By Chris Kain
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Mayor Muriel Bowser and her budget team today presented the DC Council with an overview of her fiscal year 2027 budget proposal that includes $469 million in program reductions and savings, including the removal of funds set aside for future employee pay increases and the elimination of a fund that boosts salaries for early childhood educators.

The latter proposal in particular prompted questions from several lawmakers during Q&A after the Bowser administration’s initial presentation. “We’ll have to work together as a council to address that,” said Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau in the most direct exchange about a program that has drawn mayoral scrutiny in the past. Bowser said the city should instead focus available resources on the subsidy program that she said does more to provide eligible residents with affordable child care.

Another proposal likely to draw council scrutiny is scaling back the District’s Universal Paid Leave program to the tune of $95 million, including a one-year pause to claims other than parental and pre-natal leave. Although Bowser stressed that the council needs to look at the program’s overall sustainability, she included the one-year pause on a contingency list of budget items she’d like the council to restore if additional funds become available.

The full FY 2027 budget and four-year financial plan will be formally submitted to the DC Council on Tuesday — about two weeks after the initial deadline established by lawmakers. The new date will mean the initial and final votes on the budget will occur one week before and one week after DC’s June 16 primary.

In presenting her FY 2027 proposal, Bowser as well as City Administrator Kevin Donahue and Office of Budget and Performance Management Director Jenny Reed framed it as a pro-growth budget that makes the cuts necessary due to current fiscal constraints. She said the DC government must focus its spending on core services but also initiatives that will boost the city’s economy and the resources available for city programs, including ones that are worthwhile but not currently viable.

“Our level of growth right now doesn’t sustain them,” Bowser told reporters at a briefing after the council presentation.

In concluding remarks, DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson noted that as usual there will be areas of disagreement between the mayor and the council, but he reiterated a key message offered by Donahue and Reed: Despite the need to make tough choices and undesirable cuts amid rising costs, the District’s revenues continue to grow even though the rate has slowed considerably — and strong reserve funds protect its fiscal position.

“We really do have a strong city,” Mendelson sad. “It’s just that we have to work within these constraints.”

In a press release, the Bowser administration highlighted investments in public education and child care; public safety; core city services; health care and human services; and “economic resilience and inclusive opportunity.”

In terms of health care, the Bowser administration was able to avoid making further cuts to Medicaid and the DC Health Care Alliance, which were overhauled last year in an effort to constrain spiraling costs. This year’s budget includes $9 million to add dental and vision benefits for Basic Health Plan and Alliance enrollees.

Targeted investments in education include $3 million to expand high-impact tutoring and $2.4 million to expand access to Advanced Technical Centers, which provide high school students with hands-on career and technical education.

Overall, the FY 2027 operating budget of $12.7 billion in local funds marks a 3.3% decrease from the revised FY 2026 budget. In addition to the $469 million in program reductions and savings, the projected $1.1 billion gap was addressed largely via $340 million in current-year savings and $250 million in improved revenue estimates, according to the Bowser administration’s presentation.

The District’s overall proposed budget for FY 2027 is $21.2 billion when accounting for federal funds for Medicaid and other programs.

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