Ayuda welcomes the positive changes made to the proposed FY26 budget by D.C. council members during Committee mark-ups. While we are grateful to Committee Chairs and members for helping decrease critical funding gaps and remove harmful provisions, this budget still fails to meet the needs of our most vulnerable neighbors.
Ayuda and our immigrant advocate partners are urging Councilmembers to safeguard the programs our client community relies on as the Council works to fill these gaps in the budget. Specifically, we call on them to:
- Fully restore level funding for the Access to Justice Initiative with an additional $19.3M to reach $31.668M. Without level funding, Ayuda and our legal service provider partners will be unable to meet the increased need for critical legal and language access services.
- Increase funding for the Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants victim services line by $6.8M to reach the $59.41M baseline, in order for Ayuda and other service providers to be able to preserve and maintain the continuum of care for survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
- Reject the mayor’s proposal to narrow eligibility for the DC Healthcare Alliance, restoring $48M and allowing adult D.C. residents to continue to enroll in this lifesaving program.
How You Can Help
We invite you to continue lending your voice to this critical advocacy and join us in contacting your Councilmember if you are a D.C. resident*. Click here to identify your Councilmember and get their contact information. To make outreach easy, we’ve drafted sample language for your emails and/or calls:
Subject: Please restore vital funding to FY26 budget
Dear [Councilmember name],
My name is [name] and I am a resident of Ward [Ward number]. I am reaching out today to thank you for helping to fill critical gaps in the proposed FY26 budget, and urge you to prioritize the following as you consider the full budget:
- Fully restore level funding for the Access to Justice Initiative with an additional $19.3M to reach $31.668M. Without level funding, legal service providers will be unable to meet the increased need for critical legal and language access services.
- Increase funding for the Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants victim services line by $6.8M to reach the $59.41M baseline in order for service providers to be able to preserve and maintain the continuum of care for survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
- Reject the mayor’s proposal to narrow eligibility for the DC Healthcare Alliance, restoring $48M and allowing adult D.C. residents to continue to enroll in this lifesaving program
Immigrants are integral to making this city the diverse and vibrant place it has become – please help keep D.C. a welcoming city for all and fully restore these critical programs that our immigrant neighbors rely on.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
D.C. is stronger and more vibrant because of our immigrant community members. Let’s stand together with them and call on the D.C. Council to preserve the critical protections and programs that they rely on.
*Not a D.C. resident? You can still help by sharing this post with the District dwellers in your life!
This post is a follow-up to our original call-to-action which outlined concerns with D.C.’s proposed FY26 budget. Click here to view the original post.