The D.C. Commission on Poverty will likely receive no funding in the District’s fiscal year 2027 budget, a move its volunteer commissioners fear will continue to stifle the body’s ability to address poverty in the city.
D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson released the council’s revised budget on June 8. The proposal restored some funding to homeless services, but left the Commission on Poverty unfunded. The commission, which falls under the Department of Employment Services (DOES), also received no funding in Mayor Muriel Bowser’s budget proposal. In April, commission leaders testified at the DOES budget oversight hearing, advocating for funds to employ three staff members to support the commission, as required by law, and to bolster the commission’s infrastructure and impact.
Without funding, Poverty Commission Vice Chair Khadijah Williams said the commission has struggled to establish a reputation within the D.C. government and fulfill its legally mandated responsibilities. The commission’s founding legislation tasks commissioners with advising the mayor’s office and council on policies and programs designed to reduce poverty and create economic opportunity in the District.
“The poverty commission is the only body in the District government body where the sole purpose is to address poverty in the District,” Williams said in an interview with Street Sense. “And it is the only place where structurally, legislatively, agencies from across the spectrum that all touch poverty in different ways can actually come together.”
Poverty remains an issue in the city. In the first section of the revised budget, the council highlights how poverty in the District has increased in the past few years after steadily falling since 2010. 2024 U.S. Census data cited in the budget states that 17.3% of D.C.’s population, or almost 117,000 Washingtonians, live under the poverty line.
Additionally, the revised budget states that the number of District residents receiving government assistance increased by 7.5% between 2023 and 2024. In 2024, 7.9 % of D.C.’s population received benefits like Medicaid or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families compared to 4.2% of Maryland’s population and 3.8% of Virginia’s.
Without any funding, the commission has struggled to meet with agencies regularly to discuss initiatives to reduce these rates of poverty. When Williams was appointed vice chair in November, she said some agencies didn’t know the commission existed.
“The goal is to make sure that thousands of people in poverty actually have a voice in government,” Williams said. “How do you ensure that thousands of people in poverty have a voice in government when the commission itself is fighting to have a voice in that same government?”
Part of the body’s founding legislation states the commission should have at least three paid staff members, including an executive director appointed by the mayor, who are charged with helping the commission produce its poverty reduction plan and annual reports. Williams said these staff members would also help facilitate conversations between the commission and other agencies, increasing its relevance and reach.
In fiscal year 2025, the commission was allocated $87,000, which Williams said was used in part to pay for a staff member, but its budget was reduced to $0 in fiscal year 2026. Williams said the lack of funding has resulted in the commission struggling to recruit members with lived experience in poverty, submit its legally mandated 2025 report on time, and advise D.C. agencies working to reduce poverty.
At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds, who chairs the Committee on Executive Administration and Labor, which allocates funds to DOES and the Commission on Poverty, did not immediately return a request for comment on why the commission was left unfunded.
Previously, the commission worked with Medici Road, a third-party contracting company hired by DOES to research and draft a report outlining the commission’s proposal for cutting D.C. poverty in half by 2026. The report was released to the public in March, despite relying on data from 2010 to 2022. Many commissioners expressed that the report did not fully capture the beliefs of the commission, calling it “outdated.”
In a quest to increase the visibility of the commission, Williams said Commission Chair Elijah Moses has been paying out of pocket for commissioners to have Poverty Commission-specific emails and for the creation of a commission logo. At the DOES budget oversight hearing on April 22, Moses urged the council to restore funding to the commission, pointing to other advisory commissions, like the Commission on Latino Community Development and the Commission on Human Rights, that received funding.
“The decision to zero out the commission’s budget risks silencing one of the few bodies specifically designed to elevate the voices of the most vulnerable affected residents in poverty,” Moses said.
In the face of a challenging budget season, Williams said the commission hopes for funding in the finalized budget, which the council will vote to approve June 23, but would not stop advocating if it remains unfunded.
“We can’t stop doing this work because we owe it to our communities in poverty to keep trying. They try through way harder circumstances than we’re dealing with right now, and that’s what keeps me going,” Williams said.
This article originally appeared in Street Sense’s June 17, 2026 edition.
