D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser unveiled a growth agenda she said will transform the District’s economy in the coming years, and turn the potential for tens of thousands of job losses into a 15,000 increase in jobs — if the D.C. Council gets on board.
The approach from the mayor, which will be included in the budget she’s releasing this week, calls for big investments in the downtown area, as well as a bigger economic focus on sports, entertainment and the arts, as well as doing more to lure more technology-focused jobs to the city.
“Our CFO estimates that up to 40,000 federal jobs could be impacted by (Department of Government Efficiency) DOGE cuts. And on a personal level, we all know people whose lives could be upended or changed, or certainly a lot of anxiety caused by these changes,” Bowser said.
“With the right interventions, we can actually grow. So we can go from this prospect of losing 43,000 jobs … to the prospect of gaining 15,000 jobs.”
The city has its eyes on the federal buildings that line the streets of Southwest from the waterfront to the National Mall, and is intent on a revitalization of that area if the government off-loads those buildings. Investments around Capital One Arena and the prospect of the Commanders coming back to D.C. also fit in this broader plan.
Deputy Mayor Nina Albert said tech and other high growth industries are also going to become a big priority.
“D.C. has very quickly become one of the fastest growing cities for technology in the nation. We have the high-skilled talent and access that provides an immense competitive advantage,” Albert said. “The DMV is the fifth largest economy in the country, so it is ours to harness and to excel in.”
Some of the red tape and other incentives to make doing business in the city easier include a reform to the zoning and permitting process, a pause of the Building Energy Performance Standard and Net Zero, and a repeal of the Parking Benefit Equivalent Program.
Bowser also wants to cut the Universal Paid Leave tax by .03% and offer more grants and incentives to boost retail around the city.
She also announced a push to repeal Initiative 82 this year.
“I have challenged my team to really look at our processes and deliver on real process improvements that save time and save money for our businesses,” Bowser said.
“It also means that we’re looking at some policies that we know are well meaning and have in various stages supported along the way, but … these policies take us out of competitiveness with the region and impose a lot of costs on our businesses at a time when our businesses can’t absorb those costs.”
Money used to market the city will also be reallocated, with cuts being made to the amount the city spends to lure tourists so more can be done to market the city to new businesses and residents.
“While everyone is anxious about how the economy is shifting, we know that we have the fundamental tools to shift, and in fact, to change the trajectory of that shift,” Bowser said. “So now is our time.”
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