Tom Howell Jr.

Budget belt-tightening concerns D.C. lawmakers

Contentious battles over police staffing and tax increases that marked last year's D.C. Council budget debate likely won't be repeated this year, but competing priorities for future revenue again will offer an invitation for mischief.

March 25, 2012

Gray’s D.C. budget calls for many more traffic cameras

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray presented a $9.4 billion spending plan on Friday that does not impose any new taxes or fees but relies on about $30 million in new traffic fines generated by automated-enforcement cameras.

March 24, 2012

Thomas pays $20,000 toward settlement

Former D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. came up with $20,000 this week to chip away at the $300,000 sum he agreed to pay back to the District for stealing public funds from 2007 to 2009, the D.C. Office of the Attorney General said Thursday.

March 23, 2012

D.C.’s campaign-finance law rife with gray areas

A serious turn in the federal probe of D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray's 2010 campaign and a recent trickle of subpoenas to D.C. Council members is delving into the tricky — and supposedly arms-length — role that candidates play at the roulette wheel of political funding and influence.

March 22, 2012

Campaign finance fix ‘daunting,’ Gray says

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray said Wednesday that it is time to take a "broad look" at staffing levels in the Office of Campaign Finance and the laws that govern political contributions to city races.

March 21, 2012

New limits put on D.C. medical marijuana

The D.C. Council on Tuesday imposed new limits on the city's medical marijuana program about two weeks before the long-awaited initiative is expected to begin in earnest.

March 20, 2012

Cheh targets money orders

D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh is set to introduce legislation on Tuesday that puts contributions in the form of a money order on par with cash, capping them at $25 to avoid the suspicions and federal inquiries that shook the D.C. campaign process last week.

March 18, 2012

Graham’s treasurer says he has complied with subpoena

A campaign treasurer for D.C. Council member Jim Graham says he has already complied with a subpoena the U.S. Attorney's Office sent on Wednesday in connection with a broad investigation into one of the city's most prolific political donors.

March 16, 2012

Nominee for D.C. utility regulator defeated

A sharply divided D.C. Council committee rejected Mayor Vincent C. Gray's nominee to a three-member commission that oversees public utilities, citing her temperament and the need to recuse herself from more than half of the current caseload.

March 15, 2012

D.C. Council Chairman Brown ordered to turn over records

Federal prosecutors ordered D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown to turn over campaign records on Thursday, adding to the list of city lawmakers who have been linked to an investigation of one of the District's most prolific campaign contributors.

March 15, 2012

Subpoenaed D.C. Council members to comply in Thompson investigation

The District's political scene was abuzz when federal agents raided the home and offices one of the city's most prolific campaign donors about two weeks ago. But when the feds came looking for answers from elected officials' campaign teams, things got messy around city hall.

March 14, 2012

Cheh seeks limit on money-order contributions to D.C. races

Council member Mary M. Cheh has directed her staff to work up legislation that would ban — or at least significantly curtail — the use of money orders to finance campaigns in the District.

March 14, 2012

Records subpoenaed in D.C. campaign donor probe

Federal prosecutors are reportedly asking several D.C. government officials for all records related to Jeffrey E. Thompson, his companies and his associates as part of a probe into campaign-finance issues emanating from the prolific donor, who holds a lucrative managed-care contract in the District worth more than $300 million per year.

March 13, 2012

Atypical fundraising keys Barry campaign

Marion Barry's re-election bid to his D.C. Council seat from Ward 8 has attracted almost 150 campaign donations since Feb. 1, yet fewer than 10 of them came from regular folks in his ward.

March 13, 2012

Unopposed Evans boasts big re-election stash of cash

Campaign-finance reports tied to D.C. Council seats up for grabs this year show candidates with widely divergent amounts of cash to play with in the homestretch to the April 3 primary elections.

March 12, 2012

Davis’ portrait not endorsement of her views, D.C. court says

The D.C. Superior Court says a courthouse display on influential black women included Angela Davis for her "contributions to the political debate" and should not be viewed as an endorsement of her views or as a statement on accusations she was involved in a California kidnapping 40 years ago.

March 12, 2012