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
May 30, 2025
Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
This week, Mayor Bowser released her proposed FY26 budget, officially kicking off budget season in DC. The $21 billion proposal, introduced amid a $1 billion projected shortfall over the next three years, makes clear how the Mayor envisions moving the District forward: corporate incentives and headline-grabbing development projects over education and basic human needs.
This is often dubbed “trickle-down economics” — the idea that if we only reduce burdens (and often taxes) on businesses and the wealthy, then they will create jobs, lure more business, and expand profits for everyone, including the most vulnerable amongst us. Ronald Reagan coined the phrase: a rising tide lifts all boats. I reject trickle-down economics as it has never worked, and it only exacerbates pain for our seniors, low-income residents, and our youth, while making a small minority wealthy.
LATEST WARD 5 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
A Budget for All of Us
May 30, 2025
Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
This week, Mayor Bowser released her proposed FY26 budget, officially kicking off budget season in DC. The $21 billion proposal, introduced amid a $1 billion projected shortfall over the next three years, makes clear how the Mayor envisions moving the District forward: corporate incentives and headline-grabbing development projects over education and basic human needs.
This is often dubbed “trickle-down economics” — the idea that if we only reduce burdens (and often taxes) on businesses and the wealthy, then they will create jobs, lure more business, and expand profits for everyone, including the most vulnerable amongst us. Ronald Reagan coined the phrase: a rising tide lifts all boats. I reject trickle-down economics as it has never worked, and it only exacerbates pain for our seniors, low-income residents, and our youth, while making a small minority wealthy.
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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Building a stronger, healthier Ward 5 every day.
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