Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

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                                                                     Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau

                                       A PROPOSED RESOLUTION

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                         IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

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 To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to clarify that the Office of

        Tax and Revenue may furnish information to the Department of Licensing and Consumer

        Protection for the purposes of implementing the Street Vending Amnesty Program.

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        RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this

 resolution may be cited as the “Street Vending Amnesty Program Facilitation Emergency

 Declaration Resolution of 2024”.

        Sec. 2. (a) On April 4, 2023, the Council passed the “Street Vendor Advancement

 Amendment Act of 2023”, Section 9c of which established the Street Vending Amnesty Program

 to provide forgiveness to eligible street vendors for accumulated debt related to vending

 violations and missed tax payments. The Program was funded in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget

 and effective as of October 1, 2023.

        (b) A key component of the legislation’s intent is to facilitate the full licensing of street

 vendors by streamlining processes and giving vendors a clean slate from which to get licensed;

 without the Amnesty Program and its successful implementation, many vendors will not be able

 to benefit from the rest of the law’s provisions.

        (c) Despite coordination between the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection

 and the Office of Tax and Revenue on establishing the program, there are issues presented by the

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 interpretation of D.C. Code § 47-2002.01 governing disclosure of information that have resulted

 in the amnesty program not reaching its eligible population. The amnesty program is set to expire

 5 years after passage of the legislation, and currently has only received a few applications.

        (d) Emergency legislation is necessary to ensure that unforgiven debt that is eligible for

 forgiveness through the program does not prevent prospective vendors from receiving licensure

 and participating in all provisions of the law that was designed to benefit them.

        Sec. 3. The Council determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute

 emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Street Vending Amnesty Program

 Facilitation Emergency Amendment Act of 2024 be adopted after a single reading.

        Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.

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