Issues
Preserving and Expanding Affordable Housing
Affordable and accessible housing is essential for Ward 4 and District residents’ economic stability, safety, and health. Whether we own a home or rent; have lived here for a few years or for generations; are single, retired, or trying to raise a family, we know that the cost of housing in Ward 4 is skyrocketing. Housing is a human right and need.
Councilmember Lewis George took office during the pandemic, and led the fight to extend the moratorium on evictions until rental assistance became available, allowing as many people as possible to stay at home safely. The next year, she introduced the Green New Deal for Housing, proposing a new agency responsible for building publicly-owned, deeply affordable housing developments centering strong environmental and fair labor standards. When the Council took on the RENTAL Act, she fought to protect tenants’ rights, writing and passing amendments aimed at encouraging new investment in the District’s housing market and protecting tenants’ ability to negotiate in the sale of their buildings.
As Ward 4’s Councilmember, she has fought to protect tenants from unsafe, undignified, and illegal housing practices, introducing the Housing with Integrity Amendment Act, barring landlords with five or more violations from obtaining new building permits. She secured funding for additional Department of Buildings inspectors to help hold landlords accountable for failing to provide adequate living conditions. She also recognizes that housing is not just a human right, but a prerequisite to basic health and safety, introducing legislation like the Extreme Heat Eviction Protection Act, prohibiting landlords from evicting tenants during extreme heat waves.
She is calling for significant investments in our housing programs (including the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, Permanent Supportive Housing, and Targeted Affordable Housing) and in repairing and preserving safe public housing. She is committed to expanding the Housing Production Trust Fund, raising the ceiling on homebuyer assistance programs, expanding the successful DC Homeowner and Rental Property Tax Credit, and taking bold action to expand housing protections like rent control, particularly so residents with low- and fixed incomes can remain part of our communities.
Promoting Community Safety and Crime Reduction
As a former Assistant Attorney General for the Juvenile Section of the Public Safety Division, Councilmember Lewis George is advocating for evidence-backed safety strategies and services that reduce crime by improving health, education, and economic opportunity for residents. She believes in a whole-of-government response to crime, working closely with agency leaders to make targeted investments in effective public safety policies, and holding regular meetings to ensure community members are centered in conversations around safety in their neighborhoods.
Councilmember Lewis George believes in a coordinated approach towards getting guns off our streets, closing cases, holding perpetrators accountable, and confronting the factors that exacerbate gun violence in every neighborhood. As Ward 4’s Councilmember, she has brought intensive intervention to Kennedy Street and Petworth, two of the neighborhoods that have experienced the most challenging violence, and has fought to bring slumlords to court for failing to take action against illegal activity taking place on their property. She fought to win accreditation for DC’s Crime Lab to more efficiently process evidence and improve prosecutions, and is advocating for increased investments in victim services programs, co-introducing legislation to expand supports for victims of crime.
She also believes real and lasting public safety rests on accountability and trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Following the killing of Karon Hylton-Brown in Brightwood Park in 2020, Councilmember Lewis George fought alongside community members for accountability for the officers whose unauthorized pursuit led to Karon’s death. As the federal government has ramped up its assaults on DC autonomy by deploying National Guard troops to our streets, she has called for stronger oversight of MPD’s cooperation with federal law enforcement. She is committed to addressing bias in policing and introduced legislation to investigate ties between MPD officers and hate groups that impact officers’ ability to do their jobs fairly. She believes that all communities, in particular Black and brown communities with higher rates of policing and criminal justice involvement, must be involved in defining community safety for themselves.
Councilmember Lewis George is also committed to reducing conflict among our young people that too often escalates into violence. She advocated for and delivered on securing an additional lawyer in the Office of the Attorney General to do more prevention for at-risk youth, and has expanded the Safe Passage program to ensure students arrive and depart from school safely. She is also fighting to make sure Ward 4’s young people have the resources and opportunities they need to stay on the right track, partnering with the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement to create a dedicated job training and transitional employment program for at-risk individuals in Wards 4 and 5.
While DC has seen a measurable decrease in violent crime over the last few years, District residents are still hurting, and they want safety and stability in their communities. Councilmember Lewis George is committed to bringing together government agencies and neighbors to create long-term safety in our communities.
Ensuring Quality Education and Child Care for All
All District students should have excellent child care and education options, and their futures shouldn’t be decided by where they live — or the luck of a lottery system. As a product of DCPS, a graduate of City Year, a student member of the State Board of Education, and an attorney at OSSE, Councilmember Lewis George has borne witness to DC’s two-tiered education system, and she is committed to addressing it.
Her first bill as a Councilmember was to call for the creation of a multi-year technology plan for DCPS, so that students have the digital literacy skills they need to succeed, and our schools have the equipment and staffing to support 21st century learning. She introduced the Conflict Resolution Education Amendment Act, requiring the Office of the State Superintendent for Education to develop a curriculum for conflict resolution education to be taught in all DCPS schools, which was ultimately implemented by OSSE. She continues to push for greater investments in social-emotional learning. She also fought alongside the Washington Teachers’ Union to win pay increases for DC teachers, and led the Council to fund a full-time librarian in every DCPS school.
She recognizes the physical obstacles many students face in receiving a quality education, whether through school buildings in need of repairs or long commutes to and from school. She secured $18 million in the FY25 budget for a temporary learning space for Whittier Elementary School students while the school undergoes renovations, introduced the Swing Space Transportation Support Act of 2023, requiring DCPS to provide transportation to swing space locations that are greater than half a mile from the school’s permanent address, and has secured funding for Ward 4 capital projects in every DC budget since taking office, including accelerated modernizations for Truesdell, Whittier, and LaSalle Backus. She is also working to strengthen and expand youth out-of-school-time programs, is engaged in robust oversight of the District’s educational agencies, and is advocating for equity, access, and innovation for all District students. She also knows the importance of retaining our educators, so she works hard to make sure teachers and staff in our public schools have the support and protections they need to help our children thrive.
Councilmember Lewis George recognizes that good education must be preceded by quality childcare. Child care is essential — not only for a child’s early development, but for helping to make full-time work possible for young parents. That’s why she joined her colleagues to pass an amendment to the DC budget creating a first-of-its kind Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, entitling our hero childcare workers to the same compensation as K-12 educators. She continues fighting to fully fund universal child care legislation, including the Birth-to-Three for All DC Act, and fighting for real investment in neighborhood schools in every Ward 4 community.
Investing in Good Jobs and an Inclusive Economy
Everyone should benefit from DC’s economic growth, but too often our working families and small businesses are losing out. As a member of the Committee on Executive Administration and Labor, Councilmember Lewis George is committed to expanding job opportunities and job quality for all residents.
She understands the wage disparities that exist in many workplaces, especially for women and people of color. She is fighting to ease the burden on job seekers, promote fair hiring practices, and prevent employers from discriminating against prospective employees. She co-introduced the Wage Transparency Omnibus Amendment Act, prohibiting employers from screening candidates based on their wage history and requiring employers to share a salary range and existence of healthcare benefits in all job postings. She also introduced and passed the Minimum Wage Clarification Amendment Act, requiring employers to pay District minimum wage rates when an employee performs at least two hours of work in the District in one workweek, and is a strong proponent of Initiative 82, which phases out the inequitable tipped minimum wage for service workers.
Councilmember Lewis George is calling for investments in DC CARES and a range of workforce development programs. She has been a strong advocate for vocational programs, fighting to get more people trained in skilled and high-paying jobs the District needs, including for residents with disabilities. She is also advocating for improvements to DC’s unemployment insurance system to ensure that every worker can access the benefits they depend on. She is committed to providing opportunities for our young adults, reentering residents, and older workers by investing in workforce development for high-growth industries and green jobs. She is helping advance a range of relevant legislation, including measures to make unemployment insurance nontaxable; to strengthen the District procurement program; to develop an equitable and profitable recreational marijuana industry; and to improve paid family and medical leave.
Advancing Healthcare for All
While DC has tremendous health resources, there are stark, long standing health disparities in the District that have led to devastating and inequitable outcomes for our Black communities and constrained Black residents’ access to care. DC has the highest Black maternal mortality rate in the nation, yet in many communities of color we are seeing hospitals closed or downsized and overcrowding increase. The pandemic has exacerbated many of these inequities, and demands a renewed commitment to addressing disparities in DC’s healthcare system.
Councilmember Lewis George is committed to ensuring all residents have access to nearby hospitals and clinics and is working to strengthen maternal and infant health outcomes, patient-centered care, and safe staffing in health care settings. She is calling for increased investments in behavioral health services for students and District residents. She supports a national, Medicare for All system that will increase equity and quality outcomes while reducing costs for all. She is working to combat discrimination in our healthcare system, including by co-introducing legislation prohibiting insurers from discriminating against patients who have donated organs. She is fighting to expand healthcare access for immigrant residents, strengthen sexual and reproductive health services, and improve the District’s coordinated response to preventing and treating HIV. She has introduced legislation protecting DC residents’ short-term disability benefits from being canceled out by paid family and medical leave. In addition to prioritizing quality care, Councilmember Lewis George is working to address systemic racism and the social determinants of health, including safe housing, economic stability, quality education, and safe communities, to finally close racial disparities in health outcomes once and for all.
Maintaining and Improving Our Public Spaces
Ward 4 thrives when we have well-maintained parks and rec centers, plenty of community gathering spaces, and bustling commercial corridors. Councilmember Lewis George is committed to keeping our public spaces as open and accessible as possible, cleaning and maintaining our streets and alleyways, and investing in the growth of our main streets.
As a member of the Committee on Public Works and Operations, she introduced and passed the CLEAN Collections Act to address trash overflow and rodents in DC neighborhoods by requiring regular waste collection and instituting fines for repeat violations. She is also working to keep streets and alleyways clean and damage-free, introducing the Paper Alleys Planning Amendment Act, requiring the District Department of Transportation to produce a plan and estimated budget to improve all currently unimproved alleys in the District.
Councilmember Lewis George is a strong advocate for our pools and rec centers, and introduced the Weekend Equal Access to Swimming Amendment Act, requiring the Department of Parks and Recreation to provide equivalent morning, evening, and weekend hours of public operation in all publicly owned indoor aquatic facilities.
She is also fighting to revitalize our commercial corridors, and secured funding in the DC budget to purchase the land for a new community library facility on Kennedy Street, filling an identified library service gap in Brightwood Park and Manor Park. She is also a strong advocate for our small businesses, fighting for greater DSLBD grants and greater funding for Ward 4’s Main Street Associations that foster business and economic growth.
Sustaining Critical Investments in Transportation and Safe Streets
Ward 4 residents need safe, reliable, and affordable ways to get around, no matter their preferred mode of travel. Councilmember Lewis George is committed to increasing transportation safety, accessibility, and affordability while addressing environmental impact. She is fighting to preserve vital WMATA services and improve the bus system, which is essential to Ward 4’s essential workers, late shift workers, seniors, students, and residents with disabilities.
She fought for and worked with neighbors and the Department of Transportation to secure a traffic safety plan for Grant Circle, addressing long standing issues with reckless driving and vehicle crashes. She has fought to fund the Georgia Ave Bus Priority Project to provide better service and safety upgrades along the Georgia Ave corridor, and introduced and passed the Motor Vehicle Accident Prevention Act, offering motor vehicle accident prevention classes to any licensed driver in the District, helping drivers see reduced motor vehicle insurance premiums.
She is also fighting for our students’ safety, introducing the Safe Routes to School Act, requiring a traffic signal or all-way stop within a quarter mile of any school, and mandating raised crosswalks, curb extensions, crosswalk warning pylons, flashing pedestrian signs, speed bumps, and automated traffic cameras within school zones. Councilmember Lewis George is also a strong supporter of the STEER Act, empowering the DC Attorney General to take action against repeat reckless drivers who endanger our communities.
Today, Ward 4 has dozens more speed bumps, speed tables, traffic lights, pedestrian islands, and all-way stops than it did three years ago. Together with agencies, community leaders, and neighbors, Councilmember Lewis George continues to fight for more.
Strengthening Social Services
The District is strong when our safety net is strong. We need to ensure robust, responsive, and accessible social services to support all our residents, whether they are facing housing instability, food insecurity, caregiving or medical demands, chronic medical conditions, or insufficient income. We need to provide targeted support for our residents with disabilities. We also need to ensure that our veterans receive essential services and benefits.
When she took office during the height of the pandemic, Councilmember Lewis George worked with her colleagues on the Council to provide millions of dollars in relief funds for workers excluded from traditional unemployment, including thousands of immigrant neighbors, returning citizens, and people in the cash economy who couldn’t use unemployment but who needed help.
In 2021, she introduced the Homes and Hearts Amendment Act to the DC budget, supporting families struggling to get by through a historic monthly basic income provided through the Earned Income Tax Credit. She also fought to give SNAP a raise, increasing the minimum monthly payment guaranteed to all participants and helping families all around DC put food on the table.
Councilmember Lewis George is also fighting to make it easier for District residents to access these vital services in the first place. She supports improving program flexibility and streamlined application processes, including online applications, online purchases, and video appointments for social and medical services.
Addressing Environmental Racism and Climate Change
The biggest threat to future generations of Washingtonians is climate change. The District must continue addressing climate change to ensure the immediate and long-term health and security of our residents. Low-income communities of color in the District already experience environmental injustice which will be exacerbated by inaction, particularly in the east end of the city and along the Anacostia River.
Councilmember Lewis George co-introduced the Greener Government Buildings Act of 2022, requiring buildings the District owns or finances to adhere to net-zero energy standards and not consume fossil fuels. As Chair of the Committee on Facilities and Family Services, she fully funded this law, and blocked agencies from weakening DC’s net-zero building standards. She also introduced the Green New Deal for a Lead Free DC Act, requiring the removal of lead service lines from all public and private property by 2030, and incentivizing property owners to voluntarily replace lead service lines from private property.
Through her work on the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, Councilmember Lewis George is committed to delivering critical upgrades to our infrastructure, creating green jobs in our communities, implementing the DC Clean Energy Act, getting lead out of our homes, schools, and playgrounds, improving food quality and sustainability, and expanding environmental literacy in our classrooms.
Strengthening Government Accountability and Ethics
The DC Government should work for everyone—not just campaign donors and big business interests. Residents deserve leaders who are accountable for their actions and transparent to constituents, refuse corporate contributions, and will ensure government services are accessible to all.
Councilmember Lewis George is committed to principles of transparency, accountability, and equity. Throughout her career she has upheld high ethical standards, and during her campaign she refused corporate donations and used the District’s “Fair Elections” public campaign financing program. Councilmember Lewis George also recognizes that a vibrant local press is critical to a transparent and accountable government, and understands the impact corporate interference and attacks on freedom of the press have had on local journalism. As a Councilmember, she introduced the Local News Funding Act, which would provide a stable source of funding for local journalism, decided by the public.
She and her team are regularly engaged with and out in the community, and she is dedicated to putting people first and ensuring that no one is left out of our city’s future. This means ensuring that all residents have the right to vote in local elections, regardless of immigration status; removing barriers to voting in DC; fighting for the District’s equal representation in Congress; strengthening the public campaign financing program; and closing the revolving door between the Wilson Building and lobbying. It also means strengthening our public unions, increasing public engagement in our public commissions and boards, and empowering our ANCs to be a strong voice for their neighborhoods.
Fighting for DC Statehood
District residents pay higher taxes per capita than any state in the nation, we serve our country with pride, and yet we are denied Senators, refused guaranteed voting representation in the House, and excluded from local autonomy. Statehood is not only necessary to gain Congressional representation; it’s also a matter of District autonomy over our laws, our budgets, legal system, and public safety.
As the federal government has ramped up attacks against DC autonomy, Councilmember Lewis George has been a leading voice against attempts to overturn Home Rule and interfere in the lives of DC residents. She understands that until the District has the same rights as every other state, we will remain vulnerable to federal actions that disrupt our funding of essential programs, overturn our laws, and interfere in the will of our voters.
Councilmember Lewis George is a strong supporter of statehood and is working to advance this issue on the national stage while also strengthening District autonomy and necessary coordination with federal agencies. She believes that the District must adopt best practices to position itself for statehood and maintain strong relationships with federal agencies and leaders who currently influence the structure of many District policies and institutions.
Leadership on the Committee on Facilities
As Chair of the Council’s Committee on Facilities, Councilmember Lewis George is fighting for a DC that treats children and families with dignity, improves accessibility and equity for our neighbors with disabilities, and entitles District residents to schools, pools, rec centers, and public buildings that are comfortable, resilient, and safe.
Maintenance of Public Buildings
As the primary legislative oversight leader for the Department of General Services, Councilmember Lewis George is fighting to make sure students have safe and comfortable spaces to learn in, neighbors have clean and well-maintained rec centers, and the District takes a preventative maintenance approach that keeps buildings from deteriorating before serious damages take place.
As Facilities Chair, she has added funding in each year’s budget to support maintenance work order reduction across schools, parks, police stations, and senior centers, and required DGS to develop an annual plan to guide preventative maintenance. She introduced and passed the Work Order Integrity Amendment Act, codifying the ability of school-level staff members to review and provide affirmative approval before marking a work order as complete. She fully funded the School Security and Transparency Act, improving school security by requiring annual inspections and oversight of all of DCPS school door locks, PA systems, and security alarms, and passed and funded the DGS Process Improvements Amendment Act, requiring weekly publication of the HVAC Watch List to make sure schools in need of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning repairs receive the priority needed.
Increasing Equity and Accessibility for DC’s Residents with Disabilities
While the District has made progress over the last several decades, much work remains to make our city fully equitable and accessible for our neighbors with disabilities. As Chair of the Committee on Facilities, Councilmember Lewis George takes pride in working alongside the Department of Disability Services, the Office of Disability Rights, and the Mayor’s Office on Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing to promote accessibility in the workplace, transportation, health care, and education.
As Chair, she approved the first increase to the Personal Needs Allowance in over two decades, supporting people who reside in long-term care facilities with their day-to-day expenses. She introduced and passed legislation banning disability insurance companies from using the DC Paid Family Leave program to offset payouts they owe to workers. As Chair, she required MODDHH to fulfill requests for ASL and captioning services, increasing the level of accessibility for testimony and viewership of Council hearings. She also co-introduced and has fought to fund and raise awareness around the Open Movie Captioning Requirement Act, improving accessibility in DC’s movie theaters.
Standing up for Children and Families
Our communities thrive when families and children receive the support and resources they need. Councilmember Lewis George is a steadfast advocate for children in DC’s foster care system and is committed to ensuring the best outcomes for families exposed to the Child and Family Services Agency.
During her two years as Chair of the Committee on Facilities and Family Services, Councilmember Lewis George fought to protect funding for vital programs that work on the ground in support of children and families. She successfully preserved funding for Safe Shores Child Advocacy Program to continue its work protecting children facing abuse and trauma. She secured funding for CFSA’s home visiting programs to support parents who are at risk for child abuse and neglect. She fought to fully reverse the elimination of the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children, a vital agency responsible for overseeing children and families involved with CFSA. She also introduced Lisa’s Law, requiring CFSA to provide children in DC’s foster care system with new luggage for use in transporting their belongings.
Working with the Child and Family Services Agency, she also supported the successful development and launch of the 211 Warmline, and has secured funding for Healthy Homes, Thriving Communities Collaboratives, the primary community responders to the Warmline.