Newsroom

Beginning at the 1:28 mark, Councilmember Henderson takes reporters from "Inside Edition" on a trip that retraced former President Trump's ride from the Federal Courthouse to Reagan National Airport

District of Columbia legislators also proposed adding in vitro fertilization coverage to Medicaid and other low-income insurance as part of broader legislation requiring that private insurers cover IVF. But because of cost concerns, they dropped the Medicaid portion of the measure from the final law enacted this year and set to take effect in October. “At this point, if states cover fertility treatments from Medicaid recipients, states must cover 100% of the cost,” said D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson. “This makes it nearly impossible for any state to provide that expanded coverage.” The new law directs District health officials to negotiate for cost-sharing in the future, she said.

“We have Congress down the road. They would love nothing more than to disrupt in the same manner they have in the past,” said council member Christina Henderson (I-At Large), chairwoman of the health committee. (Bazron, Henderson, Parker and others are scheduled to visit OnPoint, which runs two overdose prevention centers, in New York later this month, the council offices said.)

“If the public school portion were to go away, we would have to find that money locally to make up the gap,” said D.C. Council member Christina Henderson (I-At Large). “It would be a challenge for the District, for this type of change, primarily because we would have to go back in and move some money around.”

“It is resources that could be transformational, not just in our immediate crisis moment but for how we set up the infrastructure for how we handle this in the future,” Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At Large), chair of the Health Committee, said in an interview. “We are behind, we were behind months ago,” she said, adding, “We are moving at a glacial pace in my opinion.” “There seems to be a lot of gaps in terms of our plan and strategy,” Henderson said in an interview last week. “Narcan and fentanyl strips cannot be the totality of our plan, and right now I don’t feel we have articulated what else we need to be doing.”

“I don’t think you will find a D.C. resident who is not aware of what happened on Jan. 6 and was not impacted by some way, either that day or in the days following,” said Christina Henderson, a member of the D.C. Council and a former staffer for Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader. “There are so many layers of emotion here, when you think about it,” Ms. Henderson said.

In her statement introducing the bill, Henderson observed that approximately 173,000 employees in Washington, DC lack access to an employer-provided retirement savings account. “That number will continue to grow, as more small businesses establish themselves in the city,” warns Henderson. Henderson argues that a city-facilitated savings plan “would help alleviate the barriers that prevent employees whose employers do not offer long-term retirement savings options from saving for their future retirement.” She continues, “This legislation will enable individuals to plan for their retirement and create a stronger, more resilient economy by having a source of income to help pay for living expenses and health care.” “I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance this bill and work together to ensure that every District resident can plan for a more secure financial future” said Henderson in her statement.

Councilmember At-Large Christina Henderson is behind one of the bills that seeks to suspend licenses and registration before a conviction in certain situations. "This is happening across the region. I think this is just a small slice, but I think it's something that we can tighten up, and also double down on the idea and belief that driving is a privilege," Henderson told WUSA9. Under current D.C. laws, a driver's license is suspended following a conviction of certain traffic violations. "Knowing what the backlog at the courts look like, it could be several months until someone could have a case adjudicated, and technically during that time, an individual that is not detained pretrial can continue to drive; and I thought that was a loop hole in the system," Henderson added. "The Department of Motor Vehicles is showing far less convictions then what DC Superior courts processed. So what they are going through, DMV, is an audit process going back ten years to check every record to make sure they are accurate and up to date," Henderson said.

Henderson wants to immediately suspend licenses for people who negligently kill someone with a car, leave the scene of a crash, or drive under the influence. She says the bill streamlines the process and promotes accountability and safe driving in the District. Current law mandates that a driver’s license be suspended following conviction of certain traffic violations, but Henderson says that the court procedures take too long and “certain traffic violations are so egregious and devastating that a scofflaw driver should not be allowed to operate a vehicle while waiting for a conviction to be handed down.” “If someone is driving under the influence and seriously injures another person as a result of their negligence, they shouldn’t be able to continue with their driving privileges for untold months while a case is being adjudicated. This is a gap in the law we should address,” Henderson said. Another bill from Henderson would assign points to your driving record for camera tickets. Currently, you can only be fined for camera tickets since they are not written by a law enforcement officer, and speed and red light tickets don’t usually capture the face of the driver, just the vehicle and license plate. “Moving violations should be treated as moving violations regardless of if they were detected by a camera or a law enforcement officer,” Henderson said. “If we are moving away from having law enforcement conducted routine traffic stops, then we must strengthen the other accountability tools at our disposal. “If this isn’t the solution, I look forward to a robust discussion of what we should do next.”

At-large Councilmember Christina Henderson presented legislation that would suspend the license and registration of vehicles owned by drivers who are arrested for violations, and keep them off the road during what can be a lengthy court process. Currently in the District, a driver’s license can only be suspended after a conviction for certain serious traffic violations. “If someone is driving under the influence and seriously injures another person as a result of their negligence, they shouldn’t be able to continue with their driving privileges for untold months while a case is being adjudicated,” Henderson said in a news release. “This is a gap in the law we should address.”

This week, Councilmember Christina Henderson introduced a bill to suspend the license and registration of all vehicles owned by or registered to any person charged with negligent homicide, leaving the scene of an accident where there’s personal injury or driving while intoxicated. “If someone is driving under the influence and seriously injures another person as a result of their negligence, they shouldn’t be able to continue with their driving privileges for untold months while a case is being adjudicated,” Henderson said. “This is a gap in the law we should address.” The second bill would create a point system so if a violator is caught by speed cameras, it will start tallying points, instead of just a ticket to the owner of the car. “If we are moving away from having law enforcement conducted routine traffic stops, then we must strengthen the other accountability tools at our disposal,” Henderson said. “If this isn’t the solution, I look forward to a robust discussion of what we should do next.”

This month, District council passed the Expanding Access to Fertility Treatment Amendment Act that requires private insurance companies, Medicaid and DC Healthcare Alliance to cover fertility diagnosis and treatment. DC News Now’s Mark Hall speaks to At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson, the sponsor of the bill, on how it would help DC couples through an often costly and burdensome process.