Council Member Brooke Pinto

Issue Area                     Rank    

Worker’s Rights Mixed Record

Economic Justice Mixed Record

Environmental Justice Mixed Record

Electoral Justice:  DC4D works in coalition to dismantle barriers to voter participation. We believe small, grassroots donors should have more power in our elections than corporate interests, and no one should win office with a minority of the vote.

Brooke Pinto’s votes on issues of electoral justice:

Housing Justice:  Housing is a human right. Too many DC residents, especially Black and brown residents, live in substandard conditions and yet pay more than half their income for rent. DC should ensure all residents have access to decent affordable housing. Ending long-term homelessness is an important first step in ending all forms of homelessness and housing injustice.

Brooke Pinto’s votes on issue of housing justice:

Community Safety: The safest communities are ones where everyone’s needs are met. Only by broadening our understanding of safety will allow us to make sustainable progress toward a District in which fewer people experience and then perpetrate harm. This work should center on meeting the needs of people most at risk of violence.

Brooke Pinto’s votes on community safety:

  • Did not vote to remove police from schools

  • Voted for the penalty-focused crime emergency bill in 2023

  • Signed on to the Metro Safety Act with increased and harsh penalties for fare evasion

  • Did not sign on to the ERASE Act to greatly limit solitary confinement at the DC Jail

  • Signed on to the FRESH STARTS Act to improve the quality of food at the DC Jail

  • Did not vote for an amendment to reduce use of pre-trial detention in the Peace DC Act

  • Did not vote to limit powers of Special Police Officers in public transit in the Peace DC Act

  • Voted for the Residential Tranquility Act that limits First Amendment protest rights

  • Did not support amendment to Secure DC Act to prevent expanding DNA collection to people merely arrested for a felony.

  • Did not support amendment to Secure DC act to speed up implementation of law to enable criminal record sealing and expungement. 

  • Did not sign on to a bill to prevent MPD from cooperating with ICE/federal immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant.

Education: Educational success shouldn't be defined by the ward we live in. Neighborhood public schools are the foundation of a strong school system and should be protected against privatization. Learning and equity begin at birth, and we should follow student leadership when it comes to school safety and priorities.

Brooke Pinto’s votes on education:

  • Did not vote for an income tax increase to provide a pay increase to child care teachers 

  • Did not sign on to legislation to make the State Superintendent of Education report to State Board of Education, instead of the Mayor

  • Signed on to legislation to make school meals free to all students

  • Did not sign on to legislation to make the Office of the State Superintendent of Education an independent agency.

  • Signed on to legislation to make out-of-school time programs available to all students who want it

NOTE: These votes generally show a lack of support for education.  However, Pinto separately pushed to create an Early Literacy Task Force and to fund its recommendations.  For that reason, DC4D designates Pinto as having a Mixed Record on education rather than being an Opponent.

Workers’ Rights: Workers’ rights are civil rights. Living wages, economic justice, and accountability from businesses are part of how we create a fair and just future for everyone in DC. Every worker should be protected by human rights, health and safety laws.

Brooke Pinto’s votes on worker’s rights:

  • Voted to ensure domestic workers are covered by DC labor laws for wages and safety

  • Voted for amendment to to reduce base wages for tipped workers to $8/hour

  • Voted to cap the minimum wage for tipped workers at 75% of the full minimum wage, reversing the Initiative 82 requirement to raise the tipped minimum wage to the full minimum wage 

  • Introduced legislation to raise wages for participants in the Summer Youth Employment Program.

Economic Justice:  This category addresses whether the Councilmember fought for policies to reduce income and racial inequality, and whether they supported tax increases on high-income residents

Brooke Pinto’s votes on economic justice:

Environmental Justice:  Climate change, global warming, and an endangered environment have impacts in every system of existence. Government and corporate greed have systematically and adversely infringed on the sanctity of our planet and our neighbors in vulnerable communities. Mitigating the climate disaster with stringent advocacy is how we care for our communities.

Brooke Pinto’s votes on environmental justice:

Issue Area                     Rank    

Electoral Justice Champion

Housing Not Aligned

Community Safety Not Aligned

Education Mixed Record

Ward 2 Scorecard

Party: Democrat
First Elected: 2020
Used Public Financing in last election: Yes
Endorsements by DC4D in the last race? No

Overview:  The DC4D scorecard assesses a DC Councilmember’s commitment to economic, racial, and social justice. The scorecard is broken into issue areas, and within each issue area, members are ranked based on their support for bills that would advance justice, as well as their opposition to bills that would widen racial or economic inequity.