Read the latest Ward 5 news in the
Councilmember’s weekly newsletter:
Read the latest Ward 5 news in the Councilmember’s weekly newsletter:
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LATEST WARD 5 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
March 14, 2025
Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
It has been a long and stressful week for District residents as we lobbied on Capitol Hill to protect the District’s budget from a harmful Continuing Resolution that passed the House on Tuesday and received votes in the Senate today. A lot happened in the past few hours, so I want to update neighbors on the latest:
- First, ten Democrats, led by Senator Schumer (D-NY), joined Republicans in clearing the needed 60 vote threshold for cloture. This prevented further debate on the Continuing Resolution (CR).
- Subsequently, Senators tried to introduce an amendment to protect DC’s budget, led by Senator Alsobrooks (D-MD). The amendment failed.
- Next, the Continuing Resolution passed, 54-46.
- Because of the resounding calls for protecting the District’s local budget, Senator Collins (R-ME), joined by Maryland and Virginia Senators—Alsobrooks (D-MD), Van Hollen (D-MD), Kaine (D-VA), and Warner (D-VA)—introduced a separate piece of legislation that fixes the harm caused in the CR, and will allow us to continue spending at our Fiscal Year 2025 levels, avoiding a devastating $1.1 billion in cuts to our local budget. This legislation was resoundingly, unanimously approved just moments ago.
- We now continue our fight, calling on the House to expeditiously pass this legislation and the President to sign it. I was reassured to hear Senator Collins convey that President Trump supports the swift passage of the bill.
It is not lost on me that this success took remarkable efforts from countless District neighbors. To all of you who have called, emailed, visited the Hill, and stood up in this important moment: thank you. DC demonstrated exactly what we are made of this week. While this may not be the last fight we face in the coming months and years, it is a reminder and inspiration of our ability to come together and speak up on behalf of the District. Power to the people.
LATEST WARD 5 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Power to the People
March 14, 2025
Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
It has been a long and stressful week for District residents as we lobbied on Capitol Hill to protect the District’s budget from a harmful Continuing Resolution that passed the House on Tuesday and received votes in the Senate today. A lot happened in the past few hours, so I want to update neighbors on the latest:
- First, ten Democrats, led by Senator Schumer (D-NY), joined Republicans in clearing the needed 60 vote threshold for cloture. This prevented further debate on the Continuing Resolution (CR).
- Subsequently, Senators tried to introduce an amendment to protect DC’s budget, led by Senator Alsobrooks (D-MD). The amendment failed.
- Next, the Continuing Resolution passed, 54-46.
- Because of the resounding calls for protecting the District’s local budget, Senator Collins (R-ME), joined by Maryland and Virginia Senators—Alsobrooks (D-MD), Van Hollen (D-MD), Kaine (D-VA), and Warner (D-VA)—introduced a separate piece of legislation that fixes the harm caused in the CR, and will allow us to continue spending at our Fiscal Year 2025 levels, avoiding a devastating $1.1 billion in cuts to our local budget. This legislation was resoundingly, unanimously approved just moments ago.
- We now continue our fight, calling on the House to expeditiously pass this legislation and the President to sign it. I was reassured to hear Senator Collins convey that President Trump supports the swift passage of the bill.
It is not lost on me that this success took remarkable efforts from countless District neighbors. To all of you who have called, emailed, visited the Hill, and stood up in this important moment: thank you. DC demonstrated exactly what we are made of this week. While this may not be the last fight we face in the coming months and years, it is a reminder and inspiration of our ability to come together and speak up on behalf of the District. Power to the people.
Progress Report: January 2023 - January 2025
Check out the latest Progress Report from Councilmember Parker! Our office has been hard at work alongside Ward 5 neighbors to build healthy communities through transformative policy, fighting for Ward 5, and making government accessible and transparent. View the full report and see more of what we achieved together here.
COUNCILMEMBER ZACHARY PARKER
Since taking office in January of 2023, Zachary has delivered for Ward 5 residents through responsive constituent services and significant budget wins. He has introduced dozens of transformative pieces of legislation, including bills to establish the District’s State Superintendent of Education’s School Support Office to improve low-performing schools, and the District Child Tax Credit which provides low-income and middle-class families fully refundable tax credits for children 17 years of age and younger.
LEGISLATION
Since taking office, Councilmember Parker has introduced more than 30 pieces of legislation, and co-introduced more than 150 additional bills. Learn about Councilmember Parker’s legislation, co-introductions, and committee assignments on the Legislation page.
COUNCILMEMBER ZACHARY PARKER
Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker is an educator and a public servant. He taught 7th-grade math in New Orleans, post-Katrina, with Teach For America, and spent nearly a decade supporting DC school administrators at Ward 5 schools like Dunbar High School and Mundo Verde PCS.
Zachary sees firsthand the human impact of a system that leaves our most vulnerable behind. He grew up watching his oldest brother struggle with a one-size-fits-all school system that did not have the resources to support him, and now sees the challenges he faces in life because of it.
And Zachary suffered alongside his middle brother through a long and exhaustive battle with a healthcare system that treated him more like a problem than a patient before he ultimately passed away at 36 from kidney failure. These shouldn’t be the experiences families have when interacting with our public institutions. Zachary has dedicated his life’s work to transforming the systems that failed his brothers and so many like them.
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