Bill to Raise National Awareness of the District’s Denied Voting Representation Passes 1st Reading

Taxation Without Representation

Kwame joins volunteers from DC vote in the MLK Parade

Washington, (D.C.) – Today, the members of the D.C. Council passed its first reading of the “Taxation Without Representation Federal Tax Pay-Out Message Board Installation Act of 2008,” to educate visitors of the lack of the District’s voting representation in Congress.

The bill mandates the installation of a programmable LED message board on the exterior of the District’s city hall, the John A. Wilson Building and on public space near the new Nationals baseball stadium, to show the dollar amount of federal taxes paid by District residents.  According to 2006 Internal Revenue Service records,  District residents pay the second highest federal income taxes per capita in the country, yet have no voice and vote in neither the U.S. House of Representatives nor the U.S. Senate.

The bill’s author, At-Large Councilmember Kwame R. Brown, first introduced the bill on September 16, 2006, following Congressional review of the DC Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act (H.R. 5388), which passed unanimously by the House Committee on Government Reform.  “We’ve made tremendous strides in this long-fought desire to see equal representation with a voice and a vote in Congress, however statehood is not yet a reality,” said Councilmember Brown.   “Each step taken on the path to gaining statehood is a victory not taken lightly.”

Councilmember Brown believes that the message board will not only serve as a visual element but an alarm to action. “We need to educate and inform every visitor to our Nation’s Capital, every passerby, every national event spectator that treads down Pennsylvania Avenue that our money counts, our people count and our voice should count also,” said Brown.   Councilmember Brown looks forward to the bill passing on second reading and be implemented immediately.

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