WASHINGTON — Eleven temporary D.C. laws, on subjects from probate administration and volunteer services to the holdover terms of Public Service Commission members, are set to expire between January and May with no permanent bill or act on the same subject listed in the D.C. Council’s latest Emergency Bill Status Report, an Inquisitor analysis of the report found.
The report, prepared for the Council’s Nov. 10 legislative meeting, lists 110 emergency measures: acts in force, acts that have expired, and new emergencies awaiting the mayor’s signature. It shows how much of the District’s lawmaking now runs through short-term legislation, and how many of those stopgaps are still waiting on permanent versions as Council Period 26 nears its end.
Time is short. Under Council Rule 418, any permanent bill that has not received final reading by the Dec. 15 legislative meeting lapses at the end of the Council Period and must be reintroduced, the Office of the Secretary to the Council wrote in guidance to members and staff. Temporary bills that have received a first reading by Dec. 15 roll over into the new Council Period.
How D.C.’s short-term laws work
The District has three tiers of legislation, according to the Office of the Secretary’s Council Period 26 legislative handbook. Permanent law takes two Council votes, the mayor’s signature and a period of congressional review. Emergency legislation “requires a ⅔ Council vote, skips second reading and Congressional review” and is valid for 90 days. Temporary legislation requires two votes and congressional review and lasts 225 days.
In practice the Council often passes all three at once: an emergency act to take effect immediately, a temporary act to follow it, and a permanent bill sent through committee. When the 90-day emergency would expire before the temporary act clears Congress, the Council can pass a “congressional review emergency” to fill the gap. The 90-day limit comes from section 412(a) of the Home Rule Act.
What the report contains
Of the 110 measures in the report, 101 have been enacted as emergency acts with assigned act numbers; the other nine were passed and awaiting mayoral review when the report was prepared. Twenty of the 101 enacted acts carry expiration dates on or after Nov. 10, meaning they were still in force as of the meeting. The other 81 had expired, in most cases after a temporary or permanent law took their place or after the job they were passed to do was finished.
| Type | Measures | Introduced at the request of the mayor or an independent agency |
|---|---|---|
| Other emergency measures | 68 | 8 |
| Contract approval and payment authorization | 19 | 18 |
| Congressional review emergencies | 18 | 0 |
| Fiscal year budget and budget support | 5 | 3 |
| Total | 110 | 29 |
Eighty-three of the measures carry a 2026 title and 27 a 2025 title. Excluding contract approvals, the 91 remaining measures cover 60 distinct subjects, because the same subject often appears two, three or more times as emergency, congressional review emergency and second emergency versions.
The same subjects, again and again
Nine subjects appear at least three times. The most frequent is the Special Education for Young Adults in the Custody of the Department of Corrections Emergency Amendment Act, a Pinto measure that appears five times: the original 2025 emergency, a 2025 congressional review emergency, a “second” emergency, a 2026 emergency whose temporary companion is pending transmittal to Congress, and a new congressional review emergency awaiting the mayor’s signature. The report lists no permanent bill on the subject.
| Subject | Lead sponsor(s) listed | Measures | Permanent measure listed in report |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special Education for Young Adults in DOC Custody | Pinto | 5 | None |
| Volunteer Services Clarification | Pinto | 4 | None |
| Certified Business Enterprise Program Compliance and Enforcement Support | McDuffie (2025, at the mayor’s request); Felder (2026) | 3 | None |
| Clemency Board Waiver Authority | Pinto | 3 | B26-38 |
| Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Technical | Allen | 3 | None |
| Personal Delivery Device Weight Limit | Allen | 3 | A26-421, under congressional review |
| Prearrest Diversion Task Force Recommendations | Pinto | 3 | None |
| Private Vehicle-for-Hire Operator Clarification | Nadeau | 3 | None |
| Strengthening Probate Administration | Pinto; Pinto and Allen | 3 | None |
Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who chairs the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, is the first-listed sponsor on 24 of the 110 measures, the most of any member, followed by Chairman Phil Mendelson with 23 and Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau with 21. Mendelson’s total includes the budget acts and several contract measures he introduced at the mayor’s request; 10 of Nadeau’s are contract approvals introduced at the mayor’s request.
| Member | Measures |
|---|---|
| Brooke Pinto | 24 |
| Phil Mendelson | 23 |
| Brianne K. Nadeau | 21 |
| Charles Allen | 14 |
| Zachary Parker | 8 |
| Janeese Lewis George | 7 |
| Robert C. White Jr. | 4 |
| Matthew Frumin | 3 |
| Kenyan McDuffie | 2 |
| Wendell Felder | 2 |
| Christina Henderson | 2 |
Contracts approved, and paid for, by emergency act
Nineteen measures approve District contracts or contract modifications by emergency act, and 18 of them also authorize payment. Seventeen were introduced at the request of the mayor and one at the request of the University of the District of Columbia; the remaining one, a set of modifications to a contract with the See Forever Foundation, lists Councilmember Zachary Parker alone.
District law requires the executive to send contracts worth more than $1 million in a 12-month period, and multiyear contracts, to the Council for review before award, the handbook says. “Sometimes proposed contracts are not transmitted to the Council for review and approval prior to award and/or receipt of goods and services,” it continues. “In those instances, because Council review and approval is still required, the Council must ratify the retroactive contract,” and the executive sends those contracts as emergency legislation. The status report does not give the dollar value of each contract or say why each one reached the Council when it did, and the text of the newer acts had not yet been posted in the D.C. Law Library.
| Contractor | Contract or modification | Introduced by | Status in report |
|---|---|---|---|
| OceanPro Industries | CW128161 | Parker, at mayor’s request | A26-408, expired Nov. 8 |
| Capitol Paving of D.C. | CW130810 | Nadeau, at mayor’s request | Pending mayoral review |
| JJ Prime Services | CW133373 | Nadeau, at mayor’s request | A26-403, expired Nov. 8 |
| Fort Myer Construction | DCKA-2026-C-0900 | Nadeau, at mayor’s request | A26-402, expired Nov. 8 |
| Strittmatter Metro | DCKA-2026-C-0901 | Nadeau, at mayor’s request | A26-400, expired Nov. 8 |
| Total Civil Construction | Mod. 0001, CW132711 | Nadeau, at mayor’s request | A26-395, expired Nov. 8 |
| Eastern Salt Company | Mod. M001, CW132368 | Nadeau, at mayor’s request | A26-401, expired Nov. 8 |
| Crawford Consulting and Mental Health Service | Mod. M003, DCRL-2026-C-0024 | Parker, at mayor’s request | A26-443, expires Jan. 18 |
| Miles Away Charter | Mods. M0007-M0008, CW110321 | Mendelson, at mayor’s request | A26-440, expires Jan. 18 |
| Tag-B Parking | Mods. M0008-M0010, CW110323 | Mendelson, at mayor’s request | A26-438, expires Jan. 18 |
| Ramjay Inc. | Mods. M0009-M0011, CW110208 | Mendelson, at mayor’s request | A26-442, expires Jan. 18 |
| USA Guided Tours DC | Mods. M0010-M0012, CW110212 | Mendelson, at mayor’s request | A26-439, expires Jan. 18 |
| See Forever Foundation | Mods. M004-M06, CW106884 | Parker | A26-441, expires Jan. 18 |
| All Pro All Services | Mods. M009-M012A, DCRL-2024-D-0073 | Parker, at mayor’s request | A26-396, expired Nov. 8 |
| Shaw Solutions | Mods. M01-M02, CW131644 | Nadeau, at mayor’s request | A26-406, expired Nov. 8 |
| ID3 Trucking | Mods. M01-M03, CW131628 | Nadeau, at mayor’s request | A26-404, expired Nov. 8 |
| Shaw Solutions | Mods. M01-M03, CW131646 | Nadeau, at mayor’s request | A26-407, expired Nov. 8 |
| Shaw Solutions | Mods. M01-M03, CW131648 | Nadeau, at mayor’s request | A26-405, expired Nov. 8 |
| Ellucian Company (UDC multiyear contract) | PO-GF-2026-C-0019 | Mendelson, at UDC’s request | Pending mayoral review |
For a contract ratification, the expiration of the 90-day act generally matters less than for a policy change: the act’s purpose is to approve a contract and authorize payment.
The 2027 cliff
Twenty-three temporary laws listed in the report expire between Jan. 1 and May 8, 2027. Thirteen of them expire in January, seven on Jan. 1 alone. For 12 of the 23, the report lists a permanent bill or act on the same subject; for the other 11, it lists none.
| Expires | Law | Subject | Permanent measure listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 1 | L26-117 | Short-Term Disability Insurance Benefit Protection Clarification | A26-444, pending congressional transmittal |
| Jan. 1 | L26-118 | Friends of Wangari Gardens Grant | None |
| Jan. 1 | L26-119 | Residential Building Permit Classification | B26-215, pending in Committee of the Whole |
| Jan. 1 | L26-120 | Parking Enforcement Modernization Technical Correction | None |
| Jan. 1 | L26-121 | Rhode Island Avenue Corridor Long-Term Lease Adjustment | None |
| Jan. 1 | L26-122 | STEER Clarification | None |
| Jan. 1 | L26-123 | Net Zero Modification and Preservation | None |
| Jan. 9 | L26-124 | Clemency Board Waiver Authority | B26-38 |
| Jan. 9 | L26-125 | Pretrial Detention and Reporting | B26-188, pending in Judiciary and Public Safety |
| Jan. 22 | L26-136 | Rental Housing Registration Data Integrity | None |
| Jan. 22 | L26-137 | Archdiocese of Washington Parish Real Property Tax Exemption | B26-641, pending mayoral review |
| Jan. 22 | L26-138 | Full Accountability in Arrest Reporting | B26-618, pending in Judiciary and Public Safety |
| Jan. 22 | L26-139 | Body-Worn Camera Transparency for Use of Force | B26-603, pending in Judiciary and Public Safety |
| March 14 | L26-154 | Arena Safety Conformity | B26-651 |
| March 27 | L26-162 | Certified Business Enterprise Program Compliance and Enforcement Support | None |
| March 27 | L26-163 | Volunteer Services Clarification | None |
| March 27 | L26-164 | Strengthening Probate Administration | None |
| March 27 | L26-165 | DC Water Billing and Disconnection Clarification | B26-443, pending in Transportation and the Environment |
| March 27 | L26-166 | Reservoir District Tax Exemption | B26-700, pending mayoral review |
| April 2 | L26-175 | Personal Delivery Device Weight Limit | A26-421, under congressional review |
| May 8 | L26-184 | Entertainment Establishment Employee Safety Extension | B26-64, pending in Public Works and Operations |
| May 8 | L26-185 | Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Technical | None |
| May 8 | L26-186 | Public Service Commission Term Holdover Extension | None |
Two of the permanent bills in that table moved after the report was prepared. The Clemency Board Waiver Authority Amendment Act (B26-38) and the Arena Safety Conformity Amendment Act (B26-651), whose permanent versions were listed in the report as pending in Pinto’s committee, appeared on the consent agenda for a first vote at the Nov. 10 meeting. Under Rule 418 they would need a final vote by Dec. 15 to avoid lapsing.
Four other permanent bills tied to January expirations, on pretrial detention reporting, arrest reporting, body-worn camera transparency and residential building permits, were still listed as pending in committee. For the 11 subjects with no permanent measure listed, keeping the policy in place past its expiration would take new emergency or temporary legislation, or a permanent bill in the next Council Period.
Congress adds its own clock. The Secretary’s office wrote that measures that do not become law before Congress adjourns sine die will be retransmitted in January, and their projected law dates “will start anew.” The report lists several temporary acts as under congressional review, among them the Net Zero Continuity, Private Vehicle-for-Hire Operator Clarification and Language Access Rulemaking Authority acts.
How we did this
The Inquisitor extracted every row of the Council’s Emergency Bill Status Report dated Nov. 10, 2026, and classified each measure by its title. Contract measures are those whose titles approve a contract or contract modification. Subjects were grouped by title, ignoring the year and the words “Congressional Review” and “Second.” A permanent measure counts as listed if the report shows a permanent bill or permanent act number for any measure on the same subject. Sponsor counts use the first-listed member.
The report has limits. It is not a complete record of every emergency act of the Council Period; the October 2025 Let Our Vows Endure emergency act, D.C. Act 26-156, for example, does not appear. The PDF’s metadata shows it was created Nov. 4, so statuses may lag. It also contains apparent typographical errors: one expiration date is printed as “1/18/20227,” two temporary laws are marked as having “Expired” on dates still in the future (Jan. 1 and March 27, 2027), and the Community Schools Task Force and substance-use outreach grant emergencies share the same bill and act numbers. A permanent bill on a subject could exist without appearing in the report. The Council’s Legislative Information Management System carries each measure’s full history.
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