SUBMISSION TO ELECTORS SEC. 1603. An act or any part or parts thereof, with respect to which a petition for a referendum has been filed and certified as sufficient, shall be submitted to the qualified electors at a referendum to be held in connection with any general election which occurs not less than thirty days from the date on which the Clerk of the Assembly files his certificate of the sufficiency of the petition. The Assembly may, if two-thirds of its membership concur, at any time not less than thirty days after the petition has been found sufficient, provide for a special election for the purpose of conducting the referendum. AVAILABILITY OF LIST OF QUALIFIED ELECTORS SEC. 1604. If any organization or group requests it for the purpose of circulating descriptive matter relating to the act to be voted on at a referendum, the Board of Elections shall either permit such organization or group to copy the names and addresses of the qualified electors or furnish it with a list thereof, at a charge to be determined by the Board of Elections, not exceeding the actual cost of reproducing such list. RESULTS OF REFERENDUM SEC. 1605. An act which is submitted to a referendum which is not approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon shall thereupon be deemed repealed. If a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon approve the act, it shall become operative on the day following the day on which the Board of Elections certifies the results of the referendum. If conflicting acts are approved by the electors at the same referendum, the one receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail to the extent of such conflict. As used in this section, the word "act" shall mean the complete act, or any part or parts thereof, specified in the petition for referendum. TITLE XVII-TITLE OF ACT SEC. 1701. This Act, divided into titles and sections according to the table of contents, and including the declaration of congressional policy which is a part of such Act, may be cited as the "District of Columbia Charter Act." III ELECTED MAYOR AND COUNCIL NON-VOTING DELEGATE TO HOUSE FEDERAL PAYMENT FORMULA H.R. 4644 (Multer), H.R. 8090 (Bell), and S. 1118 (Bible) These bills provide for an elected mayor to serve a 4-year term of office. He is given administrative and executive powers and duties, including the power to disapprove acts of the Council of the District of Columbia which the bill establishes. The Council consists of 15 members, one from each of 15 wards who are to be elected at large, each member being elected to a 2-year term of office. The Council is given local legislative power including taxing and borrowing powers within specified limits. Legislative review and control of the local government is proposed to be retained by the Congress and the President. Congress is to have the right to repeal, amend, or initiate local legislation. However, enactments by the home rule legislature, approved by the President, could result in law which might not receive a majority vote in either House of Congress. The mandate to the Congress in the Constitution would be limited to the expression of one-third plus one of the members of either House of Congress plus a presidential veto. Thus, while a one-third plus one vote of the members of either body of the Congress, with Presidential approval cannot enact laws, the wishes of the majority of Congress could be avoided through the actions of the home rule legislature, with Presidential approval. The President is empowered to review acts passed by the Council and to disapprove any act which he finds may adversely affect the Federal interest. The bills further authorize the election of a Delegate to a 2-year term to represent the District in the House of Representatives. The District Delegate is given the right to participate in House debate but it is not given the power to vote. The bills provide for an annual payment out of the U.S. Treasury to the general fund of the District, to be based on a specific formula, the elements of which substantially reflect the taxes which District officials estimate should be paid to the District as a result of the presence of the Federal Government within the District. Under the formula, District officials would establish the assessed valuation of Federal property and determine the tax rate on all real estate. The elements of the formula are: (1) Real estate taxes based on federally owned and used property, excluding such lands as parks and mounments; (2) taxes on other real property exempted from taxation by special provision of Congress; (3) personal property taxes based on federally owned tangible property, excluding objects of art, museum pieces, statuary, and libraries; and (4) business income and related taxes based on the number of Federal employees whose places of employment are within the District. The mayor and the Council, through the General Services Administration, would submit an annual request for Federal payment (based upon District of Columbia officials' assessments of Federal properties and their determinations of the total payment due by the formula) to the Secretary of the Treasury, who would make payment to the District out of the U.S. Treasury. The payment would be automatic, without any action by the Congress or by its appropriation committees. These bills also authorize the District to borrow money by the issuance of bonds. They place a limitation on debt, including debt to the United States, fixed at not more than 12 percent of the average assessed value of the real and tangible personal property (including Federal) in the District as of the first day of July of the 10 most recent fiscal years. Included are requirements that, with certain exceptions, bond issues be approved by the voters. These bills abolish a number of agencies, including the Board of Education, the Zoning Commission, the Public Service Commission, Recreation Board, and Board of Zoning Adjustment, and transfers their functions to the Council. The bills exempt Government employees residing in Washington from the provisions of the Hatch Act, thus authorizing them to participate in partisan elections in the District of Columbia. [H.R. 4644, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide an elected mayor, city council, and nonvoting Delegate to the House of Representatives for the District of Columbia, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, subject to the retention by Congress of the ultimate legislative authority over the Nation's Capital which is granted by the Constitution, it is the intent of Congress to restore to the inhabitants of the District of Columbia the powers of local self-government which are a basic privilege of all American ciizens; to reaffirm through such action the confidence of the American people in the strengthened validity of principles of local selfgovernment by the elective process; to promote among the inhabitants of the District the sense of responsibility for the development and well-being of their community which will result from the enjoyment of such powers of self-government; to provide for the more effective particpation in the development of the District and in the solution of its local problems by those persons who are most closely concerned; and to relieve the National Legislature of the burden of legislating upon purely local District matters. It is the further intention of only insofar as such action shall be necessary or desirable in the interest of the Nation. Sec. 101. Definitions. TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE I-DEFINITIONS TITLE II-STATUS OF THE DISTRICT Sec. 201. Status of the District. TITLE III-THE DISTRICT COUNCIL PART 1-CREATION OF THE DISTRICT COUNCIL Sec. 301. Creation and membership. Sec. 302. Qualifications for holding office. Sec. 303. Compensation. Sec. 304. Procedure for changes. PART 2-PRINCIPAL FUNCTIONS OF THE DISTRIBT COUNCIL Sec. 321. Board of Commissioners abolished and functions transferred to District Council. Sec. 322. Functions relating to zoning and other agencies. Sec. 323. Certain delegated functions. Sec. 324. Powers of and limitations upon District Council. PART 3 ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURE OF THE DISTRICT COUNCIL Sec. 331. The Chairman. Sec. 332. Secretary of the District Council; records and documents. Sec. 334. Committees. Sec. 335. Acts and resolutions. Sec. 336. Passage of acts. Sec. 337. Procedure for zoning acts. Sec. 338. Investigations by District Council. Sec. 601. Borrowing power; debt limitations. Sec. 602. Contents of borrowing legislation; referendum on bond issue. Sec. 604. Short period of limitation. Sec. 605. Acts for issuance of bonds. Sec. 606. Public sale. PART 2 SHORT-TERM BORROWING Sec. 621. Borrowing to meet supplemental appropriations. Sec. 622. Borrowing in anticipation of revenues. Sec. 624. Sale of notes. PART 3-PAYMENT OF BONDS AND NOTES Sec. 631. Payment of bonds and notes. PART 4-TAX EXEMPTION-LEGAL INVESTMENT Sec. 641. Tax exemption. Sec. 642. Legal investment. TITLE VII-FINANCIAL AFFAIRS OF THE DISTRICT Sec. 701. Surety bonds. Sec. 702. Financial duties of the Mayor. Sec. 704. Accounting supervision and control. Sec. 706. Contracts extending beyond one year. PART 2-ANNUAL POST AUDIT BY GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE Sec. 721. Independent annual post audit. PART 3--ADJUSTMENT OF FEDERAL AND DISTRICT EXPENSES Sec. 731. Adjustment of Federal and District expenses. PART 4-ANNUAL FEDERAL PAYMENT TO THE DISTRICT Sec. 741. Annual Federal payment to the District. TITLE VIII-ELECTIONS IN THE DISTRICT Sec. 801. Board of Elections. Sec. 802. Elections to be held. Sec. 803. Elective offices; terms of office. Sec. 804. Vacancies. Sec. 805. Election of candidates. Sec. 806. Recall. Sec. 807. Qualifications of voters. Sec. 808. Registration. Sec. 809. Nominations. Sec. 810. Partisan Elections. Sec. 811. Method of voting. Sec. 812. Recounts and contests. Sec. 813. Interference with registration or voting. Sec. 814. Voting hours. Sec. 815. Prohibition of the sale of alcoholic beverages on election days. Sec. 816. Violations. TITLE IX-MISCELLANEOUS Sec. 901. Agreements with United States. Sec. 902. Personal interest in contracts or transactions. Sec. 903. Compensation from more than one source. Sec. 904. Assistance of United States Civil Service Commission in development of District Merit System. TITLE X-SUCCESSION IN GOVERNMENT Sec. 1001. Transfer of personnel, property, and funds. Sec. 1002. Existing statutes, regulations, and other actions. Sec. 1003. Pending actions and proceedings. Sec. 1004. Vacancies resulting from abolition of Board of Commissioners. TITLE XI-SEPARABILITY OF PROVISIONS Sec. 1101. Separability of provisions. TITLE XII-TEMPORARY PROVISIONS TITLE I-DEFINITIONS DEFINITIONS SEC. 101. For the purposes of this Act (1) The term "District" means the District of Columbia. (2) The term "District Council" and "Council" means the Council of the District of Columbia provided for by title III. (3) The term "Chairman" means the Chairman of the District Council provided for by title III. (4) The term "Mayor" means the Mayor provided for by title IV. (5) The term "qualified voter" means a qualified voter of the District as specified in section 807, except as otherwise specifically provided. (6) The term "act" includes any legislation adopted by the District Council, except where the term "Act" is used to refer to this Act or other Acts of Congress herein specified. (7) The term "District Election Act of 1955" means the Act of August 12, 1955 (69 Stat. 699), as amended. (8) The term "primary election" means an election held to nominate candidates of a political party for inclusion on the ballot in a general election. (9) The term "political party" means an organization which qualifies as such under any provision of the District Election Act of 1955. (10) The term "person" includes an individual, partnership, association, jointstock company, trust, or corporation. (11) The term "capital project", or "project", means (a) any physical public betterment or improvement and any preliminary studies and surveys relative thereto; (b) the acquisition of property of a permanent nature; or (c) the purchase of equipment for any public betterment or improvement when first erected or acquired. (12) The term "pending", when applied to any capital project, means authorized but not yet completed. (13) The term "Board of Elections" means the Board of Elections created by section 3 of the District Election Act of 1955. (14) The term "election", unless the context otherwise indicates, means an election held pursuant to the provisions of this Act. (15) The term "domicile" means that place where a person has his true, fixed, and permanent home and to which, when he is absent, he has the intention of returning. (16) The terms "publish" and "publication", unless otherwise specifically provided herein, mean publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the District. (17) The term "municipal courts of the District of Columbia" means the District of Columbia Court of General Sessions, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the District of Columbia Tax Court, the juvenile court of the District of Columbia, and such other municipal courts as the District Council may hereafter establish by act. (18) The terms "Delegate" and "District Delegate” mean the Delegate from the District of Columbia provided for by title XV. TITLE II-STATUS OF THE DISTRICT STATUS OF THE DISTRICT SEC. 201. (a) All of the territory constituting the permanent seat of the Government of the United States shall continue to be designated as the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia shall remain and continue a body corporate, as provided in section 2 of the Revised Statutes relating to said District. Said Corporation shall continue to be charged with all the duties, obligations, responsibilities, and liabilities, and to be vested with all of the powers, rights, privileges, immunities, and assets, respectively, imposed upon and vested in said Corporation, the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia, any person appointed from civil life as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the District or the Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia. (b) No law or regulation which is in force on the effective date of part 2, title III, of this Act shall be deemed amended or repealed by this Act except to the extent that such law or regulation is inconsistent with this Act: Provided, 52-505-65- -5 |