Council reviews D.C. Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking $35.2M FY2026 budget; Opportunity Accounts and SSBCI authority reduced

Kenya McDuffie, chair of the Committee on Business and Economic Development, presided over testimony from Kareema Woods, commissioner of the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DSB), on the agency's fiscal year 2026 budget request on June 9.

Commissioner Kareema Woods said the mayor's FY2026 proposal provides DSB $35,200,000 and 154 full-time positions, a 3.1% decrease from the approved FY2025 budget and an increase of two FTEs. Woods said the FY2026 budget is funded primarily with special-purpose revenue and $138,000 in local funds. Woods described FY2025 supplemental cuts totaling about $4,000,000 and told the committee those reductions were chosen to preserve core regulatory and consumer-protection work while trimming contracts, travel, training and nonessential services.

Woods highlighted DSB programs the department says drive consumer and small-business outcomes: the Office of Financial Empowerment and Education (OFEE) and programs such as Bank on DC, Financially Fit DC and Opportunity Accounts; the Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman; foreclosure-prevention work; and the District of Columbia Business Capital Access Program (DC BizCap). She said foreclosure-prevention efforts through March FY2025 had prevented 80 foreclosures and preserved more than $30.1 million in property value. "I'm pleased to appear before the committee today to provide testimony on DSB's FY26 budget," Woods said.

Committee members pressed Woods on specific cuts. The proposed FY2026 budget reduces Opportunity Accounts program funding from $800,000 in FY2025 to $550,000 in FY2026; Woods said the match rate (4:1, $6,000 match) would remain the same but the agency "do[es] anticipate that less residents will be served as a result of the reduction," forecasting roughly 75 residents served in FY2026 compared with about 106 in FY2025 to date.

Woods and DSB fiscal staff also described changes to budget authority for the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). The FY2026 proposal shows a $1,000,000 reduction in SSBCI budget authority; DSB staff and Woods explained that this reflects certified available fund balances and budget authority rather than an immediate cash expenditure, and that the funds are primarily reserved to reimburse participating lenders in the event of borrower defaults. DSB reported active SSBCI activity: a $500,000 loan participation and five collateral-support transactions totaling $3,300,000, leveraged to more than $10.2 million in private lending.

Members also questioned DSB about federal grants and the department's capacity to oversee a proposed Medicaid-to-basic-health-plan change. Woods said DSB is tracking federal developments, including the reconciliation bill language that could affect unobligated SSBCI technical-assistance funds and said the department is coordinating with the Health Benefit Exchange via MOU for program implementation and for any needed staff support.

On other program metrics, Woods said the Office of the Student Loan Ombudsman helped more than 900 borrowers through outreach in six months of FY2025 and that foreclosure-prevention and consumer-protection work had recovered roughly $850,000 for D.C. residents in FY2025 to date. DSB reported 10 current vacant positions and expected the hiring freeze to be lifted October 1, with a plan to fill vacancies in FY2026.

McDuffie closed by noting the committee would accept written testimony through June 18, 2025, and scheduled the next oversight hearing for June 11, 2025.