Evening star., 1937-03-31
The District Bill.

While the District bill for 1888 con-
tains much to commend it and reflects
In addition to their hard work the
sympathetic, intelligent interest of
Chairman Collins and his subcommittee
In the welfare of the local community,
many of its provisions are open to chal-
lenge on principle and should be chal-
lenged.
Even granting the need for certain
functional reorganizations within the
District government, legislation on an
appropriation bill is not the proper
method of making such changes effective.
This bill contains an extraordinary num-
Der of legislative riders of great impor-
tance. Some of them are no doubt
meritorious. That is not the point. EX-
pediency is the only defense for includ-
ing such legislation in an appropriation
bill and eXpediency is in itself a grave
threat to wise and carefully considered
legislation.
If it is proper to transfer hospital
jurisdiction to the Health Department;
If it is proper to suspend the act for
salary promotions and reallocatlonS as
1t applies to employees in the municipal
government, if it is proper to amend
the gasoline tax legislation to permit
diversion of gas tax revenues to other
uses than those for which they were
intended; if it is proper to abolish the
office of peoples counsel and to create
the new Office of bonding commissioner,
the only test of such propriety lies in
the established legislative processes.
What is back of the proposed changes?
Who is back of the proposed changes?
What is their purpose? What defects
or disadvantages in the statutes are they
designed to remedy? These questions go
unanswered in legislation on an appro-
priation bill. When one legislative rider
is countenanced because it is popular,
the door is opened, especially in the
District bill, to any number of unpopu-
lar and unwise legislative riders. That
principle should be recognized. Have we
not had our fill of riders-red and other
coors?
OF equal Importance, though in an
other field, is the bills treatment for
the time being of the fiscal relations
issue. 1t is naturally gratifying to Dis
trict taxpayers and others who have the
welfare of the Capital City at heart that
the Appropriation Committee agrees,
after thorough examination of those who
compiled 1t, that the so-called Jacobs
report is inequitable, unWorkable and
provides no solution of the complex
problems raised through divided finan-
cial responsibility and undivided finan-
cial and governmental control in the
National Capital. Recognition by Con-
gress of the manifest defects in the re-
ports premises, reasoning and conclu-
sions carries with it hope for a really
equitable and workable solution of a
problem that is of as much Importance
to the exclusively controlling Congress
as to the unrepresented taxpayers who
live here.
The present bills temporary solution
Of the immediate problem of balancing
the District budget is a continuation of
the current lump sum of S5,0OO,0O0 and
an increase in the local tax burden of
about S6000,000. To the people of the
District this seems a very sided So
luton indeed It's full significance,
however, will depend upon the nature
OF the proposed tax measures which Mr..
Collins will introduce. In this respect
the reports recommendations are i'm
portant. The announced objectives of
new reVenue-raising devices are an
Equalization" of the tax burden as be-
tween property and other taxpayers and
q "modernization" of the tax system to
produce more revenue.
OF course, the people of the District
understand that "modernization" and
equalization" are euphemisms for tax
boost and that the fundamental pur-
pose of the tax boost is to reduce the
Federal contribution. The proposed tax
bills, of course, must be subjected to
thorough examination to determine their
purpose, their effect and the equity of
their provisions.