By Denis Del Bene, JD, LL.M., Checkpoint News
The D.C. Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has issued an opinion that House Joint Resolution 142 (HJR 142) did not repeal the “D.C. Income and Franchise Tax Conformity and Revision Temporary Amendment Act of 2025” (the Temporary Conformity Act) (Act 26-217, see Checkpoint News, 12/29/2025) and the Act remains valid law. (D.C. Attorney General Opinion, 02/24/2026.)
The OAG opinion noted that, according to both the D.C. Council’s website and the text of HJR 142, the Chairman of the D.C. Council transmitted the Temporary Conformity Act to both houses of Congress on December 30, 2025. The 30-day period prescribed by the Home Rule Act thus began on that date. Furthermore, based on the session calendar available from Congress’s official website, the final day of the 30-day period was February 11, 2026. The House passed a resolution disapproving of the Temporary Conformity Act on February 4, 2026, and the Senate passed the resolution on February 12, 2026. The resolution was presented to the President that same day, and the President signed it on February 18, 2026. The OAG Opinion concluded that because HJR 142 was not enacted into law by February 11, it did not, under section 602 of the Home Rule Act, prevent the Temporary Conformity Act from taking effect. As a result, the Temporary Conformity Act took effect on February 12.
The D.C. Home Rule Act is clear that a disapproval resolution signed after the congressional review period repeals a District law only where both houses of Congress have passed the resolution within 30 days of transmittal. The D.C. Home Rule Act does not provide the same for disapproval resolutions passed outside of that window. Because Congress acted outside the D.C. Home Rule Act’s procedures that give legal effect to disapproval of the D.C. Council’s act, HJR 142 operates to express Congress’s unfavorable view of the Temporary Conformity Act and not to repeal it. The Temporary Conformity Act remains in effect and, absent further legislative action, will expire on September 25, 2026.
The OAG opinion further concluded that even if one were to assume that HJR 142 repealed the Temporary Conformity Act, it would not alter the 2025 tax liability of District taxpayers under the “D.C. Income and Franchise Tax Conformity and Revision Emergency Amendment Act of 2025” (the Emergency Conformity Act) or the Temporary Conformity Act. The changes to the tax laws made by the Emergency Conformity Act and the Temporary Conformity Act continue to govern tax liabilities for taxpayers whose tax year ended December 31, 2025. The Emergency Conformity Act changed the tax liability of District taxpayers as of January 1, 2025, and remained in effect at the end of calendar year 2025. Congress took no action to repeal or nullify the Emergency Conformity Act, and under 1 USC §109 and D.C. Code Ann. § 45-404, the expiration of the Emergency Conformity Act on March 3 does not have the effect of releasing or extinguishing any tax liability incurred under that Act. The Temporary Conformity Act enacted the same changes to the District’s tax code as the Emergency Conformity Act, also retroactive to January 1, 2025, and extended those changes through September 25, 2026.
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