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Bowser Writes to Congress, Asks for More Coronavirus Funding for District

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DC Mayor Muriel Bowser penned a letter to leaders of the US Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday, asking for more money to support the city’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The letter is addressed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

“As Mayor, I am proud to represent 706,000 residents who make Washington, DC their home, but I also graciously accept the serious charge of safeguarding the employees of the federal government and the millions of visitors that come to the National Capital Region each year,” Bowser said in the letter.

“It is not lost on me that our response to mitigate the coronavirus plays an important role in the federal government’s operations. Thus, equitable funding for Washington, DC not only affects our residents, but also impacts the National Capital Region and the nation.”

According to Bowser, DC has spent around $17 million on building and maintaining its testing capacity, however, 30 percent of individuals applying to their testing sites were not residents of the District.

She added that the city’s efforts to build medical surge in its hospitals this past spring was aided by a $25 million investment in those facilities, but Maryland and Virginia residents often used those hospitals “at a level equal to roughly half of the District’s healthcare capacity at any given time.”

The mayor demanded that Congress amend the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act” (CARES Act), making the District whole in the amount of $755 million.

She also asked for provisions included in the “Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act” (HEROES Act) as passed by the US House to provide fiscal relief to the District of Columbia at each level of government, as well as language clarifying that the District of Columbia can fully participate in the Municipal Liquidity Facility.

“Our continued ability to contain the spread of the coronavirus, especially as we begin to reopen public and private spaces, is heavily reliant upon equitable funding in the next tranche of coronavirus funding,” she wrote.

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