foreign daughter this meeting this is an additional meeting of the committee of the whole of the Council of the District of Columbia I'm Phil Mendelson chairman of the council and chair of the committee the whole today is Tuesday April 4th 2023 the time is 11 58 in the morning this meeting is being conducted in person in the council chambers room 500 of the Johnny Wilson building but is also enjoying participation by several members virtually by Zoom video conference broadcast platform uh this hearing or this meeting is being broadcast live on Council Channel 13 and is available to the public on the council's website which is www.dccouncil.gov uh we have three measures from markup in the committee of the whole and one other measure that was um um adopted by another committee and is coming through the committee of the whole to be agendized for today's legislative meeting following this committee the whole meeting there will be a legislative meeting which will be the regular legislative meeting for the month of April we begin our committee the whole meetings with determining whether there's a quorum we could have some quiet in the chamber please uh Mr Cash would you please call the roll chairman Mendelson president councilmember Allen here councilmember bonds here councilmember Freeman president councilmember gray yeah here councilmember Henderson here councilmember Lewis George here councilmember McDuffie here council member Nadeau here councilmember Parker here councilmember Pinto president councilman Robert White president councilmember Trey on white president Mr chairman you have a quorum thank you Mr Cash the first item for markup is um bill 25-28 which is entitled Cassandra s Pinckney way designation Act of 2023 Bill 22-2 excuse me 25-28 would symbolically designate the 10th with symbolically designate 10th Place Southeast between Mississippi Avenue and Savannah Street as Cassandra s Pinckney way the location is in Ward 8. it's a symbolic naming for ceremonial purposes and is in addition to insubordinate to any name that is an official name Cassandra Pinckney was a native Washingtonian she graduated from Spingarn High School in 1967 early in her career she worked at Howard University Hospital running parenting classes and working with infants withdrawing from congenital drug addiction uh all eventually she became the Early Childhood special education coordinator for the D.C public schools where she worked from 1999 to 2002. in 2003 Miss Pinckney and Dr Joe Smith co-founded Eagle Academy the first exclusively Early Childhood Public Charter School in the district Eagle Academy's early childhood education model would go on to be adopted at schools throughout the district creating an Innovative and thriving pre-kindergarten system city-wide this Pinckney made Regular video messages dubbed Fireside Chats in which she talked to parents about how to prepare their children for school she died at the age of 68 in September 2016 as a result of complications from surgery this legislation was introduced was first introduced as Bill 24-1062 in October last year co-introduced with six council members the committed the whole held a hearing on this legislation or on that legislation on December 12 2022 and as then and since has received no testimony or comments in opposition to the legislation because of the expiration accounts period 24 those reintroduced as Bill 25-28 on January 11th 2023 by councilmember white and eight council members a symbolically designating the street fronting Eagle Academy Flagship school on 10th Place Southeast serves as a reminder of Ms pinckney's dedication to the district's youth uh thus assuming that this has approved the committee of the whole recommends Council approval of Bill 25-28 the Cassandra s Pinckney way designation Act of 2023 uh without objection I'll move both the print and the report would leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion we'll have a roll call vote on the print and Report I would leave for staff Mr Cash councilmember Henderson yes customer interested in the votes Yes councilmember Lewis George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes council member no yes votes yes council member Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes councilman Robert White OTS council member Treyon white yes councilmember Treyon white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilman Allen votes yes council member bonds yes councilman's votes yes council member Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes council member gray yes councilmember gray votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses how the print and Report are approved unanimously I'm general counsel to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Madam Secretary is the record complete once the report is filed an emergency director does the measure the Cisco impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does the objection and special will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting the next item for markup is Bill 25-111 the Reverend Lloyd and young Court designation Act of 2023 uh this bill bill 25-111 would officially designate the public alley within Square 4546 as Reverend Lloyd young Court Northeast scored 4546 is bounded by 17th and 18th streets Northeast and E and D streets Northeast it's in the Rosedale neighborhood I believe the location is in Ward 7 and this is an official naming which typically involves a designation of postal addresses and enables the placement of the primary entrance to residences or offices the Reverend Lloyd young court is the proposed name for an alley system with an internal developable lot the owner of the lock seeks a name for the alley in order to obtain the necessary District agency approvals for a buy right development to replace a warehouse with with an to replace a warehouse with an alley dwelling Reverend Lloyd young was born in Washington on November in November 1895. he attended Howard University's School of religion and the Washington Baptist Seminary he was licensed as a minister in 1923 ordained in 1928. urban youngster for two years as pastor of the Central Baptist Church and eventually became pastor of the great Greater Mount Pisgah Baptist Church as well as a guest pastor at a number of area churches Urban young served in the U.S Army in France during World War One he retired from the church in 1957 after serving as Pastor for 27 years he passed away on May 29 1980 at the age of 84. the name for the street uh came from discussions with the ANC commissioner and the community um and as I said we'll enable development of an interior lot in that alley in that square officially designating this alley is Reverend Lloyd young Court Northeast will allow for the construction of an alley dwelling and will honor Reverend young who was an upstanding Community member for these reasons assuming the committee approves the community the whole recommends the approval of Bill 25-111 the Reverend Lloyd and young Court designation act 2023 this legislation was introduced on February 1st of this year by myself and council members Alan and Greg the community of the whole held a public hearing on March 14 2023 the committee received no testimony or comments in opposition to this legislation without um our objection will move both the print I will move both to print and Report the leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion Mr chairman Mr councilmember Allen thank you Mr chairman just wanted to know this this is an ally that previously was in ward 6 now in Ward 7 as a result of redistricting but previously under ANC 6A had been working on a naming um ran into an issue where uh the the ANC wanted to name it for a space that had already been named for the same person um and I know you could not move it forward at that time but you committed to working on a resolution and getting this done and so I want to thank you and councilman gray for working with ANC and neighbors so this could move forward so I appreciate you being good to your word and thank you very much uh thank you councilmember any further discussion uh we'll have a roll call vote on both the print report would leave for staff councilman Lewis George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes chairman Mendelson votes yes council member NATO yes councilmanovo TS councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert wife yes councilman Robert White votes yes councilmember Treyon white yes councilmember Tran white votes yes council member Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes council member bonds yes councilman bonds votes yes council member Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes council member gray yes councilmember gray votes yes council member Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Mr Cash to Bill and both the print And the reporter approved unanimously to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is and secretary is the record complete once the report in hearing record are filed Madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does our objection and special will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting the third item for uh markup in the committee is Bill 25-146 entitled The Howard East Towers alley closing and Street dedication Act of 2023. this legislation would close the 16 foot wide portion of the alley system in square 2873 and it would also dedicate land in the Square to to extend the right-of-way for 9th Street Northwest uh the square is bounded by 9th Street 8th Street Berry place and V Street Northwest it's near Howard University the alley closure and land dedication will facilitate the development of a mixed-use building with approximately 500 multi-family units and 17 300 square feet of retail space in a minimum of 40 units will be set aside for households with incomes of 60 or less of median family income although the developer has agreed to pursue low-income housing tax credits or lie Tech uh capitalization for the Iz component which may increase the total number of affordable units to 60. the project is consistent with the Duke framework for a cultural destination for greater Shaw U Street otherwise known as The Duke plan and which was approved by the council in 2005 and it is also consistent with Howard University's central campus master plan the development project will also provide greater pedestrian and vehicular connectivity by extending the 9th Street right-of-way constructing a new block of Bryant Street between 8th and 9th Street and widening sidewalks along 8th Street and 9th Street um assuming that this is approved the committee finds that the portion of the public alley in square 2873 is unnecessary for Alley purposes the committee also finds that the dedication of land in square 2073 is in the public interest um accordingly the committee recommends Council approval of the committee print for bill 25-146 this legislation was originally introduced as Bill 24-1102 on November 4th 2022. May the whole held a public hearing on that resolution on that bill on December 12 2022. because of the expiration of council period 24 the bill was reintroduced uh By Me on February 22nd 2023 actually it was reintroduced by councilmember Nadeau on February 22nd 2023 um and uh because it was a committee uh Hearing in December we did not have a second hearing the community received no testimony or comments and opposition to this legislation with our objection I'll move both the print report would leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion the vote will be on both the print report would lead for staff Mr Cash would you call the roll councilmember McDuffie yes councilor McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes council member Nadeau yes Council Harbor nadeaux votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes council member Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes councilman Robert white boots yes council member Tryon White yes Council our Trey on weight votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilor bonds votes yes council member crewman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember gray yes councilmember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson vocs council member Lewis George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Mr Cash the um print reporter approved unanimously Madam general counsel is to measure legally and Technical Institution for our consideration yes it is I'm secretaries to record complete once the report is filed Madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does that objection dispatch will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting we'll turn to consideration of measures from other committees we have PR 25-141 copay accumulator Amendment Act of 2023. this was reported out of the committee on health shared by council member Christina Henderson councilmember Henderson thank you Mr chairman the co-pay accumulator Amendment Act of 2023 requires insurance companies to treat any funds applied toward a patient's paying a patient's prescription drug co-pay as if it came from the patient directly some health insurers create a copay accumulator programs to exclude the value of any coupon discount or other third-party financial assistance from Counting towards a patient's deductible or out-of-pocket maximum thus the patient must exhaust the financial assistance and then have to pay out of pocket costs him or herself the insurance company in turns get a double benefit first receiving the copay from the patient assistance program and then once that's exhausted receiving the copay from the patient this bill prohibits these copay accumulator programs so patients will reach their deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums earlier thus improving their access and affordability this bill applies to all prescription drugs without a generic alternative or biosimilar pharmaceutical companies may use a patient assistance program to keep patients using expensive brand name and drugs instead of switching to a lower switching to a lower cost generic excluding drugs with generics or biosimilar from the bill will contribute to lowering the premiums by preventing pharmaceutical manufacturers from keeping patients on branded drugs when a lower cost generic is available the committee print balances ensuring patients receive the full benefit of their health insurance plans to access necessary medications with ensuring pharmaceutical companies cannot take advantage of these programs to unduly increase health care costs this legislation will lead to lower out-of-pocket costs for patients for necessary medications and will maximize the impact of every dollar that a resident spends on their medical care with that Mr chairman I ask for colleagues to support this measure and that this be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting uh thank you councilmember Henderson are there questions from members I'm general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is I'm secretary's record complete yes it is budget director does the measures Cisco impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does Auto objection dispension will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting that is going to conclude the business for this legislative meeting excuse me this committee the whole meeting uh we will take about five minutes do we need that much time now colleagues the answer to that question comes from the um folks who are actually managing the meeting not me so we need at least three minutes uh and then we will start the legislative meeting the time is 12 17 p.m and this meeting is adjourned foreign before I start the meeting I want to note for council members that um there was another amendment that I just circulated regarding the street vendor bill uh it's legislative language it was given to us by the Chief Financial Officer maybe 15 minutes ago and uh I didn't check on my email but I believe that playing some of my staff just circulated it to members so there'll be three amendments to the street vendor bill the amend nature of a substitute the amendment that was circulated uh this morning at about 10 21 and then a third amendment that was just circulated after noon uh with that I'm going to start the meeting if we're ready I'm calling to order this meeting this is the fifth legislative meeting of council period 25 of the Council of the District of Columbia I am Phil Mendelson chair of the council and today is Tuesday April 4th 2023 the time is 12 32 in the afternoon this submitting is being held in the council chambers room 500 of the Johnny Wilson building although there are at least two members who are participating virtually uh via the zoom video conference broadcast platform this meeting is also being broadcast live on Council Channel 13. and is available on the council's website which is www.dccouncil.gov um we always begin our legislative meetings with a moment of silence uh it was noted to me that recently Judas human passed away she was the first director of the department of disability services and we actually have a resolution uh to honor her that's on today's agenda I wanted to note that before we have a moment of silence thank you Madam Secretary would you please call the roll councilmember Allen Henderson here it's from Lewis George here let's remember McDuffie here Cameron Nelson president here councilmember Parker president Barbara Pinto president Robert White Mr chairman you have a quorum uh thank you Madam Secretary we have um the secretary's report of committee filings I recognize that sure Pro tem councilmember McDuffie and I'm going to move the way we're reading of the secretary's report an emotion to waive the reading of the secretary's report is there discussion on the motion by Voice vote all those in favor of waiving the reading say aye aye are there any no votes yeah I just have it unanimously we have the secretary's report of introductions and referrals again I'm going to recognize the chair Pro tem Mr McDuffie and I moved away every reading another Secretary of report of introductions it's her discussion uh Voice vote on the motion all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any no votes the odds have unanimously we have the consent agenda are there any changes to the consent agenda the consent agenda runs through page seven and part of page eight I'm not hearing any changes all right we'll have a roll call vote on the consent agenda Madam Secretary would you call the role councilmember McDuffie yes Emma Mendelson yes yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilman Adele yes Robin Ado votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes councilman betray on white yes Robert Trion white votes yes councilmember Allen yes for Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes Barbara bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember gray yes gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes remember Henderson votes yes comes from Lewis George yes Louis George votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary uh the consent agendas approved unanimously uh we will turn to the non-consent agenda on page eight and the first measure for consideration final reading on Bill 25-68 the street vendor Advanced from an amendment Act of 2023. there are three amendments to this bill uh I will in a second move the nature of a substitute and then I will move this amendment circulated 1021 and then move the third amendment that I just referenced at the beginning of this meeting uh this legislation came out of the committee as a whole on March haven't I believe and um this legislation uh attempts to straighten out the vending regulations that have been law and regulation in the district for a number of years uh it among other things that I'm not going to describe the bill entirely sets up a um a pilot uh vending Zone in the Mount Pleasant or Columbia Heights neighborhood and um it also decriminalizes uh Street vending so there's a civil infraction for violating the law it also simplifies the requirements so it will be less expensive and easier for individuals who want to do Street vending to be able to do the street vending uh so I move the bill and I will move the amendment nature of a substitute or I am moving the amendment nature of a substitute the ANS which was circulated yesterday makes several substantive changes first to address concerns that were raised at the last meeting and by the Department of Health about changes to the cottage food law the ANS strikes that language and instead creates a new license category a micro Enterprise home Kitchen business that would enable sidewalk vendors to prepare food that they intend to sell via a cart table or stand to prepare that in their homes there are requirements around that I won't read all of it but it was in the notice as well as in the ANS second the amendment nature of a substitute addresses concerns raised by several council members uh regarding the enforcement language it clarifies an enforcement officer may only request an individual produce reasonable identification if the individual refuses to provide their legal name and current address or if the enforcement officer has reason to believe that the individual is providing an incorrect name or address the ANS defines the term detained to mean quote to stop and verbally order a person to remain at his or her current location or a nearby location specified by an enforcement officer unquote to ensure that enforcement officers do not use Force when trying to identify an unlicensed vendor for purposes of issuing a civil infraction the Third change in the ens would authorize the Chief Financial Officer to provide amnesty to Street vendors with delinquent minimum sales tax payments in coordination with the Department of Licensing and consumer protection um this language is actually uh Modified by the third amendment that I will be moving which I'll explain in a moment and also Modified by the Second Amendment which um I will also move in a moment so the ANS makes those three changes regarding the micro Enterprise regarding enforcement and regarding the amnesty I think what I'll do is um I have discussion and call for a vote on the amendment substitute and then move the next two amendments is there discussion on the amendment nature of a substitute councilmember Henderson um thank you Mr chairman I um just wanted to take a moment to thank my colleagues you Mr chairman your staff councilmember Joe and your staff for working with myself in the committee as well as the Department of Health on this amendment um it's been a truly collaborative effort and I believe this amendment strikes the right balance of creating a pathway for Street vendors to prepare ready to eat food in their homes while also aligning with food safety best practices so thank you uh thank you for the discussion on the nature of a substitute chairman councilman thank you so much chairman Mendelson I have to admit um it's it's a pretty emotional moment um that this day has finally come and to see all of our um representatives in the chamber today um I regret that I have to participate from home I'm a little under the weather but I'm grateful for the option for the hybrid hearing today the hybrid session today I'm thrilled to have in the chamber today again as always the street vendors and Advocates with bendadora zunitos and Beloved Community incubator who've guided this process from the time when we first began working together to create access to Grants food handling certification commercial cooking space and eventually this effort to change District law this legislation would not have come into existence and likely would not have gone very far or not for your tireless advocacy and ensuring your voices were heard thank you I'm grateful to councilmember Henderson and chairman Mendelson for having join me in this effort and I know sometimes saying we'll work on it before second reading doesn't really happen but for those who weren't involved I can tell you a lot of time and effort went into this ANS so I'm glad we were able to address concerns that were raised at first reading um thankful to the chairman staff who are able to resolve some of the issues with OTR um we want everyone in compliance and accountable we want everyone safe and successful so thank you for councilmember Henderson and chairman Mendelson this ANS makes the bill even better and I hope we can continue working together on funding and implementation I am excited that while this legislation is not yet funded it allows for the immediate decriminalization of Street bending when this passes mayoral and Congressional review if a business owner with a store has an expired license police don't come and arrest them the same should be true when a street vendor is out of compliance arresting them is preposterous I will convey this to MPD as I have been doing in communication with them for some time about prioritizing MPD resources to other activities and it concerns me that only a few days ago I report got reports of incidents in Ward one where vendors were being harassed by the police yet again as the ward one council member I am very excited to see the establishment of the new Columbia Heights Mount Pleasant vending Zone as well as the required study of how best to support vendors with new physical infrastructure and I'm happy to work with colleagues to see how the experience of this pilot Zone can be helpful throughout the district today is the end of one story but the beginning of another as we work together to fund and implement this bill I'm glad that we included in the ANS emergency rulemaking Provisions for DC Health to ensure the executive doesn't sit on their hands I'll be working with council member Henderson and our partners in this room to make sure that final regulations reflect the spirit of this law one more thing to look forward to just last week DPR held his first public meeting on the design of a triangle park at 14th and Oak in Columbia Heights one of the areas including and included in the new vending Zone and I was happy that fenders were represented at that meeting I've advocated to DPR myself that this space should be built out with Vending in mind from the very beginning that project underscores that this bill is not just about who's allowed to do business in the district but who our public spaces are for and who gets to participate in their future the answer to all of those questions include Street vendors and the residents they serve I want to finish my remarks where I started with a thank you to The Advocates who've raised their voices and put in time to making this legislation a reality this is what Civic engagement is supposed to look like and you are a model for how residents can profoundly influence the legislative process congratulations to you all I also want to thank the staff who worked so extensively on this bill from the very beginning of the process until today Ali Bobak who started on my constituent Services team working on drafting the initial legislation and just watching from home today David meny and Arielle ardora Blaine stum and chairman Mendelson's office Bona Bacchus and council member Henderson's office thank you chairman and I urge my colleagues to support the amendment and the nature of a substitute that I'm glad to join you and council member Henderson on thank you councilman Bernardo Is there further discussion on the amendment nature of a substitutes that councilmember Booth George uh thank you chairman I want to extend my gratitude uh to your team but to council member Nadeau um for many years of leadership to bring Street vending out of the shadows and into an excessively regulated space where more people can safely earn a living and provide for their families I have had the honor of meeting dozens of warfare residents who make their living and their livelihood selling delicious home-cooked meals and snacks beautiful art and jewelry and other Goods they all desire to be licensed and to follow rules without the risk of arrest harassment or devastating fines I am thrilled today we begin to lift those fears and weights off their back by opening Pathways to regulated sidewalk vending I also appreciate the work that has been done to address food safety concerns from DC health because I know these adjustments will help more customers feel comfortable making purchases which in turn means more money and stability for our vendors this is a Monumental step forward that I am excited to vote in favor of today congratulations to the street vendors who organized for years and overcame great challenges to get to today thank you thank you councilmember further discussion I'd ask please that folks who are in the audience do not applaud um they're going to be more remarks um Is there further on the amendment nature of a substitute all right we're gonna have a vote on the nature of a substitute and then we have the two amendments to follow and then the bill is amended on the amendment nature of a substitute by a Voice vote all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any opposed uh the amendment is approved unanimously we have the second amendment that was circulated yesterday and excuse me was circulated this morning at 10 21 by Mr stum on my staff it makes some um I would say minor uh some minor uh changes uh clarifying that the background check um prohibition pertains to the application for sidewalk vending whether it's before after the application is submitted and it also clarifies that for purposes is the amnesty that the amnesty is not just for the tax but also the interest and also the penalties and there are a couple of other minor uh editorial uh not editorial but editing type changes and it also clarifies that the study that the Mayors to do has to be completed no later than one year after the applicability date of this legislation this legislation will be effective when it passes Congressional review but it is not applicable until it is fully funded or at least for certain Provisions are fully funded and so the study is required one year after that provision is funded those that's the essence of the amendment that I circulated this morning I move it is there discussion if there's no objection the amendment will be accepted uh hearing no objection the amendment is accepted uh the third amendment was circulated I believe at 12 10. uh and this is an exercise in frustration uh the the amendment deals with the uh amnesty program the amendment rewrites section four and section four in the amendment nature of a substitute if I remember correctly is four lines and it now looks like it's about 50 lines um we had the reason why I say an exercise in frustration is because uh Mr stumb on the committee the whole staff had reached out to the office of Tax and Revenue uh easily a week ago asking um if the language that we had regarding amnesty in section 4 was sufficient for them to implement the amnesty program because we have from time to time run into uh I'm looking for the right word the nice word um concerns with the Chief Financial Officer with regard to the council's intent um we did not get a response until noon today and the response we got was the language that is this amendment and this is the language that the uh Chief Financial Officer or the ocfo recommends in order for the amnesty program to be implemented the intent is that um those vendors who apply for a vending license and have outstanding taxes uh that those taxes will be abated or waived or forgiven or not have to be paid or whatever verb works and that's the taxes as well as the interest and penalties do you want to make clear that this is for those who apply for a vending license and it's for the tax periods ending March 31st 2010 to the quarter ending immediately after the effective date of this bill so that's the amendment is to implement or rather to put into the bill as a section for the language that's the Chief Financial Officer says is adequate for them to implement the amnesty program so I move the third amendment which is entitled amendment number two and um is there discussion or questions Mr Parker do you have a copy of the amendment uh it was circulated electronically okay I am struggling to get online so thank you I'll give you a moment so section four in the amendment nature of a substitute said the CFO shall establish a program to provide amnesty and the language instead um we'll say conforming Amendment uh that uh EC code 47-202.01 is amended by adding a new subsection to read as follows notwithstanding certain sections the CFO shall Abate any unpaid portion of the assessment of the minimum tax imposed by this section and I'm not going to read the whole thing but uh Mr chairman can I ask a question yes councilmember Henderson um does Amendment changed the overall physical impact of the legislation no because this section was subject to um appropriation anyway because it's a tax abatement okay Mr chairman may ask a question were you done councilman yeah so am I am I understanding correctly the original language was to establish a plan and in effect is this the plan and plan this is the mechanism through which it will be done so it it is this if the original language was that they were to establish a plan and then they came forward with language saying this is how you will do it I'm confused the what we're talking about with this amendment is the um amnesty for the tax that's owed there is a separate provision requires the mayor to develop a vending plan what no but read the origin the language about the the amnesty the original language was the Chief Financial Officer shall established a program to provide amnesty to a taxpayer and then the new language establishes a program the new language says notwithstanding certain sections the CFO shall Abate any unpaid portion of the assessment of the minimum tax and then it goes on so in effect it it is the program through which the original language was calling for so yes so substance I think that's a correct reading substantively it doesn't change it it just takes it to the next step of establishing the program I think that's a fair way of putting it um I would put it a little differently that uh this language from the CFO um makes clear the cfo's authority to implement the amnesty and unless I'm missing something and I seem to have missed it in the past a CFO giving us this language that this is what they need to do what the council's intent is which is just amnesty for vendors uh further discussion or questions I apologize that this is last minute literally we received this at about noon um if there's no objection this amendment will be accepted I'm not hearing any objection so it is accepted uh so this is where we are with the bill we have Bill 25-68 which was the committee print approved on first reading we have the amendment nature of a substitute which has been approved and then amended by Amendment circulated this morning and then amended Again by this amendment amendment number two so the bill is amended is before us is there any further discussion I'm not hearing any um Madam Secretary would you call the role the vote is on Bill 25-68 as amended chairman mendelsohn yes Cameron Mendelson votes yes councilmer Minado yes I'm from an adult votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilman Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilman betray on white yes white votes yes councilman by Allen yes Allen votes yes yes councilmember Freeman yes women votes yes councilmember Gray yes have a great votes yes councilmember Henderson yes one by Henderson votes yes councilman Brothers George yes I believe is George votes yes and councilmember McDuffie yes councilman McDuffie votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses oh thank you Madam Secretary the bill as amended is approved unanimously uh we will turn now to the next measure the next measure is uh Bill 25-164 comprehensive policing and Justice Reform temporary Amendment Act of 2023 councilmember Allen thank you very much Mr chairman uh I'd like to move to postpone the measure for consideration until our May 2nd 2023 legislative meeting so motion to postpone the measure uh discussion all those in favor of the motion to postpone say aye aye opposed uh the bill is postponed by unanimous vote the next item is build 25-148 motor vehicle and homeowner insurance prior approval rate filing temporary Amendment Act of 2023 councilmember McDuffie similarly Mr chair I'd like to move the post's phone the measure until May 2nd 2023 legislative meeting an emotion to postpone is there discussion on the motion to postpone to May 2nd all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any opposed uh the eyes have it unanimous lead uh we will turn now to um reading and vote on proposed resolutions we have PR 25-117 sent to the Council on the establishment of an American 250 an America 250 commission resolution 2023. foreign thank you very much Mr chairman um 2026 will be the 250th anniversary of the country and I think we can expect tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of people to come to the District of Columbia to celebrate that holiday um the the folks leading that on the national level have called for the creation of task forces in every state to work on celebrations around that um that reflect the history of their state we here in the District of Columbia have a particularly compelling history that we want to be able to tell in this process um and this gives us a platform where we will have an audience from around the country to to learn about our story in this in the context of the 250th anniversary of the country the resolution calls for the mayor to create a task force to begin working on preparing to tell that story now it's not too late it's not too early it's just the right time for us to really get organized to be able to use this opportunity to make our case to the American people one of the issues out there obviously is statehood another of the issues out there is the recent kerfuffle's decision nice word with the Congress um but we we offer a prism into American history that is really really important just today's newspaper um tells some of that story in today's Washington Post there's an op-ed about the election of 1876 which led to the compromise of 1877 um it's the 150th anniversary of that event which is a tragic event in American history that brought on the era of Jim Crow a different thing in the in today's newspaper alone is a story about in 1926 we had the um the clan march on Pennsylvania Avenue where 35 000 people marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in support of the clan if we get started now we can do something really effective that draws on all of our communities to tell the story of the history of the District of Columbia which in many ways is the history of the country and make our case to the American public in yet a different way and so this resolution calls on us to get started working together with the mayor working together with the folks on the national level and including folks from all of our communities to get ready for this 250th anniversary so with that I I urge my colleagues to support the sense of the council resolution thank you councilmember Freeman is there discussion council member Pinto thank you chairman I just want to thank councilmember frumin for introducing Council I am very enthusiastic for the welcoming of many folks from all over the country and the world to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States of America on July 4th 2026. um I do just want to note in the national park services efforts to make sure that this is an inclusive event um and our efforts to stand up a district-specific focus that I think it's important that we include our own District of Columbia delegation our uh two senators our shadow senators from the District of Columbia and our uh representative from the District of Columbia are not given offices are not given um much staff and it's really important that we support their efforts in our pursuit of statehood and I think it's important that we include their perspective in the planning of the 250th thank you for the discussion uh the vote will be on PR 25-117 I think we can do a voice vote on this this is the sense of the council all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any no votes I'm secretary I don't see or hear any no Roads TV agreed Mr chairman the resolution is approved unanimously uh we'll turn now to emergency legislation the first is food delivery feeds transparency emergency we have the Declaration which is PR 25-172 councilmember Allen okay thank you very much Mr chairman when I voted for the fair meals delivery act last December I assumed I think we all did that third party delivery companies would comply with the spirit of the law however I don't think the reality uh has played out that way and as I previously stated I don't think what's happening is meeting the spirit or intent of the law that we passed it's a level set let's share about how these delivery apps work so delivery platforms like an ubereats or a doordash take a cut of the total sale from the restaurant sale it's not an add-on cost that's passed on to consumers or an additional salary for drivers it's taking a portion directly from the sale the restaurant would otherwise make for selling that meal that you just bought in exchange the restaurants listed on their app comes up in their relevant services or at least that's what's supposed to happen last December this Council debated capping that big Tech cut at 15 of the order but we landed on a compromise that didn't actually cap those fees and what we've started seeing this month with the law taking effect a few weeks ago is that our restaurants only pay 50 that are only paying 15 are getting bumped down or bumped out in search results unless they upgrade to a different package the result is a major squeeze on your local favorite small restaurants across the city to hand out hand out even more of that purchase price that you made on an app to the third party at a time when those local businesses are barely treading water and are trying to recover I met again just yesterday with a group of small restaurants from Wards one four five and six all of whom say this is a major issue for them right now today and the message was clear they're asking for a city-wide solution several local restaurants share that when the cut these delivery companies take goes above 15 percent they aren't even covering the cost of making the meal itself they're literally just cooking the food and sending it out with zero Profit just to still be relevant and the same businesses reported that delivery is anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of their total sales now admit this is not going to apply to the Taco Bell or McDonald's but to your favorite neighborhood restaurant your favorite place to have a nice meal delivered it's a serious problem that's dramatically impacting their viability meanwhile these big out-of-state Tech corporations with a few companies largely dominating the space are doing exceptionally well last year ubereats generated nearly 11 billion dollars which represents a 31 increase over the previous year's Revenue doordash last year made 6.6 billion dollars a 35 increase from the previous year and that's on top of around 70 percent increase in revenue for those big companies from just the year before that that's a pretty incredible trend line but it's not even close to what our local businesses are seeing online delivery platforms have quickly transformed the marketplace and they're doing very very well now I have no problem with them they feel a necessary role and consumers want to use their services but we've got to be willing to jump into the space to protect our local DC businesses our local restaurants are the ones that have struggled to keep their doors open during the pandemic and they're now struggling with these Rising fees that only pad the already massive revenues for these delivery apps we need this bill today because and again I want to re-emphasize this these aren't fees tacked onto the final bill it's a cut from the cost of making the meal buying the ingredients running the kitchen paying the chef and staff salaries to cook and prepare your meal it doesn't go to the drivers if I can have 30 more seconds Mr chair without objection it goes to the people who own the algorithm and I think 15 is a reasonable cap and one that should be taken seriously I've spoken with both doordash and ubereats they're well represented and the phone calls came quick as I'm sure many of my colleagues also noticed and I agree there's an area that deserves more conversation which is why I'm introducing a permanent bill today as well we need to further examine issues around businesses coming up in searches based on Geographic distance and pricing itself two issues flagged for me by DC's own Restaurant Association I know they're closely following this issue and they care about it as well for their many members so the bill today doesn't touch those issues because they deserve more discussion topics perfect for a permanent bill in hearing but we can and should act today to get the basics right to be on these platforms the cut from Big Tech is capped at 15 without corresponding punishment and how visible the restaurant is on the platform this emergency action does not solve every problem nor is it intended to but it's a necessary step that our local restaurants need nothing in this precludes any restaurants from taking advantage of additional marketing services or premium Services deserving of a higher cut but we want to see those services or more accurately show those services to our restaurants because right now restaurants are telling us these higher fees are feeling more like a Shakedown than an upgrade thank you Mr chairman and I'll move the Declaration and hope my colleagues will support that discussion on the Declaration um um I I we had a fairly extensive um discussion about this in the legislative breakfast uh this morning and so I want to rehash every single detail um but I actually support the spirit of this emergency in its attempt to address challenges that our restaurants face because our restaurants still face challenges despite the fact that technically uh the city-wide Health emergencies and public emergencies are over technically they're over but practically the restaurants are still facing challenges the reason I don't support the emergency and I'm not going to vote for it is because it really doesn't address any of the issues that restaurants have described to me and my team on the committee it's not to say that they aren't issues what I'm suggesting I want my colleagues to be mindful of is that the committee is trying to approach this in a very thoughtful manner hence the permanent legislation that we introduced last year held a hearing on and voted for unanimously and so while this is an attempt to address some of the existing issues ultimately I don't think it has the efficacy in which some of the proponents think it will have and I think you don't really need to look much further than the fact that it's had about two maybe three iterations in less than a week since it was first introduced and some of the things in language around the apps the restaurants being discoverable on apps has been deleted I'm not exactly sure what that means uh and so my comments here are more about what a thoughtful process should look like rather than move in haste and not address any and I want to also raise another thing we've heard people talk about the third party delivery Acts we've heard people talk about the restaurants I've not heard a single person talk about the delivery drivers who are also a part of this economy largely black and brown who want to continue to be able to deliver restaurant meals to people across our city um you know I'm always open to working with colleagues to try to get things right to council and other this doesn't doesn't really rise to the level of something that's going to substantively change things which is probably why another moment Mr without objection which is probably why the Restaurant Association just today I don't know exactly what time but my staff just sent me a statement where the Restaurant Association um does not support this legislation I think that's meaningful for folks to think about the Restaurant Association represents 1 400 members earlier in the breakfast it would say that they don't represent small businesses actually they do my understanding that the original tweet from a local restaurant on 8th Street is one of the members of the Restaurant Association and they don't support this legislation today but they are willing to continue to work with my colleagues and myself from the council to figure out how we can address some of the challenges that they're facing the last thing I'll say Mr chair is I have been in constant conversation with restaurants across the District of Columbia almost every day I'm talking to restaurants I've got a number of issues that they've raised with me and my staff guess what this emergency Bill wasn't one of them so I would just urge us as a body to be more thoughtful about how we approach some of these issues and think about where it is appropriate for the council to intervene and where it's appropriate for two businesses to negotiate and figure things out themselves because it might become the sort of slippery slope that every couple weeks we're trying to do something different and I'm not going to support that I'm not sure what the the permanent bill is going to look like I trust it's going to look different than the emergency um but I'm always willing to work with my colleagues to try to resolve what I think is a shared goal to support our local restaurant industry I just don't think this bill does it thank you councilman McDuffie further Jim councilmember Tran Mike I have a question um councilman Allen um I know you said you spoke to some of the uh restaurants are they uh part of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington uh some of them are some of them are not um I did his sentiments from the organization that they supported a lot of parts of this bill but um today they're not um in support of the emergency legislation um and it's our belief that we want to be supportive of the restaurant on a troubled time uh that is struggling um coming out of pandemic um but I'm also concerned um for the drivers and those who do deliveries because I know that this Council also passed legislation that empowered DC for high vehicles to pretty much go after them um and most of those uh drivers are working class families trying to make ends meet in a city where parking is limited and those who give tickets are running through the city giving tickets all over the place um and so I want to make sure we create a holistic system to keeping our uh hotels and restaurant industry vibrant by supporting uh all the way around I'm I'm not I don't remember offhand council member mcduffie's first bill but I would love people like to research that and give some thoughts to that later on um and so today I will not be in support of the emergency legislation but I look forward to working with you and other members to get us to the finish line our councilman repento thank you chairman counselor Allen for moving forward and trying to be responsive to some of the concerns that folks have heard from some of our smallest restaurants um we've had the debate up here as a body on a number of occasions in the last several years about where the appropriate line of intervention is With Private Business decisions um I think it's a line that everybody may come to their own personal decision on but I do think it's important as a government that we take that seriously when we are going to intervene in private business decisions and when we would have a level of consistency from one industry to another um this circumstance feels a little bit different to me than other ways I've argued in the past that the hotel industry for example because these third-party applications are really operating like a Marketplace and have essentially a oligopoly on this type of business but I I am concerned with some of what councilman McDuffie is talking about with both the restaurant association's opposition to this bill but also not not just putting a Band-Aid on one piece of it when this may require a more thoughtful long-term conversation and it's been referenced councilmember Allen that there have been a number of versions of this amendment and so can you speak to kind of how you landed on the current version of this amendment and what practical impact it will have on these operators sure thank you very much councilor Pinto I've I found the comment about multiple iterations a very odd comment seeing that we just passed the street vendors legislation that had an amendment substitute even an amendment at 12 10 this afternoon but we didn't say that all of a sudden somehow the iterations changed and threw us all off um as we do with legislation we drafted it shared it with stakeholders got feedback including feedback from ubereats and doordash sent copies to the Restaurant Association asking for their feedback talk with others and then was able to make changes to it so the iterations that you see are the natural part of sharing with stakeholders getting feedback and making changes the piece that of why this matters to do this now um is that we want to be able to prohibit these third-party apps from reducing a restaurant's placed on a list solely based on the fact that they're paying the lower 15 fee there are elements that need to be part of a permanent Bill part of a hearing that could do everything from the radius around an establishment which would also get into proprietary information within an algorithm there is no other permanent bill in front of us there is no other emergency bill in front of us this is it uh any action we need to take today is because we've got our local restaurants that are asking us for help that if we or if we are concerned I'll finish up real fast if we're concerned about making sure these restaurants can survive at a time they're treading water if we're concerned about making sure that our gig economy continues because if these restaurants go under that is fewer deliveries be made the out-of-state companies that are making billions of dollars are not going into the pockets of our gig drivers they're not going to the pockets of our small restaurants so this is an action the restaurant association's message they sent out today said that they want to see legislation that supports that changes more of this so that's the only reason that they're saying they don't support this right now they said it doesn't solve all the problems and as I said in my statement it's not intended to solve all the problems that's where a permanent Bill and a hearing hopefully comes in thank you and Mr chairman can I have 30 more seconds I just have a follow-up question without objection so I I hear all that and I am I am not suggesting that the fact that there have been multiple iterations means that it's not a good proposal I'm just trying to understand how you landed on the language that you did around the platforms um to understand what practical impact this will have on businesses to prevent them from being pushed off the platform and that feedback is from meeting with the third party apps themselves talking with other uh other restaurants and getting other feedback that's where the the changes come as it does with all good legislation specifically language that you currently have what is it going to do what it is going to do is specifically focus on reducing uh prohibiting an app from being able to reduce a restaurant's place on our list solely based on the fact they're paying to lower 15 commission fee the issues around uh radius for example I don't think because you've got proprietary information that is more uh that is also an issue that's been raised by the Restaurant Association others and I think that's more appropriate to be able to have a permanent Bill and hold a hearing to flesh that out but that's not going to happen today and our restaurants are asking us for help today thank you further on the bills just one no second reading I mean you'll be second round councilmember Robert White thank you Mr chairman this is my first round um I just I have a few critical questions for helping me digest this very quickly uh the the three questions are what are the specific objections of the Restaurant Association how does this emergency Bill harm restaurants and how soon could we expect permanent legislation that would help me sort through this so that to them to me or to whom let's start with you uh councilman yes thank you uh so your question was around um what are the specific objections of the Restaurant Association uh they said to be sure there is more work to be done here a number of issues have come up not only regarding concerns of our search results but also questions about delivery radius among others we're unsure if this emergency legislation fully addresses all the concerns and while we appreciate the council looking at the matter we don't support the emergency legislation as drafted at this time so I mentioned earlier the issue around delivery radius that's also part of some concerns from proprietary algorithm language which would be best suited I think from permanent legislation and a public hearing okay um how does this the this emergency before us arm restaurants local restaurants DC it would not harm any local restaurants uh this emergency legislation it would help them councilmember McDuffie is there harm here to this legislation I think I I don't think let me because I don't think because of morale is trying to hire many restaurants right and I'm not either I don't think perhaps I would ask the question a little differently I get concerned about sending a false sense restaurants a moment ago councilman Allen said it goes to reduce the placement of a restaurant it prevent the reducing of a plate the placement of a restaurant on an app solely based on uh the fact that they pay the 15 rate but then if you read the legislation I don't have it in front of me but it it makes all these exceptions and I think the exception sort of swallow whatever his goal was intended to be because if I pay a 15 rate as a restaurant but then other people paid whatever else in order to get certain placements somewhere else somebody's always going to be on the bottom and simply paying 15 percent you know you don't want them to be a race off a platform and I appreciate that's part of what he's trying to accomplish here um I guess my short version is councilman white is I would love to be able to work with whoever has an interest in this to better address the issue doing this via emergency I think since falsely a signal that we're fixing something and I just don't really think that this bill is fixing much and then the other part is the law just went into effect a little while ago right and so how is the law working to address some of the challenges and so you know I mean so so there's a number of questions that we haven't answered this bill doesn't doesn't answer it and doesn't really do much to to fix anything this is the way I feel about it thank you Mr chairman oh thank you councilmember Lewis George and then comes from rubonis yeah so I think the question on harm is fair that my uh that my colleagues are getting to I don't see anything in this language that would harm um you know and and I think there's conversation it may not fully help but I think its goal is to try and prevent unfair exclusionary placement that makes things unequal essentially um and I gotta say I'm I am a little bit torn here doing this on emergency and I'm wondering if as we're having conversations on this side if uh because I also don't know if you know delivery platforms and I'm saying they are are trying to blatantly trying to get around DC law limiting delivery fees to 15 which is which is already High um and we likely haven't heard much about it yet because the higher fees haven't been imposed yet and they may soon but I don't want to base any I don't want to base uh making this decision on that um so I'm I'm asking I'm not making the motion I'm making the consideration if that if it if that could be considered if we would be if you if we would consider uh a motion a table no okay all right I think with that I mean I think I I'm gonna vote present just because I don't feel like I have heard I've heard from another I haven't heard from Ward four businesses by themselves um to say to me but I also don't trust the validity of the arguments made on the other side um and I'm not and I don't feel comfortable with with that piece right there so I I will vote president we're not going to move the table uh council member bonds thank you chairman um I have a couple of questions one have the third party companies inform the restaurants that they will begin to pay a higher commission fee of around 30 percent for local delivery in order to continue to receive the service level that they are accustomed to I just wanted to know what you know about that through the chair yes uh they there has been notifications gone I'll read one of them for example talking about the commission rate at 25 uh saying that uh your delivery radius will decrease meaning fewer customers can order um you will uh have customers might end up paying more for an increase will no longer refund commission fees if you receive fewer than 20 orders per month um so they are being notified they're being notified in a way that clearly says you either got to pay a higher commission rate than you already are or we are starting to reduce the services you get reduce the ability to get to customers and that's what this is all about right which side who we who are we here fighting for our local businesses yeah um but thank you I wanted to make sure that the public understood what we are really discussing and then does the um act limit the total fees charged to restaurants by the platform to no more than 15 of the purchase price on the online order that's the second part of my question which is contained in the first question but uh through the chair it doesn't limit a restaurant from saying they can only do 15 they could choose to go to that kind of Premium level that higher level if they'd like to and I don't think it'd be an appropriate role for the council to say that a business can't take advantage of or want to see that type of advertising or that type of additional service but because you had I think one of my colleagues talked about this there is such a incredibly large amount and share of the marketplace we've got restaurants are telling us 50 of all their sales are coming through these online third-party delivery apps that if that that Lion's Share of the marketplace means that these guys have to figure out how to either pay the 15 percent and they're watching themselves get in essence pushed down smaller radius smart smaller ability to reach customers and make those sales it is that's why they're calling it a sham that that 15 is a sham they have to step up to the 25 or higher and that is absolutely undermining their ability to recover to keep people employed to keep those gig workers going and meanwhile those big third party companies like I said 35 over last year increased 70 70 increase over last year our restaurants aren't seeing that our workers aren't seeing that and and and I through the chairman I I agree that the restaurants aren't seeing it but I'm trying to understand how this legislation is really going to attack the big boys the third party big boys because I'm not hearing that it's really going to attack them it does very if I can answer very quickly because I know time all right okay great absolutely that it is is not correct to say this does nothing but while it is true that it does not do everything it absolutely Works to prohibit the apps from reducing the restaurant's place on a list solely based on the fact they're paying the lower 15 commission fee um it makes sure that if you are going to stay at the 15 fee which most of our restaurants can't even afford that but to go up to the 25 and 30 percent is too much at least holds them at that question I got asked earlier does this do any harm absolutely not does it help protect at least the folks that are going to stay at the 15 it absolutely does so those that stay at 15 can continue to stay at 15 but they will not benefit from being um um a choice placed on the list because from our breakfast meeting this morning it was pointed out that those that are Choice placed are usually at the beginning of the app once you put the Pizza in those okay all right all right thank you very much I I don't think I can support this legislation debate thank you uh let me see who's next on first round there's a hand down there is that Henderson oh I'm sorry councilmember Freeman and then you thank you very much Mr chairman um this has been at a fascinating discussion both in the breakfast and here and part of what I'm struck by is that the complaints about this legislation are either that it doesn't do enough or that it doesn't do anything and that's what I've been hearing in in the sense of it not doing anything it and I hear you councilmember McDuffie that it sort of sends a message that something important might be happening and it may not be happening through this legislation I have not heard how the legislation Works negatively um and it's just a question of whether it's the thorough job that should be done here I think you know based on this conversation the importance of a full hearing on permanent legislation to really go into the kinds of issues councilmember McDuffie that you've been raising and council member Pinto has been raising super super important then the question is what do we do here what do I do here and and I almost see this as largely symbolic at this point if it doesn't if the problem is it doesn't do enough or the problem is it doesn't do anything then what's our vote mean and I see it in the way that council member Allen sees it that if I want to do something today I want to send a message that we are trying to go to that for our small restaurants in the face of these giant National apps and that when we get to the permanent legislation stage that's the attitude that we will bring to it and I think that's the message that a vote for this legislation sends and I will send that message and hope others will too thank you councilmember Henderson um thank you Mr chairman I appreciate uh the debate that's happening I just wanna clarify uh for folks into some expectation setting standpoint so the emails that I'm getting from restaurant owners are talking about how they don't want to see commission caps doubled and that's why we should support this emergency and I want to be clear that that is not with this emergency does um in terms and and if we want to rehash what we talked about last year to do that in a fuller setting of whether or not we need to do commission caps we can certainly do that but I just want people to be clear around um what we are and aren't doing here um all of that being said um I've been taking notes on the comments from colleagues and perhaps councilmember Allen you might consider taking a Beat here taking a what a Beat perhaps table let's come back to this in May I'm just I'm I'm counting we're not there so I don't know if you would entertain a motion to table to the May well I want to ask if that's okay I appreciate the question I I have met with talked with dozens and dozens of restaurants that are asking us to take action members of the Restaurant Association they're asking us to take action I've committed that I'm trying to take action I would rather focus on them and shoes trying to help solve a problem for them and support them over a big third party app um I'm not supporting emotion table if someone makes a motion table you certainly could I don't support it I encourage my colleagues not to do that I think it's a very clear opportunity here to decide which side are we standing on um I'll continue to work on this continue to work with other colleagues on this but I think that our restaurants are asking us for help and they are seeing what's happening to their business and it is not just the restaurants as it's been pointed out the gig workers are also going to be impacted by this they're absolutely going to be hurt by this so we have an opportunity to act I'd like for us to act council member you know I'm just I'm going to stay what do you say did you say you moved to close today were you done I really am but I'm also trying to just I'm I'm counting and I'm just we're not there so that's all but I know that councilmember would definitely wanted to respond to some stuff so yes I'm still on first round is there anybody else who's not spoken oh you can do it I have two on second round councilman McDuffie and councilmember Lewis George Mr McDuffie you want to go first so just really really briefly it bothers me that this is trying to it's an attempt to frame this as if you know this is all about supporting third-party apps big businesses raise your hand if that's what you're about and that's what you're trying to do because I'm not and I don't think any of my colleagues are so let's not be let's not fall victim to this notion of the politics behind this because this isn't about helping these big third party apps and I think it is telling that Mr Allen said that he's talked to the third party apps in fact I think uh you mentioned uh doordash supports it but the Restaurant Association does it so it seems like um this isn't something that you know is is been well thought out I appreciate the attempt I'll just say this finally for context for everybody we put the 15 cap in doing the pandemic as we put in moratoria and other things in other areas we're out of the pandemic although some businesses and individuals are still struggling in our city and we're trying to think about ways to support them this is I think another attempt to support our restaurants and it's something that I'd like to be able to do this is just not the vehicle is what I'm saying thank you Mr council member Louis George chairman I'm going to move to table until the table or to postpone to a Time search so postponed you may 2nd May 2nd thank you very much all right there's a motion to Mr chairman of May 2nd that does have precedence can I had a colleague use my name kind of a point of personal privilege um I don't want to be harsh but I didn't hear anything that was inappropriate so trying to speak for me postpone and that takes precedence over debate um it is debatable the motion to postpone as to the date not hearing that uh what's that councilman customer Tran white my head over here on this side okay councilmember Allen I do not support um a motion to postpone uh to any date I think certainly had my fair share of folks throwing insults at us last week uh hearing words like not well thought out on a piece of legislation that we worked on with various stakeholders uh I I if there's not a point of privilege there I'm not sure what is but um we we guess I thought we got all the insults out last week um this is a piece of legislation that clearly stands with our local restaurants I asked my colleagues not to postpone it they're asking for your help they're asking for help right now there's no other permanent bill has been introduced I'm gonna introduce one later today there's no other emergency bill that's on the table got one right here so let's take an action to help as we've said it doesn't solve every problem we'll introduce some permanent legislation and we'll continue to work on it but I asked my colleagues not to postpone it and to vote today uh there's a motion to postponed until May 2nd uh by a Voice vote all those in favor of the motion to postponed to May 2nd say aye aye opposed no no chair okay calling for a roll call is in order before the result is announced the result was announced Mr chairman I'm sorry I even paused when I said there'll be a role a Voice vote so uh the you really aren't going to do a roll call correct the measure is postponed until May 2nd now let me be clear here we have we've been through this before the rule is very clear a member can ask for a roll call vote at any time prior to the vote being announced by the chair that is the rule we've actually been to this discussion once before as in a few months ago um and uh there were a couple of opportunities to ask for a roll call vote the um next measure is the criminal justice coordinating Council information sharing emergency declaration resolution 2023 council member Pinto thank you Mr chairman today I am moving the criminal justice coordinating Council information sharing emergency Act of 2023 and declaration resolution of 2023. as District residents continue to lose their loved ones to gun violence we must act with urgency to develop and invest in evidence-based preventative interventions and we cannot do that without a thorough Look Backwards to understand consistencies in the trends that we're seeing in 2022 the criminal justice coordinating Council or cjcc partnered with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform MPD and other law enforcement agencies to conduct a detailed analysis of shootings and homicides in D.C the office of gun violence prevention and cjcc then commissioned the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform to develop a comprehensive gun violence reduction strategic plan with proposed recommendations in the areas of violence prevention violence intervention and Community transformation to reduce gun violence this was one of the recommendations of the Strategic plan to have a longitudinal cohort analysis of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 who've been convicted of homicide and attempted homicide and traced their backgrounds for system involvement to identify where some of these gaps are the emergency legislation before us today would provide cjcc with access to this personally identifiable information that they need to conduct this critical analysis more specifically this emergency legislation directs the Department of Health Care Finance to provide cjcc with protected Health Care information such as mental health or substance use diagnoses the Department of Healthcare Finance needs this legislation and Authority so that they can have clear Authority Under HIPAA and the mental health information act to share this information just with cjcc I do want to be very clear that mous have been signed between dhcf and cjcc and there are very restrictive in regard to how this information is transferred used and handled after the study data is required to be transferred on an encrypted flash drive and hand delivered to an authorized cjcc staff member the data is then transferred to a secure cjcc workstation and handled by cjcc statisticians cjcc is only permitted to publicly share non-personally identifiable information and at the completion of the study cjcc is required to destroy all personally identifiable information and in an Ode to our former colleague councilmember Silverman in English I will say that means that information from the Department of Healthcare finance will be shared just with the criminal justice coordinating Council so we can look at this information and understand where there were gaps in the system and intervening earlier with this cohort ages 18 to 24 who ultimately were convicted of homicide or attempted homicide that's that piece separately and unrelatedly this emergency makes amendments to the section of the DC code that creates a rebuttable presumption that certain injuries or illnesses are the result of the regular performance of Duties by the fire and emergency medical services department members firefighters diagnosed with these conditions are eligible for certain medical disability and retirement benefits often critical not only to their treatment but peace of mind while seeking care Mr chairman I have another minute please one minute we speak often about the need to honor our First Responders and covering these benefits for our firefighters who put their lives at risk every single day on behalf of District residents is quite literally the least that we can do however the current list of conditions covered under the law excludes a number of cancers that can be caused by work as a firefighter I will say I'm now working with the office of the budget director and office of Revenue analysis to expand the list of covered cancers covered in the code and plan to do so through this year's budget support act but my proposed changes today would bring us on parity with what's offered in Maryland and Virginia this emergency legislation today only addresses one adding one type of cancer which is liver cancer to the list I have learned that there is a member diagnosed with this particular type of cancer who's actively seeking benefits today and the current language of the code prevents them from doing so I briefly want to just say I'm moving an emergency an amendment to this emergency today uh which removes a type of cancer that we had thought we needed to add when filing the emergency legislative yesterday we included adenosaur carcinoma cancer um but fems has since informed me that the member that that language would have helped has now been approved for coverage so I want to note again I'm looking for a more comprehensive expansion to these benefits in the BSA but I want to move this emergency today today so that we can support this member so I asked my colleagues in supporting both of these pieces uh I moved the emergency declaration thank you councilmember we have the Declaration before is there discussion council member is that Henderson councilmember Henderson um thank you Mr chairman I um I raised some questions from councilmember pinto and the breakfast and I just wanted to save the record for people who are listening um in the in between um I've had an opportunity to talk more with Department of Healthcare Finance um around uh whether or not they believe that they can do this and while they may not be able to deliver the information exactly as outlined in the legislation they do believe that there could be a path forward in terms of an mou for this um research and so I look forward to supporting it thank you thank you customer Tran Mike thank you um first I want to thank uh council member Brook Pinto or leadership in this and the work that cjcc uh have been doing um for decades now um and we do know there are some indicators already um documented that leads to crime in Washington DC um we do know that there's the direct correlation between poverty and crime there has been over 1700 people shot in DC in the last three years and over 80 percent of those individual are African-American we know that the wealth gap for blacks in Washington DC has also widened over the last three decades and our crime rate is the highest it's been in two decades while we are still studying I know this bill is not designed to uh uh address Solutions as relates to the crime and it's designed to get data but we already know some of these things we have data on the housing disparities the wealth disparities the health disparities and each and every other disparity that we have in the city is directly impact impacting black and brown people and so while I'm not against this metric just want to encourage uh this body to utilize our resources to address the solution right and some of these Solutions and so I just wanted to take a personal privilege to highlight that as I continue uh to uh I did uh three funerals in the last eight days of black people in the city all under the age of 19. um just decided I did a visual for two people at the same time and I've never done that before and so we are in a place where yes we have to have the right correct data but we do have some information in which I know cjcc has um and so I wanted just to highlight that and and and I'm going I'm going to support this but I wanted to add that caveat to say that we can do more with this body of work that we have in additional Colombia thank you thank you councilmember white further on the Declaration pecking around councilmember Pinto thank you Mr chairman I just wanted to address councilmember White's point and I completely agree that there is both uh information out there around some of the trends and the disparities that we know we have in our city that we need to address in their relation to violence um but also that we need to do more with data sharing and as the chair of the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee I intend to go further um this spring and this year on other ways that we can share that information to have more Concrete Solutions in this space I do think that this is slightly different and its importance in that it's not just looking at Trends and disparities it's looking at the specific people who have been convicted of homicide and attempted homicide to more holistically understand where we went wrong as a city were they Justice involved did they have other touch points with the criminal justice system did they have um issues in their school what was going on with their family because if we can zoom in and better understand where we went wrong and where those gaps were with uh this cohort I do believe it will lead to more actionable uh and more productive Solutions going forward thank you thank you if there's no further discussion we have the Declaration before us this is PR 25-176 Madam Secretary would you call the role councilman Adele yes councilmember Parker yes Obama Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes I remember Pinto folks yes councilmember Robert White yes I'm Robert White votes yes councilman patreon white yes department chair online votes yes councilmember Allen yes customer Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Gray yeah yes from the gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes remember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses the declaration has approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill build 25-222 councilmember Pinto so move Mr chairman discussion uh since the Declaration was approved unanimously we'll do a Voice vote on the bill on Bill 25-222 all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any opposed I'm secretary I don't hear see any no votes do you agree I mean Mr chairman uh the bills approved unanimously the next measure is historic preservation of derelict District properties extension I moved the Declaration which is PR 25-152 this emergency legislation is necessary to allow the law on trust to continue to rehabilitate uh remaining historic home in Anacostia for resale as Workforce housing there are actually two of the four houses that have not been sold and one still needs to be renovated in 2016 this Council adopted legislation to transfer four historic properties uh that were at the time held by the district to transfer them to the Lafont trust for rehabilitation and eventual resale to properties at no cost to the district as of last month three of the four properties have been renovated and two have been sold the trust is on the verge of going to closing on the third home and the fourth should be completed within the next three years the 2016 legislation however had set a sunset of five years and the financing just got in place through the renovation of the fourth home so this emergency will extend the deadline uh to 10 years expiring in 2028. this has been a remarkable project with the Lafont trust the trust has taken four dilapidated and vacant properties were owned by the district in a historic district and renovated them to Historic District standards and put them back into use at no cost to the district I moved the Declaration is there discussion on the Declaration by a roll call vote Madam Secretary Parker yes remember Parker votes yes councilmember yes Intel votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Allen yes Barbara Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes on the bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes from women votes yes councilmember Gray yes on the gray votes yes councilman by Henderson yes remember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes chairman Mendelson yes Cameron Middleton votes yes councilman Adele yes votes yes Mr chairman they have 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously we have the underlying bill bill 25-207 so moved is there discussion uh since the Declaration was approved unanimously we can do a voice vote on the bill on the bill all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any no votes Madam Secretary I don't hear singing no votes do you agree great Mr chairman uh the bills approved unanimously uh migrant Services eligibility emergency the Declaration is PR 25-146 councilmember Robert White thank you chairman I wrote the migrant Services eligibility emergency Amendment Act of 2023 along with council member Louis George and her team to address some concerns that have become clear with the migrant services and supports temporary act that the council passed last year to establish the office of Migrant Services the legislation first sets clear clearer expectations of services the office of Migrant services will offer including that it will provide baby supplies and formula prioritize families for access to non-complicate shelter and Define more clearly the relocation services for migrants coming into the district the legislation will also improve transparency and due process for migrants seeking Services it does this in several ways first by requiring the office to publish eligibility requirements for migrant services including online and to establish them through rulemaking second the legislation requires clear written and oral notice when OMS denies or terminates services and sets language access requirements for those notices finally the legislation addresses ambiguities in the prior prior temporary legislation that could cause negative effects on residents uh residency determinations for district residents seeking access to homeless services this emergency ensures that pre-existing District residents don't lose their residency status if they get entangled in the immigration system and ensures that others are not permanently barred from becoming residents because of an immigration proceeding after we pass pass this declaration I will be moving an amendment in the nature of a substitute reflecting edits since we filed this legislation a couple weeks ago I also want to note that I anticipate we will need a permanent legislative solution for migrant services and there are a number of important questions we will need to resolve before we take that step later this year and move the Declaration at this time uh thank you councilmember white substitute was circulated yesterday is linked on the agenda correct it is thank you uh comes from Lewis George uh thank you councilmember white for moving this measure today um and for coordinating council members visit to hotels that DHS is operating for migrant services that myself and councilman Parker and councilman Freeman all got an opportunity to visit um and thank you to DHS for for walking welcoming us into those spaces um I think confront it with a broken immigration system and cool policies of border states to deceive and bust migrants to cities around the country like ours without any coordination DC has responsibility to provide dignified Services uh for new arrivals and live out our values as a welcoming Sanctuary City in addition to local volunteers Mutual Aid networks and Community organization D.C government has set up resources and support for recently arrived migrants this measure is about strengthening the DC government infrastructure we have in place to support migrant families during this difficult period in their lives this measure helps ensure that migrant families have equal access to Safe clean and well-maintained living conditions while in hotels are eligible to receive infant formula for their babies as a part of their meal plans are provided relocation services that include supports permanently selling in DC such as helping a family enroll in our our schools unfortunately the reports we receive from the ground and in recent oversight hearings included hardships experience in hotels and unnecessary barriers to accessing Services we have also heard about language actions issues related to migrant services and people being wrongfully turned away from homelessness services without a clear explanation or recourse this bill is about empowering DHS to provide comprehensive and appropriate services to each person who needs them and ensuring that no internet no one in our city falls through the cracks DHS has shared many times that temporary migrant Services laws was not meant to exclude permanent immigrant DC residents from DC's homeless services but we have heard from a number of residents that people have been excluded while we have these two separate systems in place this bill addresses that issue by adding protections and Clarity for permanent immigrant DC residents and IT addresses initial drafting issues that created in unintended barriers to existing DHS Services I'm grateful to DHS and councilmember white for working with my office to make these improvements and I look forward to working with you on a permanent infrastructure soon I encourage all my colleagues to vote for the Declaration and the revisions and Amendment and the nature of a substitute thank you chairman thank you councilmember further on the Declaration uh we'll have a roll call vote on the Declaration PR 25-146 Madam Secretary yes my former pencil votes yes councilmember Robert White yes Robert White votes yes customer betray on white yes councilmember Allen yes I remember Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember Gray comes from the gray yes councilman gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes I remember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes George votes yes councilman McDuffie yes councilman McDuffie votes yes chairman Middleton yes Cameron Nelson votes yes councilman down Mr chairman they're 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimous so we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-197 councilmember White thank you Mr chairman as I mentioned a minute ago I circulated an amendment in the nature of a substitute yesterday which I would like to move at this time so say so moved to the bill and then yeah all right and then proceed thank you the amendment reflects changes we negotiated with the Department of Human Services since we filed this emergency two weeks ago and reflects the input of stakeholders as well as technical changes we made at the request of the general counsel these changes should help the department interpret and implement the emergency act and result in a fiscal impact that the department can absorb I've moved the ANS Mr chairman and further asked that the associated temporary legislation later today be conformed to match the emergency as amended by The General Counsel oh thank you council members so we have the amendment to substitute before us is there discussion I will do a Voice vote this is on the amendment nature of a substitute all those in favor say aye aye opposed the eyes have it unanimous so we have the bill as amended before us is there any further discussion since the Declaration was approved unanimously and the amendment nature of a substitute appeared to be unanimous by Voice vote we'll do a Voice vote on the bill bill 25-197 as amended all those in favor say aye aye any opposed um secretary don't see you hear any no votes do you agree agreed Mr chairman uh the bills approved unanimously uh if there's no objection I'm going to recognize council member Pinto for a motion to reconsider thank you so much Mr chairman and my apologies to you and colleagues um this is for purposes of moving the same amendment that I just talked about with the criminal justice coordinating Council but it was not Incorporated to the bill we just voted on so I moved to reconsider Bill 25222 criminal justice coordinating Council information sharing emergency Amendment Act of 2023 the purpose of moving the accompanying amendment number one all right so there's a um a motion to reconsider bill 25-222 I believe that's debatable is there discussion by a Voice vote to reconsider Bill 25-222 all those in favor say aye aye I think all the matters before us thank you very much I move amendment number one to the criminal justice coordinating Council information sharing emergency Amendment Act of 2023 which I circulated yesterday at 8 16 PM this is the same amendment that I spoke about last time for the presumptive disability thank you Mr all right we have the amendment uh any discussion about it it was circulated win last night at 8 16 pm all right we have let me see actually I think we will do this as the amendment if there's no objection the amendment will be accepted hearing no objection the amendment is accepted we have the bill as amended further discussion Voice vote all those in favor of the bill is amended say aye aye aye opposed uh Madam Secretary I don't see her hear any no votes you agree agreed Mr chairman the bill as amended is approved unanimously we will go back to the regular agenda order the next measure is number five on page 10 inflation mitigation for rent stabilized housing emergency declaration resolution of 2023 PR 25-154 councilmember White uh thank you Mr chairman one moment please have a lot of statements coming up there we are thank you Mr chairman under the rental Housing Act of 1985 the district limits annual rent increases for units in certain older buildings we call this rent stabilization or rent control this may District residents and rent stabilized units will face the highest rent increase the district has seen in 40 years due to high inflation over the last year landlords can raise rents up to 8.9 percent this increase is coming at a time where many low-income residents are not only still recovering from the pandemic but are also seeing higher prices everywhere I worry that for some people this increase will be too much and will tip them into eviction I've heard from so many tenants who are afraid of this outcome for themselves the past few weeks my office and I have worked with tenants Advocates landlords and our colleagues to find a way to blunt this increase and prevent the further displacement of District residents currently the maximum rent increase in this in these units is limited to the Consumer Price Index inflation rate plus an additional two percent the district's rental Housing Commission approves the maximum increases each year the rent administrator for the district's Department of Housing and Community Development or dhcd then sends a notice of Maximum increase to building owners owners are only allowed to take this annual adjustment once per year and can choose a lesser amount than the maximum individual tenances rents change at the very at various times throughout the year depending on the tenant's lease term this past January the rental Housing Commission approved in a 8.9 maximum increase to rents and rent stabilized units the increase would take effect on May 1st of this year dhcd and tenants have said that some landlords already filed notices of rent adjustment however landlords typically give these notices out throughout the year depending on attendant attendance lease anniversary date meaning there is not an influx of filings just before May 1st day uh for the new rate it is possible some of those notices so far included a maximum 8.9 increase but dhcd does not track the rates when the rent filings they receive landlords have expressed the need for higher rents to cover Rising maintenance and business costs and tenants have raised serious concerns that an 8.9 percent increase will cause significant hardship and lead to displacement my goal with this legislation was to balance the impact of Staggering inflation costs on renters with the rising costs of business on landlords which could ultimately harm tenants and the district's affordable housing stock I could have an additional minute Mr chairman one minute emergency legislation and the council cannot come with a cost that cost is called a fiscal impact the Bowser Administration insists that this emergency rent control legislation will have a fiscal impact on dhcd in fact the administration said that any change in the rental Housing Act would cost the agency money for the past couple of weeks including during my committee's budget oversight hearing with dhcd yesterday several Council colleagues and I sought to clarify from the agency how the council can help with this cost we asked for specifics on the administrative costs and we're told dhcd would have to reissue notices to landlords about a new adjustment rate we asked whether an existing vacant position that is already funded within the rent administrators division could help with this addition a workload dhcd did not say yes but it was not clear why dhcd has a lot on its plate including setting up a new rent control database that will be very useful for the public and the council however in an emergency situation like this one it is critical for the district to prioritize residents needs effectively especially when other work can and will still get done I haven't seen the most effective prioritization of the mayor's proposed budget and I don't see it in this situation because of the mayor's fiscal impact statement the council cannot move forward with the inflation mitigation for rent stabilized housing emergency and temporary measures thank you Mr chairman thank you councilmember white um anybody director does this measure have a fiscal impact and but I guess it does we issued one that says that there is a small cost a small temporary cost that would be incurred by dhcd due to the uptick of work to determine which uh which rent control Apartments um would now be out of compliance with the red cap and to be clear the executive is not indicated a willingness to absorb that cost correct uh so the measure would be out of order Mr chairman question uh yes where the record can a budget office confirm the date of communication with dhcd are you able to do that uh I I can say that it we have been going back and forth for over a week I don't have the exact date of initial contact but it has been um it has been a pretty uh significant amount of time for the record can you confirm that it was before Friday uh uh March 31st oh absolutely and for the record can you confirm that it was more robust than a yes or no question yes there were um pretty detailed back and forths um not only between my office and dhcd but also with the office of uh Revenue analysis in the cfo's office uh if the measures out of order then it's out of order and there's not debate or discussion or even questions well Mr chairman I just this wasn't to uh put our budget office on the spot but it was to rectify uh confusion from the agency yes we could spend a lot of time trying to rectify confusion from agencies I appreciate that how the measures out of order and therefore it's not properly before us the next measure uh and councilmember Robert white I mean some help from you um you're the next measure is local rent supplement program we're dealing with that individually and then we'll be dealing with these contracts and groups that would be easier all right so uh local rent supplement program contract number 2021-lrsp-01a emergency decoration resolution 2023 councilmember white thank you Mr chairman the underlying resolution would approve a contract between the D.C Housing Authority and a developer entity associated with the Arlington partnership for affordable housing or apah this developer responded to a local rent supplement program solicitation at the Department of Housing and Community Development spearheaded in 2021 and proposed to create a mixed-use building next to the Fort Metro station with retail space underground parking and 93 affordable rental housing units for seniors age 62 years or older of the 93 units 52 will be for senior households making 30 percent or less of the area median income and 10 of those units will be permanent Supportive Housing the council already approved a bond issuance in support of this project with the Housing Finance Agency and now we're asked to approve an agreement to enter into a long-term subsidy contract the purpose of this long-term subsidy contract is to provide 723 888 dollars to help cover the eventual operating costs associated with 39 of the units for extremely low income seniors I plan to support this contract there are two things I want to note for the members awareness first the proposed development is on land that the district owned used to own and that we dispose to developers affiliate to the developers Affiliates in 2016. with a requirement that the housing to be developed needed to satisfy the affordable housing requirements currently codified at DC code 10801 B3 my staff is consulted with the office of the deputy mayor for planning and economic development and confirmed that although the proposed model has shifted from ownership units to rental units in this tract the proposed affordability mix easily exceed the statutory requirements the second thing I want to note is that there was a mix-up with the dcha's contract approval resolution last month because this is a multi-year contract it requires active approval from the council ideally we'd be voting on an approval resolution today that wasn't styled as an emergency measure dcha submitted an approval resolution to the secretary but they didn't do so far enough in advance of today's meeting to get a referral from the chairman and then receive a notice of intent to act publication in the DC register 15 days in advance my office learned of the air too late to request abbreviated notice in the register so we drafted and circulated our own emergency approval resolution Thursday morning so that this project could go ahead the same is true of the next seven items on the agenda which also came from dcha as active approval contracts with active approval resolutions despite these procedural hiccups I support the substance of the measure I move local rep rent supplement program contract number 2021-lrsp-01a emergency declaration resolution of 2023 thank you chairman thank you councilmember white we have the Declaration before this is our discussion this is on PR 25-156 Madam Secretary would you call the roll cast member Robert White council member Robert White votes yes councilwoman white yes councilmember Allen yes councilman Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes October bonds vote CS councilmember Freeman yes and some female votes yes councilmember Gray Henderson yes council member Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes councilman believes George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes our former McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes I remember Wilson votes yes councilman down yes council member Parker yes yes councilmember Pinto yes pencil votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously we have the underlying resolution PR 25-157 councilmember White so moved discussion since the Declaration was approved unanimously we'll do a Voice vote on this PR 25-157 all those in favor say aye opposed I'm secretary don't see her or any no votes do you agree agreed Mr chairman uh the measures approved unanimously now it comes remember white am I moving the next two contracts in I shouldn't say am I moving are we considering the next two in Block uh seven through eleven the next five but I'll discuss the differences between them okay so if there's no objection item 7 through 11 will be considered and block and I have to State for the record I kind of hate doing this because the titles are miserable uh the Declarations contract for services with the Keystone plus Construction contract number dcha CA x i c 2023 emergency declaration resolution of 2023 that's PR 25-158 pr25-160 contract for services with cure Monty Construction Corporation contract number dcha CA XI 2023 emergency declaration resolution 2023 PR 25-164. contract for services with Pro-Tech Construction Inc contract number dcha CA x i d 2023 emergency declaration resolution of 2023. PR 25-166 contract for services with cad-con Corporation contract number echa CA XI B 2023 emergency declaration resolution 2023. and PR 25-170 contract for services with Bennett Group Inc contract number dcha CA XI a 2023 emergency approval resolution of 2023. there's no objection these five um declarations are before uh councilmember White thank you chairman you did a wonderful job reading the names of these thank you I will just applied to do reading at a elementary school next week um on items 7 through 11 uh chairman let me discuss what they do as we all know the D.C Housing Authority has been struggling to keep its public housing units in decent shape for years over a quarter of units were still vacant as of the agency's last update and a lot of those vacancies are because the units are in such poor condition that people just can't live in last fall the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development shown a bright light on these issues as part of its comprehensive assessment report on dcha now dcha has to show rapid substantial progress on remedying a range of issues that had identified or risk harsh Federal enforcement actions that I don't think any of us want to respond to this new urgency dcha announced that they would con conduct an inspection and maintenance surge they're going into every single public housing unit and checking it against a comprehensive rubric where they spot urgent threats to have been habitability they want to call in contractors to fix them they also are planning to follow up work for items that can't be fixed properly on a short time frame or that are lower priority the inspection part of this work is already underway dcha doesn't have the in-house Personnel to handle all of the construction repair and replacement tasks that they're anticipating so they wanted to bring on contractors quickly to do this they decided to piggyback on a construction repair and Replacement Service procurement that the department of General Services conducted recently dcha looked at the list of successful bidders whom dgs recently selected to work on schools and other public buildings review their submission materials and now are trying to hire a handful of those firms to serve Service public housing buildings as well dcha has now selected five contractors and wants to engage each one for a single term of four years to avoid to award up to 15 million dollars worth of task orders per contractor over that time I continue to think that the amount of money that the mayor proposes to devote to dcha's public housing capital projects is not nearly enough I've seen dcha's proposed Capital spin plan for the next couple of years and I think the agency is being overly optimistic on the cost of what they want to achieve I hope that as we continue to work through the budget we as a council might find some additional capital resources to accelerate or enhance the maintenance surge that aside in light of the dire need for public housing repairs and improvements I think dcha's proposed arrangement with these contracts construction contractors is a good idea finally I want to reiterate that these are before us as emergencies due to a technical issue with the timing of dcha's filing as it relates to DC register publication deadlines but as I mentioned earlier they are a type of contract that would have required an affirmative one-time vote of the council anyway I'm moving the five emergency declaration resolutions which are items F7 through 11 on the consent agenda did you have anything further since you're doing what is it five of them I am doing five today they are I am moving them now Mr chairman moving uh items F7 through 11 on the non-consent agenda okay is everyone is there anyone who's not clear what we're doing here I mean you're not clear or you have a you want something you want to say discussion councilmember Parker Mr chairman uh and this is for councilmember white just given ongoing concerns with dcha can you speak to how these contracts have been vetted and then secondly uh the Implement implication of the timeline of our vote today versus the work being done uh thank you for the question council member Parker DC Housing Authority is piggybacking off of dgs contractors uh that the city works with and has worked with uh in other capacities so I don't have concerns about the the contractors um the four-year period uh of these contracts I think reflects the amount of work that needs to be done but the contract amounts are capped so I'm not at this point concerned about overspending in fact I don't think we have enough money to do all the work that's going to be necessary let's determined just a question for clarification thank you for that councilmember white so each of these vendors have previously done work with dgs and they are not contractors sought out by tcha I'd just confirm it and and for the record these questions are just based on going concerns around uh transparency and uh due diligence with the agencies I appreciate the transparency and due diligence uh efforts and and I agree with them yes these are contractors that have done a lot of work with dgs in the past councilman Parker any further discussion all right again if any member is confused please speak up otherwise we're going to have a roll call vote on the five declarations PR 25-158 Pier 25-160 PR 25-164 pr25-166 pr25-170. [Music] Madam Secretary would you call the roll customer council member Tran white shall be recorded as present councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember Freeman yes I'm from a few minutes yes councilmember Gray yes Alhambra gray votes yes councilmember Henderson chairman Mendelson yes Cameron Middleton votes yes councilman bennetto yes we're going to do votes yes councilmember Parker president councilmember Parker shall be recorded as present councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Robert White yes I remember Robert White votes yes Mr chairman there are 11 yeses and two presents uh the Declarations are approved we have the underlying measures and that would be PR 25-159 pr25-161 pr25-165 PR 25-167 MPR 25-171 those are the contract approvals themselves for the five contracts that I uh identified earlier councilmember white Soul move Mr chairman discussion I'm not hearing anyone asking to be recognized um we will have a Voice vote on the five since the Declarations were approved by 11 to nothing vote um Voice vote all those in favor say aye aye these are called me as president aye are there any no votes uh it comes from where Trey and white is asked to be recorded present Mr chairman please record me as president as well councilmember Parker is asked to be recorded as president uh The Voice vote is unanimous with two identified as present the um contracts are approved council member white how do you want to proceed with the next uh we can move these last two and block they are the same type of contract all right there's no objection on page 11 number 12 and page 13. excuse me page 12 number 13 will be considered together not hearing objection that would be contract for services but jdc Construction Company LLC contract number dchaca x a 2023 emergency decoration resolution 2023 and contract for services with brailsford and Dunleavy Inc contract number dcha CA X 2023 emergency declaration resolution 2023. that's PR 25-162 and PR 25-168 councilmember White thank you chairman these uh final two items are closely related to the ones we just voted on where the last five items were about getting dcha access to construction repair and maintenance and replacement services for public housing overhaul these two are about procuring construction management services for the same surge like the last batch these are four-year contracts that allow dcha to order Services through separate competitively bid task orders as needed but the total not to exceed value for each contractor over the four-year term is eight million dollars instead of 15 million dollars I move the contract for services with jdc construction company LLC contract number dchaca x a 2023 emergency declaration resolution of 2023 and the contract for services with brailsford and Dunleavy Incorporated contract number dcha cax 2023 emergency declaration resolution of 2023. thank you Mr chairman thank you councilmember is there a discussion uh this will be a roll call vote on PR 25-162 and PR 25-168. Madam Secretary thanks member Allen yes Dr Balan votes yes councilmember bonds yes upper bonds vote CS comes from a Freeman yes Congress Freeman votes yes councilmember McRae yes Robert gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes remember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson uh yes Irma Mendelson votes yes councilman Adele yes I'm going to do votes yes councilmember Parker present councilmember Parker shall be recorded as present councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Robert White yes remember Robert White votes yes councilmember Tran white president remember Triana might shall be recorded as present Mr chairman there are 11 yeses and two recorded as present uh the two declarations are approved eleven to zero the um underlying measures uh that would be PR 25-163 and PR 25-169 council member Robert White so moved discussion uh we'll do this by Voice vote since the decorations were approved by 11 to zero vote on the underlying pr25-163 and pr25-169 all those in favor say aye aye chairman please record me as president as well I didn't ask for no votes I should need to ask for no votes are there any no votes I don't hear any Madam Secretary do you hear see any no votes no Mr chairman okay the the underlying contracts are approved with council members Parker and Treyon white recorded as president the next measure is African-American civil war museum and Ben's Chile Bowl limited Grant making Authority emergency the Declaration is PR 25-173 comes from bernado thank you chairman today along with council members Parker and Robert White I'm moving the African-American civil war museum and Ben's Chili ball limited Grant making Authority emergency declaration resolution of 2023 along with Associated emergency and temporary measures both these institutions likely need very little introduction the African-American civil war museum opened over two decades ago to help visitors understand the role of black and brown soldiers who fought for freedom from slavery during the Civil War Ben's Chili Bowl is a fixture of U Street and an icon of DC and will be celebrating its 65th anniversary this year both the African-American civil war museum and Ben's Chile Vols U Street location received prior funds to assist in the completion of substantial renovation by way of competitive grants through demped due to increases in construction costs demped's initial grants for each of them were insufficient unlike most agencies which could add funding to cover a gap demped requires Council approval for specific Grant making Authority which we do have to do quite frequently the last time only a few months ago in the case of the museum we are awaiting the completion of their brand new facility as part of the Grampy School Redevelopment for Benz they're building an old movie theater that's seen mostly cosmetic improvements over the years is in need of substantial repairs and improvements in order to stabilize the site and keep it in operation for its next 65 years the museum and bends are anchors on the U Street Corridor bringing hundreds of thousands of residents per year to the neighborhood by serving as the landmarks they are they help connect the entire area with the rest of districts tourism economy that might otherwise have passed it by with that understanding I've been working with the executive for quite some time to try and address the funding gap for the museum and I thank them for making that a reality dempet asked us to introduce legislation granting the necessary Authority and also asked us to do the same for Ben's with whom they've been working independently I'm thankful for the assistance from my staff from staff in the executive in addressing this issue and I ask my colleagues to support this measure to ensure the continued operation of these important anchors on U Street thank you and with that I move the resolution thank you councilman adult we have the Declaration before us is there discussion a roll call vote on PR 25-173 Madam Secretary bonds yes one of the bonds votes yes it's wonderful man yes yes councilmember Henderson yes remember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes Louis George votes yes councilman McDuffie yes doctor McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes Cameron Nelson votes yes councilman Adele yes I'm gonna do about CS councilmember Parker yes former Parker votes yes councilmer Pinto yes Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes council member Robert Whitefield yes councilmember Tran white yes I found betrayals yes and councilman by Alan yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously I managed to get lost here um thank you page 12. the uh underlying Bill Bill 25-216. Mr chairman is there a discussion uh since the Declaration was approved unanimously we'll do a Voice vote the vote is on Bill 25-216 all those in favor say aye opposed um secretary I don't see or hear any no votes do you agree agreed Mr chairman uh the bills approved unanimously the next measure is PR 25-155 medical cannabis clarification supplemental emergency declaration resolution of 2023 councilmember McDuffie thank you Mr chairman as part of the March 2021 through August 2022 medical cannabis facility licensing round all medical cannabis facility registration applicants were constrained by a capital A number of cultivation Center and dispensary registrations permitted in each Ward the ABC board's open application period made available to cultivation Center registrations submitted cultivation center registration applications were scored by a six-moniverse selection panel consistent of individuals from six different District government agencies it's going by the selection panel resulted in a time per second place with two cultivation center registration applicants both of which are Equity impact Enterprises receiving the same total score a dispute exists regarding the awarding of the second cultivation center registration which to the detriment of the district hinders the ability of either cultivation or registration applicant that tied for second to proceed forward without out with opening and operating the Conservation Center additionally those applicants that made it to the second round after scoring the wreck was at 150 points or more doing the open application period necessary investigated significant time money and resources into a legal and Regulatory framework if the council changed shortly thereafter there exists an immediate need for additional cultivation centers to open and operate in a district to ensure that a sufficient supply of medical cannabis is available for the additional retailers internet retailers and manufacturers permitted to apply for medical cannabis facility license under the medical cannabis Amendment Act of 2022. the medical cannabis clarification supplemental emergency Amendment Act of 2023 will meet these stated needs and enable an eligible cultivation Center applicant that scored 150 points or higher to be considered for cultivation center registration and have the option to change its location to another compliant property that was previously unavailable due to now removed cap thereby enabling them to begin operations more quickly and better serve registered patients and retailers the emergency legislation will similarly allow an eligible dispensary applicant to be considered for a retailer registration to have the option to change its location to another compliant property that was previously unavailable to them due to the cap but that I moved the Declaration yeah thank you councilmember McDuffie we have the Declaration before us is there a discussion uh we will have a roll call vote on PR 25-155 Madam Secretary council member Freeman yes member great yeah councilmember Henderson yes remember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George comes from Louis George councilmember McDuffie yes I probably Duffy votes yes chairman Mendelson yes Cameron Middleton votes yes councilmember Nadal yes bonado votes yes councilmember Parker yes I remember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes okay votes yes councilmember Robert White yes remember Robert White votes yes comes from petran White yes Captain patreon White votes yes yes number Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes remember bonds votes Yes councilmember Lewis George foreign there are 12 yeses and one absent uh the declaration has approved unanimously you have the underlying Bill Bill 25-212 comes from McDuffie so move is there a discussion since the Declaration was approved unanimously uh we can do a voice vote on this the vote is on Bill 25-212 all those in favor say aye aye opposed um secretary I don't see or hear any no votes do you agree agreed Mr chairman uh the bills approved unanimously I will turn now to Temporary legislation if there's no objection build 25-215 the temporary bill is will be considered or is considered to be postponed until May 2nd hearing no objection be so ordered um with regard to number two Bill 25-223 criminal justice coordinating Council information sharing uh that the temporary will be conformed to the emergency so that it includes the Amendments that were moved to the emergency uh and same with regard to number four migrant Services eligibility temporary it was an amendment to that and uh so the temporary is conform to the emergency madam councilmember Robert White that's correct and Madam general counsel that's clear enough for your purposes yes it is Mr chairman okay and number five uh inflation mitigation is not before us if there is no objection we will consider with regard to the Temporaries number two bill 25-223 as amended number three bill 25-208 number four bill 25-198 has amended uh number six pill 25-217 and number seven bill 25-213 hearing no objection those five measures are before us and block uh since there were multiple folks I'll say so moved discussion councilman McDuffie you look like you want to say something you can't speak to a previous measure it's not before us any longer hold on a second uh so the um I'm going to ask for discussion on those five temporary bills I'm not hearing any I think we can do a voice vote Madam Secretary I would love that Mr chairman on the five temporary bills all those in favor say ah of the bills say aye aye are there any opposed and secretary don't see her hear any no votes do you agree I agree Mr chairman uh the five Temporaries are approved unanimously I believe that concludes the business for this oh gentlemen I wanted to motion and reconsider how about us medical cannabis so that I can vote please second nice try um okay um I think that's because you were not here all right I will move you cannot move to reconsider I will move to reconsider so PR 25-155 which is a PR 25-155 which is the Declaration for medical cannabis clarification supplemental emergency declaration resolution of 2023 move to reconsider if there's no objectionist before us hearing no objection discussion hearing no discussion we'll do a Voice vote all those in favor say aye aye aye any opposed how the eyes have it uh all members are present Madam Secretary is that good enough for your records yes Mr chairman and for the underlying bill bill 25-212 uh move to reconsider that even though it's probably implicitly reconsidered if there's no objection it's before us is there discussion hearing none by Voice vote all those in favor say aye aye aye are there any opposed oh the odds have it unanimously all members are present there's anybody who's not here please speak up but somebody chuckled um all right the um to me the whole is not scheduled to meet in April as the next legislative meeting is May 2nd at 12 o'clock the time is 2 48 p.m and this meeting is