Washington, D.C. is a federal district, not a state. Virginia is a full U.S. state with two senators and a governor. D.C. residents pay federal taxes but have no voting representation in Congress, elect a mayor instead of a governor, and live under laws that Congress can override at any time.
In brief
Washington, D.C. is a federal district, not a state. Virginia is a full U.S. state with two senators and a governor. D.C. residents pay federal taxes but have no voting representation in Congress, elect a mayor instead of a governor, and live under laws that Congress can override at any time. Virginia residents have none of those constraints.
The constitutional gap
The foundation of Washington, D.C.'s unique status is embedded directly in the U.S. Constitution. Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 grants Congress the power to "exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever" over a designated district, establishing D.C. as a territory constitutionally distinct from the surrounding states. Virginia has no such constraint. It is one of the original 13 states with full sovereignty over its own affairs.
After President George Washington chose a location on the Potomac River for the permanent capital, the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 gave Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the district's territory, stripping its residents of the voting rights they had previously enjoyed as citizens of Maryland and Virginia. That loss has never been fully reversed.
Congress in your city council
Virginia passes its own laws. D.C. does not have that luxury, at least not cleanly. On December 24, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which created a local government for Washington, D.C. But while the Act granted D.C. residents the ability to elect a mayor and council, Congress retained the power to overrule local legislation, and D.C. residents remained without a vote in Congress.
All laws enacted by D.C.'s government must be sent to Congress, where any member of either chamber may introduce a resolution to disapprove the law, subject to presidential action, and a House subcommittee has further oversight authority. This structure has allowed Congress to reverse D.C. government action on issues from reproductive rights to marijuana sales. Virginia's legislature passes laws and the governor signs them. Congress has no role.
Senators, delegates, and the vote that doesn't count
States have two U.S. senators and at least one voting member in the House of Representatives. Washington, D.C. does not have senators. It has a non-voting delegate in the House. That delegate is currently Eleanor Holmes Norton. Norton can vote in committees, introduce legislation, and participate in debates, but she cannot vote on House bills.
D.C. residents can vote in presidential elections because of the Twenty-Third Amendment, ratified in 1961. That amendment gave the District presidential electors, but it did not turn D.C. into a state and did not give it voting members of Congress. D.C. gets three electoral votes in presidential elections but has no representative in the Senate. Virginia has two senators and eleven House members.
Governors vs. mayors
Virginia has a governor with broad executive power. D.C. has a mayor whose authority Congress can clip. The mayor serves as the chief executive but lacks the full autonomy granted to state governors, as Congress retains the power to overturn local laws and must approve the city's annual budget. Under the Home Rule Act, residents elect a 13-member council: one member for each of the eight wards and five at-large members, including the council chair.
Size and population
Scale is the other obvious gap. Census Bureau data shows D.C.'s population grew nearly 15,000 people to 702,250 between July 1, 2023 and July 1, 2024. Virginia's resident population was approximately 8.82 million in 2024, according to Federal Reserve data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. Virginia covers roughly 42,775 square miles. D.C. covers 68 square miles.
Taxes: the income gap is real
Both jurisdictions tax income, but the rates are far apart at the top. Washington D.C.'s income tax reaches 10.75%, almost double Virginia's 5.75% top rate. D.C. has a highly progressive individual income tax with seven tax brackets, a top marginal rate of 10.75%, and no adjustment of tax brackets for inflation. Federal law prohibits D.C. from taxing nonresidents' income, meaning D.C. workers can benefit from lower income taxes by moving to Virginia or Maryland even if they continue to work in D.C.
D.C.'s sales tax is 6%, while Virginia's ranges from 5.3% to 6% depending on location. Property taxes are closer: Virginia's average effective property tax rate is around 0.82%, compared to D.C.'s roughly 0.85% to 0.90%, depending on property type and assessment.
The statehood argument
D.C.'s 700,000 residents, more than Vermont and Wyoming, have no voting representatives or senators and have no voice in the federal government despite paying federal taxes. The district held a referendum in 2016 in which about 78% of voters supported statehood. Democrats generally support admitting D.C. as the 51st state, arguing residents deserve equal representation. Republicans typically oppose it, warning it would add two reliably Democratic Senate seats and permanently reshape the balance of power. Virginia, having been a state since 1788, has no stake in that fight, though Congress returned Alexandria and what is now Arlington County to Virginia back in 1846, and residents of those areas regained full congressional representation at that point.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
