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3 Councilmember Zachary Parker Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie
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7 Councilmember Anita Bonds Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr.
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10 A PROPOSED RESOLUTION
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13 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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16 To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend Title 28 of
17 the District of Columbia Official Code to extend the applicability date of the
18 cashless retailer prohibition to January 1, 2026.
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20 RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That
21 this resolution may be cited as the “Cashless Retailer Extension Emergency Declaration
22 Resolution of 2024”.
23 Sec. 2. (a) The Cashless Retailers Prohibition Amendment Act of 2020 (“Act”)
24 enacted in 2021 with applicability subject to appropriation. As part of the Fiscal Year
25 2024 Budget Support Act of 2023 ( D.C. Law 25-50), the Council funded the Act.
26 Therefore, beginning on January 1, 2025, a retailer will no longer be able to refuse to
27 accept cash as a form of payment, post signs on the premises that cash payment is not
28 accepted, or charge a higher price to consumers who pay cash.
29 (b) Retailers in the District continue to be affected by the disruptions to in-person
30 office work, commute patterns, and crime levels that have significantly improved but
31 remain above levels when the original law was enacted. The vast majority of retailers
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32 accept cash, and most of those who do not accept it have experienced criminal activity at
33 their establishment. The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington recently
34 completed a survey of their members finding that 90% of their members accept cash. Of
35 the surveyed members who do not accept cash, all were robbed or burglarized in the past.
36 This has led to concerns among staff who must carry large sums of cash at night.
37 (c) An extension of the implementation date for section 28-5402 is necessary as it
38 will cause disruptions to businesses that continue face economic challenges exacerbated
39 by targeted criminal activity against retailers that physically hold cash reserves.
40 Sec. 3. The Council determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2
41 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Cashless Retailer
42 Extension Emergency Amendment Act of 2024 be adopted after a single reading.
43 Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
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