 23
(b) The Council unanimously passed the Fidelity in Access to Government 24
Communications Clarification Second Temporary Amendment Act of 2024, effective March 1 , 25
2024. The temporary act will expire on O ctober 12, 2024. 26
(c) The temporary act was passed after a concerning report regarding the Executive’s use 27
of WhatsApp Messenger was published online. Among many features available within the 28
application is the ability to auto-delete messages after a set period of time. 29
(d) Emergency legislation is therefore necessary to ensure that existing record retention 30
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guidelines continue to apply to a wide variety of electronic communications and to ensure public 31
access to information is not diminished or compromised. 32
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 33
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Fidelity 34
in Access to Government Communications Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2024 be 35
adopted after a single reading. 36
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 37