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Dear Neighbors,
The first snowfall of the season has come and gone but the wind chill is certainly here to stay. With the Winter Solstice only twelve days away, the shortest day of the year is right around the corner, but here in the John A. Wilson building we are productive as ever. The Committee on Health calendar is brimming with activity, and my team is planning hearings for the new year. You can check out our upcoming roundtables and hearings below or on the Council website here.
I recently stopped by Ward 6’s School-Within-School at Goding to talk with their third graders about DC government and was surprised by just how informed they were on what goes on in the District. Their concerns mirrored many of the issues we tackle every day here at the Council. They wanted things like more stop signs in their neighborhood, resources for unhoused residents, dog parks with more green spaces, less littering, more effective rodent control (oh yes, we talked about rats), and additional urban gardens. They also touched on things they may not fully understand yet, like their parents being affected by federal layoffs and decisions made by the White House. Our youngest sharing these thoughts were a strong reminder of just how much 2025 was a shock to the system for everyone in DC. And also, how much harder we need to work in the future.
This newsletter contains updates from the Committee on Health, new introduced legislation, and information on free winter programming happening in the District. As we venture further into the holiday season, my office will also be sharing our annual end of the year highlights covering the work we’ve done over the past twelve months.
In Service,
Christina Henderson
Councilmember, At-Large
ChristinaHendersonDC.com
Councilmember Henderson with School-Within-School's third graders. School-Within-School is one of the many DCPS learning facilities that have benefited from modernization through the Planning Actively for Comprehensive Education Facilities Amendment Act (PACE) that Councilmember Henderson helped introduce in 2016. She recently introduced the PACE Clarification Amendment Act of 2025 which will continue this work while ensuring that all school facilities are prioritized through a scoring system for modernization, regardless of whether that have previously been modernized, in order to ensure they meet today’s standards.
On Wednesday, December 3, the Committee on Health held a public oversight roundtable on changes to the District’s Medicaid and Alliance program. Sixty-five public witnesses signed up to testify, sharing concerns on the Alliance program changes ––including the need for improved communication with enrollees and providers, and suggesting the need for a regular collaborative working group between agencies and key stakeholders. Government witnesses included Wayne Turnage, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services and Director of the Department of Health Care Finance, Mila Kofman, Executive Director of the Health Benefit Exchange (HBX), and Barbara Bazron, Director for the Department of Behavioral Health. The government witnesses shared how they worked together to implement these changes and areas to consider moving forward. One area of concern for both Alliance beneficiaries and for people moving from Medicaid to the new Basic Health Program as administered by HBX is people losing access to services that they previously had coverage for, like dental care and certain behavioral health services. All three directors are aware of the gaps in services and will continue to meet to discuss strategy moving forward.
On Monday, December 8, the Committee on Health held its markup on the PrEP DC Act of 2025, introduced by Councilmember Zachary Parker and co-introduced by Councilmember Henderson and other colleagues, that would set guardrails prohibiting health insurers from restricting treatment and imposing cost-related requirements. The bill was passed unanimously by the committee.
The Committee also completed the markup for the Community Health Amendment Act of 2025 and the Sense of the Council on supporting Humane and Trauma Informed Responses to Behavioral Health Crisis Resolution of 2025. The Community Health Amendment Act of 2025, introduced by Councilmember Henderson, would ensure that District residents can have continued access to safe and effective immunizations at local pharmacies. This is a permanent bill of the emergency legislation Councilmember Henderson introduced earlier in September and was passed unanimously. The Sense of the Council on supporting Humane and Trauma Informed Responses to Behavioral Health Crisis Resolution of 2025, introduced by Councilmember Henderson in February, urges the Mayor to prioritize trauma-informed approaches to behavioral health crises. The legislation was jointly referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety and was approved on Monday, December 1, also passing unanimously.
On Monday, December 1, Councilmember Henderson introduced the Distribution of False Sexual Imagery Prohibition Amendment Act of 2025. The legislation would establish new criminal penalties for the distribution of sexually explicit images, videos, and audio created through artificial intelligence (AI), directly addressing the emerging digital-age harm of creating and spreading non-consensual AI-generated sexual content depicting real individuals.
Supporting Local Businesses: Holiday Edition
On Tuesday, December 2, Councilmember Henderson supported the Washington DC Metro Holiday Pop Up Shop and the DowntownDC Holiday Market.
The Metro Holiday Pop Up Shop will be open until December 20, 2025, and can be found on the first floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St NW Washington, DC 20001 (Between Metro Center and Gallery Place-Chinatown). Hours are below:
Monday - Thursday: 9:30am - 9:00pm
Friday - Saturday: 9:30am - 5:30pm
Sunday: 1:00pm - 5:00pm
The DowntownDC Holiday Market will be open until December 23, 2025, and can be found on F St NW (Between 7th and 9th streets NW). Hours are below:
Monday-Thursday: 12:00pm – 8:00pm
Friday-Saturday: 11:00am – 9:00pm
Sunday: 11:00am – 8:00pm
Grounding Policy in Community Work
On Friday, December 5, Councilmember Henderson joined DC Primary Care Association’s roundtable on “Building DC’s Primary Care Agenda: Grounding Policy in Community Work” to discuss how we can continue to work towards a more equitable primary care system. The roundtable covered primary care payment models, patient trust, the workforce, and social care integration.
The NEW Fort Dupont Ice Arena
On Saturday, December 6, Councilmember Henderson attended the new Fort Dupont Ice Arena Ribbon Cutting in Ward 7. The skating rink is a recreation project delivered by DC Department of Parks and Recreation and the DC Department of General Services. The facility offers open skating and a variety of programs and activities for the public to enjoy such as lessons, games, and even a youth class on skating science DC skate culture.
Funding is available for programs such as learn-to-skate, figure skating, hockey skills, broomball, and other ice activities, as well as competitive youth hockey teams across multiple age divisions. Deadline to apply for programming is Monday, January 5, 2026, at 4:00pm. You can find out more information, here.
Find a complete list of programming offered, here. Programming for the first month is available to residents for free.
DowntownDC Holiday Market
Now in its 21st year, the DowntownDC Holiday Market boasts 119 small and local businesses on F Street NW between 7th and 9th Streets NW, including more than 20 first-time participants. The market will run until Tuesday, December 23, and will feature a “Made in DC” booth highlighting a curated selection of local makers and entrepreneurs, 15 festive food vendors, and live entertainment presented by the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment.
The market takes place between on F Street NW, between 7th & 9th Street NW.
Frosted at Franklin Park
Frosted at Franklin Park is open until January 7. Wander the evenings through a display of thousands of tiny festive bright lights, bringing a shimmery cool front to Franklin Park every day from 4:30pm to 7:00am. Gleaming photo opportunities run throughout the park to turn nightly strolls into radiant memories. Don’t miss the bright glittery icicle walkway, giant illuminating snowflakes, Baby and Momma Bear, and a giant star.
Be sure to stop at Frosted at Franklin Park on Friday, December 12 and Saturday, December 20 for free family-friendly activities happening both days.
December 12 & 20 | 6:00pm to 7:00pm
Ice Skating Across the District
If you’re looking to get outside, ice skating is back at various locations across the District.
2025 Fall Leaf Collection
The first pass for leaf collection in Section C in Wards 1-8 is still underway. Section D in Wards 1-8 should get ready. Section D, please have your leaves at the tree box or curbside by Sunday, December 14. All sections will receive two weekends’ notice of when to rake their leaves out to the tree box or curb. Find raking tips and more information at dpw.dc.gov/leaf. During leaf season, weekly updates will be provided on DPWs location and where they will be collecting leaves. Stay tuned for the latest schedules, so you can know when crews will be in your neighborhood.
To follow live updates click, here.
Register for EdFEST!
My School DC is excited to bring you EdFEST, DC’s annual public school fairs! Find the school your child will call “My School” this December 13.
Register HERE for EdFEST (PK3 – Grade 8)
Saturday, December 13, 10:00am to 2:00pm
NEW Venue: Kraken Kourts & Skates (514 Rhode Island Ave NE)
*Interpretation in American Sign Language, Spanish, Amharic, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and French available throughout the day.
The application for next school year (2026 – 2027) will be available Monday, December 15, 2025.
You can find participating schools, here.
Metro Adds New Route
Beginning Monday, December 15, customers seeking to travel between downtown DC and Alexandria can ride the new A29 Metrobus route.
Route A29 offers transfer-free weekday, rush hour service between Van Dorn St station, Beauregard St, Mark Center, Southern Towers, Shirlington, and Metro Center via the I-395 Express Lanes. Buses will run every 24 minutes from Northern Virginia to Washington, D.C., only in the morning, and every 24 minutes from Washington, D.C. to Northern Virginia only in the afternoon. The new route is funded through the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission’s I-395/95 Commuter Choice grant program.
In addition, changes to 50 additional Metrobus routes will begin Sunday, Dec. 14, as Metro continues to improve reliability, reduce crowding, strengthen connections, and respond to customer and operator feedback since the June network launch.
In D.C., Metro will be improving connectivity to Washington Hospital Center and the VA Hospital campus bus circle from neighborhoods to the west and the Green Line by extending Route C63 to Georgia Av-Petworth, and adding service along Martin Luther King, Jr. Av SE on Route C11 in response to customer feedback.
Metro will make schedule and other changes to improve service for customers on the following routes:
DC: C11, C15, C17, C25, C26, C27, C35, C37, C53, C63, C77, C83, C87, D1X, D32, D34, D40, D4X, D60, D70, D74, D90, D94, D96
Better reliability for the C53: Metro will implement headway management - a different strategy to managing bus service compared to operating on a schedule. We expect this to improve bus reliability on the C53 route in the District. In addition, we will use other tools, including cameras and new computer systems, which will help ensure buses arrive more consistently and reduce gaps and bunching to improve customer experience.
Once we assess the effectiveness of headway management, this approach to managing bus service will be coming to additional Metrobus routes in 2026.
Visit wmata.com/tripplanner for new schedule information and visit wmata.com/bus to view route specific changes.
Voting Locations for the June 16, 2026 Primary Election
The DC Board of Elections is seeking public comment on the proposed Early Voting Vote Center, Election Day Vote Center, and Mail Ballot Drop Box locations for theJune 16, 2026 Primary Election.
Comments may be submitted here. The deadline for comments is Friday, January 16, 2026. You can view the proposed locations here.
Talent Capital
Talent Capital is a regional initiative housed by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments that enables the Greater Washington region to plan training and education systems based on real-time labor market dynamics. You can access it,here.
Have a constituent service need related to the Health Committee or any of the other agencies in DC Government? Want Councilmember Henderson to come to your community event or meeting? Don’t hesitate to reach out to our Constituent Services Director Ana Berrios-Vazquez during regular business hours (9:00am - 5:30pm) at 202-724-8105, or ABerriosVazquez@dccouncil.gov.
You can visit us online at christinahendersondc.com. Or stay connected by following Councilmember Christina Henderson on her socials.
Website: christinahendersondc.com
Twitter (X): @CMCHenderson
Instagram: @christinahendersondc
Facebook: @christinahendersondc
Bluesky: @cmchenderson.bsky.social