DC Council — B26-0436 (The Fair Initiatives Act)

The Fair Initiatives Act PROTECTS Our City FROM OUTSIDE INFLUENCE.

Well-funded national organizations keep coming back to DC because our ballot initiative process lets them. The Fair Initiatives Act would change that, bringing DC in line with the rest of the country and protecting District residents from externally-driven campaigns.

Q:

Why is an outside-funded group trying to raise the minimum wage where it is already the highest in the nation? Why is DC the only place they have come back three times?

A:

Because DC's ballot process lets them.

The Problem

DC's Initiative Process Lacks Basic Safeguards

Only 24 states and DC allow citizens to place measures directly on the ballot. Twenty-six states — including our neighbors Maryland and Virginia — reserve lawmaking for the legislature. DC's status as the nation's capital makes it a high-profile target for campaigns that market themselves as grassroots but are funded by organizations thousands of miles away.

Since 2020, at least 14 states have enacted or proposed reforms to better protect residents from abuse of the initiative process. DC hasn't. Until now.

The Solution

What the Fair Initiatives Act Does

The Fair Initiatives Lend Transparency to Every Resident Act (B26-0436), introduced by Councilmember Anita Bonds, closes the gaps that outside-funded groups exploit to push national agendas onto DC voters.

Ensures the public can read the same fiscal analysis

Councilmembers receive before voting — transparency that ballot initiatives currently bypass entirely.

Six-Year Waiting Period

Establishes a deliberation period before a substantially similar measure can return to the ballot — giving voters time to see the real-world consequences first.

Single-Subject Rule

Limits each measure to one clear topic. No bundling of unrelated policies, no hidden add-ons designed to obscure what voters are actually approving.

30-Day Review Period

Extends legal review and public objection timelines from as little as 5 days to 30 days — meaningful time for courts and the public to evaluate measures.

Outside Money in DC's Process

Who's Really Behind These Campaigns

DC's initiative process has become a vehicle for national advocacy organizations to advance agendas that DC voters — and DC's own elected officials — have repeatedly pushed back on.

90%

of Initiative 82's total contributions came from a single outside organization — an initiative that overturned DC Council's decision to protect the tip credit.

$533

provided by one Colorado organization to fund Initiative 83, which established ranked choice voting and open primaries in DC.

Improving the Legislation

STRENGTHENING THE Fair Initiatives Act

The Fair Initiatives Act advances critical reforms. Targeted amendments would make it even more effective.

Strengthen the Deliberation Period

The six-year waiting period should apply when a measure is withdrawn, rejected by the Board of Elections, or amended or overturned by DC Council, not just when it fails at the ballot.

Add Financial Safeguards

Any initiative that limits or eliminates agency discretion over spending should be rejected. The Initiative Amendment Act's key protection should be adopted in full.

Apply to November '26

The bill should apply to initiative and referendum measures already pending before the Board of Elections — including Initiative 87, which DC voters ci face this November.

Close the Appropriations Loophole

B26-0060 closes the loophole used in 2023 to circumvent the Home Rule Act's prohibition on initiatives that appropriate funds. Both bills should advance together.

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