D.C. Wants Statehood Not a Tax Exemption
by Mike Piacsek

May 2001
Volume 38, No. 4

Recently, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman introduced the No Taxation Without Representation Act of 2001 (NTWRA). This act would give tax exemption to residents of Washington, D.C. until Congress grants them full voting representation. While this may sound like a good deal for Washingtonians, a closer look shows that this is a bill that we should oppose. There are at least three reasons why this legislation is a bad idea for D.C. residents, and for Americans everywhere.

First of all, NTWRA violates the concept of self-determination. The overwhelming consensus of D.C. residents is for statehood. This can't be stressed strongly enough. We approved a statehood initiative with 60% of the vote in 1980, and recent polls show that a similar or larger percentage continue to favor statehood. NTWRA ignores the will of the people to form a new state by allowing an escape hatch for Congress by providing for tax exemption for D.C. residents. No one bothered to ask us if we want this legislation. We did, however, vote for statehood and that is the mandate which Congress still faces today.

Second, NTWRA does nothing to end Congress' oversight of local governance in the District. Washington remains the only region in which every single local ordinance and appropriation is subject to arbitrary veto and onerous riders by Congress. No other federal territory, including Puerto Rico is subjected to such humiliating micro-managing. Imagine the government of California being banned from tallying the votes on the state medical marijuana initiative. Not just told that it conflicts with federal law, but banned from counting the votes in the first place. That is exactly what happened in D.C. recently. How does tax exemption help in this situation? Statehood, on the other hand, would end such oversight, and make it illegal for Congress to butt in to our local affairs.

Third, Imagine the consequences of exempting D.C. residents from paying federal taxes for just a moment. How long before Marc Rich and every other multi-billionaire tax dodger decides to move into the District to avoid paying taxes? The speed with which lifelong D.C. residents are displaced would be staggering as property values skyrocket. If the goal is to alleviate the injustice of poor African Americans being denied a vote in Congress, I can think of no greater way to compound the problem than to force them out of their homes and the District altogether because millionaires want to avoid paying taxes. But this is exactly the result that NTWRA would bring about. And how many billions of dollars of tax revenue will be lost as a result? The Federal Government would become the next big loser (after poor and middle income D.C. residents) as more tax dodgers move into the district. How will the federal government handle so much lost revenue? Assuming the tax exemption isn't revoked immediately, don't count on social services being maintained at current levels.

Ultimately, legislation like NTWRA misses the point and sets a dangerous precedent-that it's okay for Congress to violate the voting rights of Americans against their will and regulate every aspect of their lives, as long as we don't tax them. Such a concept is repugnant to the concepts of freedom and democracy. We shouldn't deprive some Americans of the right to representation in Congress or the right to local self-rule because of an accident of geography. Denying the expressed will of 570,000 Americans to make D.C. a state is an injustice, pure and simple.

Fortunately, a constitutional amendment is unnecessary to grant statehood. Most of the District can be ceded by Congress by simple legislation to become a state. Congress would retain a small section including the White House, Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court and some other federal buildings and monuments.

Coalitions such as Stand Up for Democracy in D.C. fight day in and day out to achieve statehood, and the D.C. Statehood Green Party has fought consistently for more than thirty years to achieve statehood for the District. However, the real obstacle to D.C. Statehood remains political-Republicans and too many Democrats willing to trample on the rights of Americans in the name of political interest. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton undermines the effort to achieve true democracy in the District by offering misguided legislation like NTWRA.

Michael Piacsek is coordinator of the Statehood Working Group of the D.C. Statehood Green Party. See www.dcstatehoodgreen.org for more information.