The D.C. Council's Committee of the Whole is taking its budget work public today, streaming a live hearing on the committee's report and recommendations for the Fiscal Year 2027 budget covering the agencies under its purview. This is where the line item markups and stacks of committee reports get stitched together before the full Council votes on next year's spending plan. For residents, it is the moment when policy choices and funding priorities, from homelessness services to transit support, start to come into focus.
How To Watch And Where The Record Lives
According to the Council of the District of Columbia on Facebook, the Committee of the Whole hearing is being streamed live and the post links directly to the official docket. The hearing docket and supporting documents are filed in the Council’s LIMs hearing docket, which serves as the full record. The Council also archives the complete video and a searchable transcript on DC Granicus for anyone who wants to catch up on demand.
Which Committee Reports Are Being Folded In
Each standing committee prepares its own budget report of recommendations that the Committee of the Whole considers as it assembles the city's final spending plan, according to the Council’s budget oversight page. Committees such as Human Services, Judiciary and Public Safety, and Transportation and the Environment submit line by line markups that the Committee of the Whole folds into its master report. The Committee on Human Services released its report and held a live markup on Thursday; see Hoodline's coverage of how the panel picks apart.
What's At Stake For D.C. Residents
The FY27 package includes choices on transit funding, including debates over fare free bus proposals and support for Metro, as well as funding for homelessness services, behavioral health, and public safety. The Council’s Office of the Budget Director has posted FY27 materials and briefing memos that lay out those trade offs; see the FY 2027 Budget materials. Policy analysts and advocates have urged the Council to align public commitments with actual spending as markups move forward, according to the D.C. Policy Center.
What Comes Next
When the Committee of the Whole finishes its report, the measures move to the full Council for final consideration and votes, with the Council's calendar and hearing schedule posted on the LIMs site. Residents who want to read testimony or sign up for future hearings can use the Council's hearing management system in LIMs. The full Council vote on the FY27 Local Budget Act will set next year's appropriation levels for District government agencies.
