Washington, D.C. Residents Voting Act
Sponsored By: Representative Griffith
Introduced
Summary
Return most of the District of Columbia to Maryland. The bill would cede the territory that once constituted D.C. back to Maryland while carving out and preserving a smaller, defined Federal District that holds the Mall, the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and other major federal buildings.
Show full summary
- Residents and households in the ceded area would become subject to Maryland law and no longer have a separate D.C. municipal status. Certain D.C. programs would continue to apply to eligible residents in the ceded territory, including college access and scholarship provisions.
- Federal and justice-sector workers get targeted transition protections. The bill keeps federal benefit treatment for many employees who served before retrocession or who transfer to Maryland roles, including judges, Public Defender Service staff, parole and supervision personnel, and certain court employees.
- Federal property, boundaries, and representation are reconfigured. The act defines an 84-point Federal District boundary and requires a metes-and-bounds survey within 180 days. It preserves exclusive federal ownership and jurisdiction over reserved lands. The D.C. Delegate post is repealed and the former Delegate becomes a temporary Maryland House member as one additional seat until the first post-retrocession reapportionment. Retrocession would take effect only after Maryland accepts it and the President issues a proclamation.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
9 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 6 mixed.
Keep federal retirement for D.C. workers
If retrocession happens, people who were getting federal retirement checks tied to D.C. plans would keep them. Certain court, parole, supervision, and public defender staff would still count as federal employees for retirement if they serve in comparable Maryland jobs after retrocession. The federal government would handle employer contributions, and special rules would protect service earned before retrocession.
Keep D.C. student scholarships that year
If retrocession happens, students who already got a D.C. college access payment or an opportunity scholarship for that school year would keep that help. Awards made for the award or school year that includes the retrocession date would continue under the same rules.
Absentee voting for Federal District residents
If retrocession occurs, people living in the Federal District could register and vote absentee in their last State of domicile for federal elections. The State would need to accept a valid registration received at least 30 days before the election. This applies only if that State was the person’s last domicile before living in the Federal District.
BOP rules continue for D.C. inmates
If retrocession happens, people serving D.C. sentences in Bureau of Prisons facilities on that date would stay under the same BOP rules after. Their custody and legal treatment would match what applied right before retrocession.
Maryland laws in the Federal District
If retrocession occurs, Maryland criminal and traffic laws would apply inside the new Federal District as federal law. Rules and penalties could differ from prior D.C. law. This would not override other parts of this bill or any federal laws that set exceptions.
Most of D.C. would join Maryland
If Maryland passes a law to accept the land and the President issues a proclamation, most of D.C. would become part of Maryland. A smaller Federal District around the Capitol, White House, Supreme Court, and nearby buildings would stay under exclusive federal control. Ongoing contracts and court cases would continue, moving to Maryland courts when appropriate. The U.S. would keep federal property and defense or Coast Guard tracts while used for those purposes. The President would need to finish a detailed boundary survey within 180 days after enactment.
National Guard rules updated for D.C.
If retrocession occurs, many National Guard laws would remove or replace D.C. references. The updates would cover definitions, units, leadership, training, courts-martial, and youth programs. This is mainly an administrative cleanup to match the new Federal District and Maryland changes.
Temporary extra House seat for Maryland
If retrocession happens, the current D.C. Delegate would temporarily serve as a House Member from Maryland. Maryland would have one extra Representative until the next reapportionment takes effect. The Delegate provisions would be repealed when this seat is taken, and older seat-of-government election language would no longer apply after retrocession.
Update laws to new Federal District
If retrocession occurs, many statutes would swap “District of Columbia” for “Federal District,” and define that area by the new map. Distance-based residency rules tied to D.C. would use the Federal District, but only for people appointed after retrocession. Planning and commemorative-work laws would update to cover the Federal District and mapped federal lands. The National Capital Planning Commission’s citizen seats would shift so one member is from Virginia, one from Maryland, and one from the ceded area.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Griffith
VA • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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