Blog / Advocacy

Last week we revealed our new Black Lives Matter mural as we stand in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives.

This May 29, Supervising Attorney at Bread for the City, Amy Gellatly, shared this written testimony as part of the Budget Oversight Hearing on the Department of Human Services. This Tax Day, when we reflect on how our city’s budget should reflect the values of its residents, we look back to this testimony from May, when, like now, many of those residents were concerned with rent during this current health and economic crisis. We continue to ask the DC Council for a #JustRecovery which we believe supports rent justice.

Bread for the City will be closed, in both Northwest and Southeast, on Friday, June 19th in celebration of Juneteenth.

Read Bread for the City’s full submitted testimony regarding the DC Metropolitan Police Department budget, given this week by Advocacy Director Aja Taylor for the DC Council’s Committee of the Judiciary & Public Safety.

Bread for the City stands in solidarity with those demanding change and leading a national conversation about racial justice in America.

We are all in this together, yet our tax policies tell a different story. By asking DC’s richest households, giant corporations, and real estate developers to pay their fair share, we will have more revenue to address budget shortfalls and provide targeted recovery support to those individuals and local businesses who have been hardest hit.

This is not a new challenge stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our tax system and compliance with corporate handouts has long been inequitable, asking too much of middle-class families while those with the greatest resources fail to pay their fair share. As a result, DC has been failing to meet the needs of poor and working-class families, especially the needs of Black and brown families who live East of the River. As the District charts its path to recovery, the budget discussions for Fiscal Year 2021 (and 2020) present an opportunity to center racial equity, and rebuild and recover in a way that creates a better, more equitable future for all of DC’s residents. And that starts with a fairer tax system. By collectively raising the voices of our organizations, our members, and the general public, we can create the necessary pressure to bring new revenue resources to bear to create a #JustRecoveryDC!

Click here to learn how you can do more!