The No More D.C. Waste Act would change how federal funds provided to the District of Columbia for the District of Columbia resident tuition support programs are managed. The core idea is to end the automatic carryover of unobligated federal funds at the end of each fiscal year. Any portion of the federal payment that remains unobligated by year-end would lapse and be unavailable in future years. The bill also requires the District to remove language in its existing DC College Access Act of 1999 that allows funds to remain available until expended, effectively tightening how those funds can be used. In addition, the bill would require an annual public report from the District’s Chief Financial Officer to Congress detailing how the funds were used, beginning after fiscal year 2026. The amendments would apply to funds appropriated for fiscal year 2016 and later. In short, the bill aims to reduce potential “waste” by preventing year-end fund carryover and increasing federal oversight of how DC funds for resident tuition support are spent.
Key Points
- 1Prohibition on unobligated funds: Any federal payment to the District of Columbia for the resident tuition support program that remains unobligated at the end of a fiscal year must lapse and cannot be used in future years.
- 2Conforming amendments: The bill repeals language in the DC College Access Act of 1999 that allowed the funds for both the public school and private school tuition programs to remain available until expended.
- 3Effective date for amendments: The carryover prohibition and related changes apply to funds appropriated for fiscal year 2016 and onward.
- 4Annual reporting to Congress: Starting no later than 60 days after the end of each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2026, the DC Chief Financial Officer must report to Congress on how the funds were used, including:
- 5- The number of payments made for students under the program that year.
- 6- The average amount of financial assistance per payment.
- 7- The amount of the federal payment that remained unobligated at year-end.
- 8Procedural details: The bill was introduced in the House (February 27, 2025) by Rep. Flood (for himself and Rep. Timmons) and referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.