Bill changes who counts as young in D.C. crime law.

What it does

The bill narrows the definition of youth offender. Now only people under 18 count as youth offenders. People aged 18 to 24 lose access to youth help programs. The D.C. Attorney General must publish a public website. The website shows crime data by age, race, sex, offense type, and case outcomes. It updates every month. The bill also stops the D.C. Council from changing crime sentences without approval from Congress.

Who it affects

Young adults aged 18 to 24 lose youth help programs. They now face adult crime rules instead. The public gains access to detailed crime data on a website. The D.C. Council loses power to change crime sentences on its own.

One thing to notice

The bill removes help programs from 18- to 24-year-olds and treats them as adults in the crime system. The bill also moves power over crime sentences from D.C. leaders to Congress.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

8 cosponsors: 8 Republicans.

• Aug 8, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Aug 8, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform”
• Sep 10, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Sep 10, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 26 - 19”
• Sep 16, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 240 - 179 (Roll no. 270). (text: CR H4333)”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 5 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $176,304 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 21 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 61% of bills with any report.

Byron Donalds, who sponsored the bill, received $66,946 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence — $80,000 in 2 reports
• The Sentencing Project — $66,304 in 2 reports
• Council of the District of Columbia — $30,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• youth offender — A young person who breaks the law and may get help instead of adult punishment.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.