Good morning, Chairman Mendelson and members of the Committee of the Whole. My name is Yesim Sayin, and I am the Executive Director of the D.C. Policy Center, an independent, nonpartisan think tank dedicated to advancing policies that support a strong, vibrant, and compelling District of Columbia. Today, I will speak about…

On October 15, 2026, Executive Director Yesim Sayin was quoted in the Washington Business Journal about tax proposals the District is considering: Yesim Sayin, executive director of the D.C. Policy Center think tank, told me the District’s spending habits reflect a bygone era when the city benefited from injections of federal aid….

On October 10, 2026, the D.C. Policy Center’s unemployment claims data was cited in the AFRO News: COVID-19 taught us how quickly working families can be pushed into economic crisis. From March 13 through April 21, 2020, more than 72,000 unemployment claims were filed in the District, according to the D.C. Policy…