Should District residents have greater independence?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 24th, 2023

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – Today at 5:30pm EST, Bo Shuff will say goodbye to DC Vote and welcome his successor CeCe Grant at a party. At the Ciel Social Club on the AC Hotel’s rooftop, Shuff will celebrate his seven year tenure as the head of the nation’s leading advocacy and educational organization dedicated to DC Statehood by ushering in Grant’s tenure.

“I’ve had the privilege of being at the forefront of the fight for DC Statehood for the last seven years. It’s been an extreme privilege and tonight’s event is not only about expressing my sincere gratitude to everyone who has engaged with us online, made a donation, or attended a rally, but about welcoming CeCe Grant to DC Vote,” Shuff said. 

CeCe Grant has more than 15 years of experience in government affairs, political campaigns, and grassroots advocacy. She is a nationally known political strategist and has led efforts across the country to pass bipartisan legislation, while building strong coalitions with community, labor, faith, business, and environmental groups. CeCe worked for Congress for three years as a policy advisor where she played a critical role in securing federal funding for billions of dollars for infrastructure projects across Southeast Michigan. She also served in the Obama Administration working for the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.  

A native Detroiter, she holds a master’s degree in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University and a second master’s in Communications from Wayne State University.  

“I am so excited to begin my tenure as the new Executive Director of DC Vote. DC is a place near and dear to my heart. I fell in love with DC during my first visit here in 2008. The vibrant neighborhoods, diverse communities, and inspirational leaders who stand up every day to fight for a better America,” Grant said.
Grant finished, “I’ve spent 15 years building coalitions and movements on a range of issues, including: climate change, public transportation, healthcare reform, and flipping districts from red to blue. I am fired up to roll up my sleeves and get to work for Statehood and equal representation for the 700,000 residents who call DC home.”

For more information about tonight’s event or to RSVP, simply email Kelsye Adams at [email protected].

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 23rd, 2023

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – DC Vote, the nation’s leading advocacy and educational organization dedicated to DC Statehood, along with Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, and Arndrea Waters King today announced more than 100 organizations across racial, cultural and generational lines have joined the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington. Hundreds of thousands of people have been mobilized in the weeks leading up to the large-scale demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial on this Saturday, August 26th, which will not serve as a commemoration but a continuation of what started in 1963.

“DC Statehood is an issue that crosses intersectional lines including the freedom to vote, the freedom to determine one’s own destiny, racial justice, economic justice, employment discrimination, access to abortion, and the growing assaults on the rights of women, LGBTQ Americans, immigrants, people of color, and democracy,” DC Vote’s Patrice Snow said. “It is sad that some 60 years after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ‘s call for justice and jobs that we are still fighting for these same rights. DC Vote will be there proudly representing the disenfranchised 700,000 Americans who call Washington, DC home but don’t have full voting rights.”

Newly released data from the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA), a partner organization, shows economic conditions are as bad — if not worse — for Black and Brown Americans as they were 60 years ago. The median wealth gap between Black and white households has widened by $40,000 over the last 60 years, from $121,000 in 1963 to $161,000 today. Student debt, which overwhelmingly hits Black Americans harder, is a driving factor for this yawning gap – with limited relief in sight after the Supreme Court struck down the Biden administration’s plan to wipe as much as $20,000 per borrower. This new data comes amid the backdrop of Florida’s relentless attempts to erase Black history from the classroom, as other regions of the country look to follow suit. Gov. Ron DeSantis and state leadership have not relented on a new, warped curriculum promoting a false narrative that Black people benefited from slavery. 

That same Court has peeled back rights on LGBTQ Americans, women, voting rights, and organized Labor in the last decade. All the while, hateful rhetoric has led to violent attacks Black, Brown, Jewish, AAPI and other historically marginalized Americans. All of these alarming issues speak to the dire threats democracy in the United States faces today. 

The pre-program for the event will begin at 8:00 a.m. ET with the main event beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. Following the program, a march will begin through the streets of the Nation’s Capital, culminating at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
 

A full list of partners can be found below: 

Advocates for Youth

African American Mayors Association

All Souls Movement

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated

American Federation of Teachers

Anti-Defamation League (ADL)

APIAVote

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC

Atlas Strategy Group

Austin Justice Coalition

Bayard Rustin Liberation Initiative Inc

Bet Mishpachah, DC’s LGBTQ+ Synagogue

Brown and Gold PAC – Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Incorporated

Capitol Ballroom Council, inc.

Center for American Progress

Center for Black Equity

Center for Economic and Policy Research

Center for Reproductive Rights

Central Conference of American Rabbis

Change Administration (Lincoln University of PA Student Government Association)

College Democrats of America

Common Defense

Community Justice

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI)

DC Vote

Declaration for American Democracy Coalition

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated

DemCast USA

Democratic National Committee

Emerge

EMILYs List

ERA Coalition

Everytown For Gun Safety

FairVote

Family Equality

FPWA

Generation Ratify

GLAAD

GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD)

Good Trouble Think-Tank

Higher Heights for America

Hip Hop Caucus

Human Rights Campaign

In Our Own Voice: National Black Women Reproductive Justice Agenda

Interfaith Voices for Reproductive Justice

Japanese American Citizens League

Keshet

LatinoJustice PRLDEF

League of Women Voters

NAACP

NAACP LDF

NARAL Pro-Choice America

National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC)

National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)

National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP)

National Council of Asian Pacific Americans

National Council of Jewish Women

National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)

National Immigration Law Center

National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice

National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund

National Organization for Women (NOW)

National Organization of Concerned Black Men Inc.

National Partnership for Women & Families

National Queer API Alliance (NQAPIA)

National Urban League

National Women’s Law Center

NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice

Next Generation Action Network (NGAN)

OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates

Our Time to Act United

Oxfam America

PFLAG National

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Reproaction

Sanctuary of Hope LA/ March 4 Equity

SEIU

Shaare Tefila Congregation

SisterReach and SisterReach Illinois

SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Southern Poverty Law Center

Stand Up America

Student Debt Crisis Center

Students Learn Students Vote Coalition

The Arc of Justice

The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus

The House of Garcon

The Jews of Color Mishpacha Project

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

The Phoenix Affect

The TransLatin@ Coalition

The Uniters

The Workers Circle

UNIDOS

United by Equity

URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity

Virginia Moms for Change

Voto Latino

We Testify

YWCA USA

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 14th, 2023

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – Freshman Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee, a newly-elected MAGA Republican who barely passed college with a degree in “Liberal Studies,” filed a bill on Friday to repeal DC Home Rule. In light of this latest extremist move by an extremist Congress intent on targeting DC and her 700,000 disenfranchised residents, DC Vote’s communications director Patrice Snow released the following statement:

“Here we go again. One can only assume Rep. Andy Ogles filed one of his first pieces of legislation, which has nothing to do with helping the people of Tennessee’s 5th congressional district, because he needs to hide his embarrassment from news stories about his lying to his constituents and falsifying his college transcripts. In addition, no one knows where Ogles’ district office is as he reportedly hides from the people he works for.”

Snow finished, “Knowing this, it’s mystifying to me and those in the DC Statehood movement how Ogles thinks he has the qualifications to run the District of Columbia. Because while Congress is suffering with credit downgrades due to its inability to pass funding bills, Fitch recently rated the DC government as financially stable. Perhaps Congressman Ogles should leave the governance of the District of Columbia to the 700,000 people who live here and their duly elected officials and be more concerned with solving the problems back home in Tennessee’s 5th.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 11th, 2023

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – DC Vote, the nation’s leading advocacy and education organization working for DC Statehood, along with over 70 allied organizations released a letter earlier this morning addressed to both the Senate Committee on Appropriations and its respective counterpart in the House of Representatives. The letter asked the two committees to remove all language usurping local control and imposing the will of Congress onto the 700,000 residents of Washington, DC from the District of Columbia FY2024 appropriations. 

This latest coalition of groups included in DC Vote’s letter is urging Congress to reject these interferences and allow for the right of the people of the District of Columbia to govern themselves. 

After the letter was publicly released, DC Vote’s communications director Patrice Snow released the following statement:

“All across the country, Americans are debating local issues that affect their lives. However, what isn’t up for debate is who gets to fundamentally decide these questions. DC’s locally elected leadership should decide what is best for the people of the District of Columbia and not random representatives and Senators from arbitrary places like Georgia or Arizona. The Mayor and the Council of the District of Columbia were elected by DC residents to represent our interests and needs and they don’t interfere or impose their values on any other jurisdiction in the country. So why do it to DC? Americans living in the District have no vote in Congress to cast against this ongoing, relentless attack on democracy and we urge both Appropriations Committees to pass the FY2024 District of Columbia appropriation without any interference in the local laws or programs of the District and allow the people of DC to govern themselves.”

The letter reads:

Dear Senators and Representatives: 

We, the undersigned organizations, urge the Appropriations Committees to remove all language which has the effect of usurping local control and imposing the will of the Congress onto the local 700,000 residents  of the District of Columbia from the District of Columbia FY 2024 Appropriations. Legislative budget “riders”  go against the intent of the Home Rule Act and remove the limited home-rule it intended. 

The 118th Congress has seen a marked increase in Congressional interference than in the recent past and  we urge Congress to reject these engagements and allow for the right of the people of DC to govern  

themselves. In just six months, Congress has chosen to weigh in on: 

• Revisions to the local DC Criminal Code 

• The District’s ability to issue traffic tickets for illegal right turns on red 

• The District’s ability to utilize cameras for traffic safety 

• Renaming a local street 

• Qualifications for voting in DC local elections 

• Methodology for conducting local DC elections 

• The ability to implement a taxation and regulation program for adult-use cannabis 

• DC’s autonomy to cover reproductive and sexual health care including spending local funds and  

protecting employees from discrimination for their reproductive health care decisions 

• The District’s Death with Dignity Act 

• The DC local version of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act 

These local laws were enacted to address concerns that are important to the more than 700,000 residents who call Washington, DC home. When Congress attempts to impose legislative riders, they seek to overturn the work of our locally elected officials and ignore the voices of our neighbors.

Right now, Americans are debating these and other issues in communities throughout this country. But, what is not up for debate is who gets to decide these questions. DC’s locally elected leadership should decide what is best for the people of the District of Columbia. The Mayor and the Council of the District of  Columbia were elected by DC residents to represent our interests. Congress does not impose its views on  any other local jurisdiction, and Americans in DC have no vote in the Congress to cast against this ongoing, relentless attack on local democracy. Until such time that the residents of the District achieve full equality  through Statehood, we expect Congress to allow District residents to manage their own affairs without  interference or meddling.  

The undersigned organizations, collectively representing millions of Americans, advocate on diverse issues and are united in our opposition to the inclusion of any language in the appropriations bill that overrides, limits, or otherwise usurps local government decision-making by the District of Columbia. We urge the Committees to pass the FY 2024 District of Columbia Appropriation without any interference in the local laws or programs of the District and allow the people of DC to govern themselves.  

Sincerely, 

DC Vote 

All* Above All Action Fund  

American Association of University Women 

American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia 

American Ethical Union 

Anacostia Coordinating Council 

Bend the Arc: Jewish Action 

Better Organizing to Win Legalization 

Black Voters Matter Fund 

Brookland Huddle for the Future 

DC Democratic Party 

DC Developmental Disabilities Council 

DC Federation of Community Associations  

DC Fiscal Policy Institute  

DC for Democracy  

DC Justice Lab 

DC Statehood Coalition 

DC Voters for Animals 

Death with Dignity 

Defending Rights & Dissent 

DemCast USA 

Democrats for Education Reform DC            

Drug Policy Alliance

Endangered Species Coalition 

Family Values@Work Action 

Fourth Branch Action 

Friends of the Earth 

Get Money Out – Maryland 

Greenpeace USA 

GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic 

Harriet’s Wildest Dreams 

Human Rights Campaign 

Indivisible 

Indivisible Northern Nevada 

Indivisible Santa Fe 

Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG)

League of Conservation Voters 

League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia 

League of Women Voters of the United States

Life By Design 

Long Live GoGo 

Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO

Moms Rising

NARAL Pro-Choice America

National Employment Law Project

National Council of Jewish Women

National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)

National Partnership for Women & Families

National Women’s Law Center 

Neighbors United for DC Statehood 

Netroots Nation 

Oregonizers 

People For the American Way 

Planned Parenthood Federation of America 

Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan  Washington, DC 

Public Citizen 

Public Justice Center 

Rebuilding Independence My Style
RepresentUs 

ROC United 

SEIU 32BJ 

Sierra Club 

Statehood4DC 

The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund 

The Workers Circle 

United Church of Christ 

URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity  

Venice Resistance 

Voices for Progress 

Voters of Tomorrow 

Washington Ethical Society 

Who Speaks For Me? 

Women Lawyers On Guard Action Network, Inc. 

Women’s Bar Association of the District of  Columbia 

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 10th, 2023

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – This week, overly aggressive members of Congress will be introducing the American Confidence in Elections Act which, despite its name, does nothing for everyday Americans OR increase confidence in elections. The ACE Act would be a massive federal overstep into the governance of Washington, DC – a jurisdiction with tax paying residents who are majority people of color. 

DC Vote, the nation’s leading advocacy and education organization working for DC Statehood released the following statement:

“The democratic processes in DC work. More than 700,000 residents are represented by a Mayor, Council, School Board and other local officials chosen by the people. In election after election within the District the people have cast their votes, had them counted and elected a government. The failures of our elections lie first in Congress interfering in the outcome and second in Congress denying us our right to choose Senators and a voting Representative.” 

Patrice Snow, DC Vote’s communications director finished, “As if it’s not bad enough with the budget riders that would dictate how the District governs ourselves, we will also see an unprecedented attempt to control our elections. How does this power grab help anyone living in the 435 congressional districts around the country? DC must be granted Statehood to ensure that its residents have the right to self-governance and expand and strengthen democracy. It is unjust that Congress, with no voting representation from DC, can override the will of the people and their elected representatives.” 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 8th, 2023

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – The Supreme Court of the United States just released their decision in the all-important Alabama v. Milligan case. DC Vote’s communications director Patrice Snow released the following statement:

“In light of the Supreme Court decision today in Alabama v. Milligan, it is clear arbitrarily drawn lines that dilute Black political power are unconstitutional. A key example of this is right here in the nation’s capital where specific federal policies and actions have led to the District having a Black plurality yet no voting representation in Congress. The only way to clean this stain on American democracy is through DC Statehood. The Statehood proposal before Congress is also constitutional, preserving a national capital for all Americans to take part in while finally enfranchising the 700,000 residents in the surrounding area.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 1st, 2023

PRESS CONTACT:
Patrice Snow
[email protected]

Washington, DC – Yesterday, the Committee on House Administration and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability announced a joint hearing next Wednesday titled, “American Confidence in Elections: The Path to Election Integrity in the District of Columbia.” After the announcement, DC Vote’s communications director Patrice Snow released the following statement:

“The fact that this Congress is even holding a hearing to examine local elections in Washington, DC would be laughable if it wasn’t so predictable. This is nothing more than a continuance of a pattern where elections and democracy are being undermined in predominantly Black and Brown communities across the country. Why would Congress need to interfere in local elections in Washington, DC where our election system is one of the best in America? Simply because we are an easy target due to our lack of Statehood.”

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