Information on Emergency Legislation

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the District of Columbia's authority to adopt emergency legislation. GAO noted that: (1) District legislation is passed by a District Council majority and approved by the Mayor, must be reviewed by Congress within 30 to 60 days, and, since October 1995, must be approved by the Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority within 14 days; (2) emergency legislation is not subject to congressional or Authority review and is effective for 90 days; (3) the District adopted 62 emergency acts in 1994 and 76 in 1995 to respond to various situations the District viewed as urgent; (4) about one-third of the emergency acts covered congressional review periods for other District acts that contained similar provisions; (5) almost half of the emergency acts became temporary or permanent legislation; (6) two emergency acts waived competitive procedures for two lease awards that the District deemed necessary to house relocated employees and save money; and (7) there are no federal or District laws that prohibit the District from using emergency legislation to waive competitive procurement procedures.