District of Columbia Home Rule Improvement Act

The District of Columbia Home Rule Improvement Act would significantly tighten and standardize federal oversight of D.C. laws and actions. It establishes a uniform 60-day congressional review period for all District laws, expands the use of congressional “resolutions of disapproval” to strike down not only whole acts but also individual provisions of acts, and extends the same disapproval process to Mayor-issued executive orders and District regulations. The bill also creates expedited procedures for considering these resolutions in both chambers, prohibits the Council from withdrawing acts once transmitted, and bars transmitting new acts that are substantially the same as disapproved acts. It requires an annual state-of-the-district hearing and report. The act would take effect for transmissions occurring after enactment, with specific transitional rules for emergency designations and regulatory actions. In short, the bill increases Congress’s ability to block or modify D.C. laws, provisions within those laws, and District executive orders and regulations, while laying out a detailed, fast-track process for doing so.