FY23 Budget Testimony: Department of Buildings
Children’s Law Center Senior Supervising Attorney Kathy Zeisel testified before the DC Council’s Committee of the Whole at the Department of Buildings’ (DOB) budget hearing, noting that if the new agency is to succeed where DCRA has failed, the Council must ensure it is meaningfully different from DCRA and properly funded to have adequate staff and approach housing enforcement in a data-driven, public health-focused way. To that end, Kathy called on the Council to make sure the District’s FY23 budget includes funding for 75 housing inspectors at DOB, increased enforcement staff, increased staff for public health and dedicated liaisons with other agencies, and to utilize the BSA to ensure that fines collected go to the abatement fund so that needed housing repairs can be made.