Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009/Division D/Title VIII

TITLE VIII — General Provisions — District of Columbia

Sec. 801.

Whenever in this Act, an amount is specified within an appropriation for particular purposes or objects of expenditure, such amount, unless otherwise specified, shall be considered as the maximum amount that may be expended for said purpose or object rather than an amount set apart exclusively therefor.

Sec. 802.

Appropriations in this Act shall be available for expenses of travel and for the payment of dues of organizations concerned with the work of the District of Columbia government, when authorized by the Mayor, or, in the case of the Council of the District of Columbia, funds may be expended with the authorization of the Chairman of the Council.

Sec. 803.

There are appropriated from the applicable funds of the District of Columbia such sums as may be necessary for making refunds and for the payment of legal settlements or judgments that have been entered against the District of Columbia government.

Sec. 804.

(a) None of the Federal funds provided in this Act shall be used for publicity or propaganda purposes or implementation of any policy including boycott designed to support or defeat legislation pending before Congress or any State legislature.

(b) The District of Columbia may use local funds provided in this title to carry out lobbying activities on any matter.

Sec. 805.

(a) None of the funds provided under this Act to the agencies funded by this Act, both Federal and District government agencies, that remain available for obligation or expenditure in fiscal year 2009, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury of the United States derived by the collection of fees available to the agencies funded by this Act, shall be available for obligation or expenditures for an agency through a reprogramming of funds which—

(1) creates new programs;

(2) eliminates a program, project, or responsibility center;

(3) establishes or changes allocations specifically denied, limited or increased under this Act;

(4) increases funds or personnel by any means for any program, project, or responsibility center for which funds have been denied or restricted;

(5) reestablishes any program or project previously deferred through reprogramming;

(6) augments any existing program, project, or responsibility center through a reprogramming of funds in excess of $3,000,000 or 10 percent, whichever is less; or

(7) increases by 20 percent or more personnel assigned to a specific program, project or responsibility center,

unless in the case of Federal funds, the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate are notified in writing 15 days in advance of the reprogramming and in the case of local funds, the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate are provided summary reports on April 1, 2009 and October 1, 2009, setting forth detailed information regarding each such local funds reprogramming conducted subject to this subsection.

(b) None of the local funds contained in this Act may be available for obligation or expenditure for an agency through a transfer of any local funds in excess of $3,000,000 from one appropriation heading to another unless the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate are provided summary reports on April 1, 2009 and October 1, 2009, setting forth detailed information regarding each reprogramming conducted subject to this subsection.

(c) The District of Columbia government is authorized to approve and execute reprogramming and transfer requests of local funds under this title through December 1, 2009.

Sec. 806.

Consistent with the provisions of section 1301(a) of title 31, United States Code, appropriations under this Act shall be applied only to the objects for which the appropriations were made except as otherwise provided by law.

Sec. 807.

None of the Federal funds made available in this Act may be used to implement or enforce the Health Care Benefits Expansion Act of 1992 (D.C. Law 9-114; D.C. Official Code, sec. 32-701 et seq.) or to otherwise implement or enforce any system of registration of unmarried, cohabiting couples, including but not limited to registration for the purpose of extending employment, health, or governmental benefits to such couples on the same basis that such benefits are extended to legally married couples.

Sec. 808.

(a) Section 446B(f) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (sec. 1-204.46b(f), D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking ``fiscal years 2006 through 2008´´ and inserting ``fiscal year 2006 and each succeeding fiscal year´´.

(b) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect as if included in the enactment of the 2005 District of Columbia Omnibus Authorization Act.

Sec. 809.

None of the Federal funds provided in this Act may be used by the District of Columbia to provide for salaries, expenses, or other costs associated with the offices of United States Senator or United States Representative under section 4(d) of the District of Columbia Statehood Constitutional Convention Initiatives of 1979 (D.C. Law 3-171; D.C. Official Code, sec. 1-123).

Sec. 810.

Except as otherwise provided in this section, none of the funds made available by this Act or by any other Act may be used to provide any officer or employee of the District of Columbia with an official vehicle unless the officer or employee uses the vehicle only in the performance of the officer's or employee's official duties. For purposes of this section, the term ``official duties´´ does not include travel between the officer's or employee's residence and workplace, except in the case of—

(1) an officer or employee of the Metropolitan Police Department who resides in the District of Columbia or a District of Columbia government employee as may otherwise be designated by the Chief of the Department;

(2) at the discretion of the Fire Chief, an officer or employee of the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department who resides in the District of Columbia and is on call 24 hours a day or is otherwise designated by the Fire Chief;

(3) at the discretion of the Director of the Department of Corrections, an officer or employee of the District of Columbia Department of Corrections who resides in the District of Columbia and is on call 24 hours a day or is otherwise designated by the Director;

(4) the Mayor of the District of Columbia; and

(5) the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia.

Sec. 811.

(a) None of the Federal funds contained in this Act may be used by the District of Columbia Attorney General or any other officer or entity of the District government to provide assistance for any petition drive or civil action which seeks to require Congress to provide for voting representation in Congress for the District of Columbia.

(b) Nothing in this section bars the District of Columbia Attorney General from reviewing or commenting on briefs in private lawsuits, or from consulting with officials of the District government regarding such lawsuits.

Sec. 812.

None of the Federal funds contained in this Act may be used for any program of distributing sterile needles or syringes for the hypodermic injection of any illegal drug.

Sec. 813.

Nothing in this Act may be construed to prevent the Council or Mayor of the District of Columbia from addressing the issue of the provision of contraceptive coverage by health insurance plans, but it is the intent of Congress that any legislation enacted on such issue should include a ``conscience clause´´ which provides exceptions for religious beliefs and moral convictions.

Sec. 814.

(a) Notwithstanding section 615(i)(3)(B) of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(i)(3)(B)), none of the funds contained in this Act or in any other Act making appropriations for the government of the District of Columbia for fiscal year 2009 or any succeeding fiscal year may be made available—

(1) to pay the fees of an attorney who represents a party in or defends an IDEA proceeding which was initiated prior to the date of the enactment of this Act in an amount in excess of $4,000 for that proceeding; or

(2) to pay the fees of an attorney or firm who represents a party in or defends an IDEA proceeding if the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia determines that the attorney or firm has a pecuniary interest (either directly or through an attorney, officer, or employee of the firm) in any special education diagnostic services or schools or other special education service providers.

(b) In this section, the term ``IDEA proceeding´´ means any action or administrative proceeding (including any ensuing or related proceedings before a court of competent jurisdiction) brought against the District of Columbia Public Schools under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.).

Sec. 815.

The Mayor of the District of Columbia shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate annual reports addressing—

(1) crime, including the homicide rate, implementation of community policing, the number of police officers on local beats, and the closing down of open-air drug markets;

(2) access to substance and alcohol abuse treatment, including the number of treatment slots, the number of people served, the number of people on waiting lists, and the effectiveness of treatment programs, the retention rates in treatment programs, and the recidivism/re-arrest rates for treatment participants;

(3) management of parolees and pre-trial violent offenders, including the number of halfway houses escapes and steps taken to improve monitoring and supervision of halfway house residents to reduce the number of escapes to be provided in consultation with the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia;

(4) education, including access to special education services and student achievement to be provided in consultation with the District of Columbia Public Schools and the District of Columbia public charter schools, repeated grade rates, high school graduation rates, post-secondary education attendance rates, and teen pregnancy rates;

(5) improvement in basic District services, including rat control and abatement;

(6) application for and management of Federal grants, including the number and type of grants for which the District was eligible but failed to apply and the number and type of grants awarded to the District but for which the District failed to spend the amounts received;

(7) indicators of child and family well-being including child living arrangements by family structure, number of children aging out of foster care, poverty rates by family structure, crime by family structure, marriage rates by income quintile, and out-of-wedlock births; and

(8) employment, including job status and participation in assistance programs by income, education and family structure.

Sec. 816.

Beginning in fiscal year 2009 and each fiscal year thereafter, the amount appropriated to the District of Columbia may be increased by no more than $100,000,000 from funds identified in the annual comprehensive annual financial report as the District's immediately preceding fiscal year's unexpended general fund surplus. The District may obligate and expend these amounts only in accordance with the following conditions:

(1) The Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia shall certify that the use of any such amounts is not anticipated to have a negative impact on the District's long-term financial, fiscal, and economic vitality.

(2) The District of Columbia may only use these funds for the following expenditures:

(A) One-time expenditures.

(B) Expenditures to avoid deficit spending.

(C) Debt Reduction.

(D) Program needs.

(E) Expenditures to avoid revenue shortfalls.

(3) The amounts shall be obligated and expended in accordance with laws enacted by the Council in support of each such obligation or expenditure.

(4) The amounts may not be used to fund the agencies of the District of Columbia government under court ordered receivership.

(5) The amounts may not be obligated or expended unless the Mayor notifies the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate not fewer than 30 days in advance of the obligation or expenditure.

Sec. 817.

(a) Beginning in fiscal year 2009 and each fiscal year thereafter, consistent with revenue collections, the amount appropriated as District of Columbia Funds may be increased—

(1) by an aggregate amount of not more than 25 percent, in the case of amounts proposed to be allocated as ``Other-Type Funds´´ in the annual Proposed Budget and Financial Plan submitted to Congress by the District of Columbia; and

(2) by an aggregate amount of not more than 6 percent, in the case of any other amounts proposed to be allocated in such Proposed Budget and Financial Plan.

(b) The District of Columbia may obligate and expend any increase in the amount of funds authorized under this section only in accordance with the following conditions:

(1) The Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia shall certify—

(A) the increase in revenue; and

(B) that the use of the amounts is not anticipated to have a negative impact on the long-term financial, fiscal, or economic health of the District.

(2) The amounts shall be obligated and expended in accordance with laws enacted by the Council of the District of Columbia in support of each such obligation and expenditure, consistent with the requirements of this Act.

(3) The amounts may not be used to fund any agencies of the District government operating under court-ordered receivership.

(4) The amounts may not be obligated or expended unless the Mayor has notified the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate not fewer than 30 days in advance of the obligation or expenditure.

Sec. 818.

Beginning in fiscal year 2009 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Chief Financial Officer for the District of Columbia may, for the purpose of cash flow management, conduct short-term borrowing from the emergency reserve fund and from the contingency reserve fund established under section 450A of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act (Public Law 93-198):

Provided, That the amount borrowed shall not exceed 50 percent of the total amount of funds contained in both the emergency and contingency reserve funds at the time of borrowing:

Provided further, That the borrowing shall not deplete either fund by more than 50 percent:

Provided further, That 100 percent of the funds borrowed shall be replenished within 9 months of the time of the borrowing or by the end of the fiscal year, whichever occurs earlier:

Provided further, That in the event that short-term borrowing has been conducted and the emergency or the contingency reserve funds are later depleted below 50 percent as a result of an emergency or contingency, an amount equal to the amount necessary to restore reserve levels to 50 percent of the total amount of funds contained in both the emergency and contingency reserve fund must be replenished from the amount borrowed within 60 days.

Sec. 819.

(a) None of the funds contained in this Act may be used to enact or carry out any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise reduce penalties associated with the possession, use, or distribution of any schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) or any tetrahydrocannabinols derivative.

(b) The Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative of 1998, also known as Initiative 59, approved by the electors of the District of Columbia on November 3, 1998, shall not take effect.

Sec. 820.

None of the funds appropriated under this Act shall be expended for any abortion except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or where the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest.

Sec. 821.

Amounts appropriated in this Act as operating funds may be transferred to the District of Columbia's enterprise and capital funds and such amounts, once transferred shall retain appropriation authority consistent with the provisions of this Act.

Sec. 822.

(a) Increase in the Hourly Rate for Attorneys Representing Indigent Defendants in the District of Columbia Courts.—

Section 11-2604(a), District of Columbia Official Code, is amended by striking ``$80 per hour´´ and inserting ``$90 per hour´´.

(b) Special Rule for Compensation of Attorneys in Neglect and Termination of Parental Rights Proceedings.—

Section 16-2326.01(b), District of Columbia Official Code, is amended—

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``$1,760´´ and inserting ``$1,980´´;

(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``$1,760´´ and inserting ``$1,980´´;

(3) in paragraph (3), by striking ``$2,400´´ and inserting ``$2,700´´; and

(4) in paragraph (4), by striking ``$1,200´´ and inserting ``$1,350´´.

(c) Effective Date.—

The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to cases and proceedings initiated on or after the date of enactment of this Act.

Sec. 823.

Section 2 of the Act entitled ``An Act Relative to the control of wharf property and certain public spaces in the District of Columbia´´, approved March 3, 1899 (sec. 10-501.02(a), D.C. Official Code) is amended by striking the last sentence.

Sec. 824.

Except as expressly provided otherwise, any reference to ``this Act´´ contained in this title or in title IV shall be treated as referring only to the provisions of this title or of title IV.