foreign 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 as a whole today is Tuesday May 2nd 2023 the time is 1203 excuse me 1202 in the afternoon this meeting is being held live in in person in the in room 500 at the council chambers of the Johnny Wilson building but it's also available and there are several members participating virtually to the zoom video conference broadcast platform this meeting is being broadcast live on Council Channel 13 and is available on the council's website which is www.dccouncil.gov uh we have a I believe short committee the whole meeting it'll be followed by a legislative meeting the legislative meeting will be the regular legislative meeting of the council for the month of May recognize Mr Cash to call the role to determine whether we have a quorum chairman Mendelson president councilmember Allen here councilmember bonds councilmember bonds council member foruman here councilmember gray here councilmember Henderson here councilmember Lewis George here councilmember McDuffie councilmember McDuffie council member Nadeau here councilmember Parker here council member Pinto present councilmember Robert Whiteman president councilman Trey online president Mr chairman uh thank you Mr Cash the record will note customer McDuffie is here as well we have three items for markup in the community the whole the first is Bill 25-21 entitled Sam the man burns way designation Act of 2023 bill 25-21 would symbolically designate 18th Street between M and N streets Northwest as Sam the man burns way location is in Ward 2 it's a symbolic naming a symbolic naming is for ceremonial purposes and it is in addition to and subordinate to any name that is an official name Sam Burns was a native of the District of Columbia and graduated from the theater Roosevelt High School Mr Burns was recognized as an exceptional disc jockey and local music historian he was known worldwide as the man for his commitment to Perfection and excellence in his craft and was considered the Chuck Brown of dance music for his contributions to house music in the district to house music in the district Mr Burns was a skilled DJ with an impressive musical intuition it was not only an accomplished performer but also a man of humility generosity and willingness to help the next generation of artists dancers producers and DJs throughout his more than 40-year career Sam Burns played dance music at iconic nightclubs including the clubhouse chapter 2 The Roxy the Ritz tracks the insect Club Tiffany's Kilimanjaro pollen red the East Side dragonfly Chicago's State of the Union New Street Music call 18th Street lounge and other local venues Sam Burns worked tirelessly to support his local community including dispensing musical advice and life lessons to music lovers he mentored younger DJs and helped in keeping the district's nightlife dance culture and house music community alive and thriving Mr Burns passed away in March of 2020 at the age of 62 leaving behind one son this bill was first introduced by councilmember pinto and several other several seven other council members on November 2nd last year the committee of the whole held a hearing on this legislation on December 12 2022 the committee received no testimony or comments in opposition to the legislation the bill was reintroduced on January 11 2023. assuming that the committee votes affirmatively symbolically designating this portion of 18th Street Northwest with the many establishments for Sam the man burns was well known for his contributions to nightlife dance culture and house music Community will honor his legacy in the community he called home that's the committee the whole recommends Council approval of Bill 25-21 the Sam the man burns way designation Act of 2023 about objection I moved both the print and Report with leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes as their discussion Mr chairman House member Pinto thank you so much um I just want to Echo your remarks thank you for moving this bill today Sam Burns is a proud native of Washington DC and graduate of Theodore Roosevelt's high school and as you noted was a skilled DJ with an impressive musical intuition and was known worldwide as the man for his commitment to Perfection and excellence in his music crap uh he was recognized as one of the best DJs and music historians in the business and throughout his career of over 40 years Sam Burns played dance music at iconic nightclubs in DC including the clubhouse the Roxy U Street Music Hall and 18th Street lounge and he was not only an accomplished performer but also had a great deal of humility generosity and willingness to help the next generation of artists dancers producers and DJs Sam Burns worked tirelessly to support his local community including dispensing musical advice and life lessons to music lovers mentoring younger DJs and helping keep the nightlife dance culture and house music of DC community alive and thriving Sam Burns passed away on March 7th 2020 at the age of 62 leaving behind his son Mason and this street dedication will honor his contributions to the district and his ongoing Legacy and the community that he called home thank you thank you is there for the discussion uh the vote will be on both the print and Report with leave for staff all those in favor uh Mr Cash would you call the roll chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes council member nudeau yes councilmember Nado votes yes council member Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes yes councilmember council member Robert White yes councilman Robert white boots yes council member Treyon white yes councilmember Tran white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes councilmember bonds comes with our bonds is absent council member Freeman yes councilmember proven votes yes councilmember Gray yes councilmember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes councilman Lewis George votes yes councilor McDuffie yes councilor McDuffie votes yes Mr chairman there are 12 yeses and one absent uh the motion the print reporter approved unanimously um General counsels to measure technically legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is and I'm secretaries the record complete once the hearing record and reporter files Madam budget director does the measure Cisco impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does without a protection and special will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting the second pill for markup is Bill 25-24 entitled Makaya Wilson Way designation Act of 2023 bill 25-24 would symbolically designate to 300 block of 53rd Street Northeast as Micaiah Wilson Way the location is in Ward 7. a symbolic naming is for ceremonial purposes and is in addition to and subordinate to any name that is an official name purpose of this bill is to remember a murder victim in the district and to make one more statement of the need to end violence in our community Micaiah Wilson was born May 31st 2008. in Washington DC she attended D.C public schools and DC public charter schools where she engaged in activities such as basketball on July 16 2018 went to pool to the pool with her older sister and after returning home she got a treat from an ice cream truck and sat on the stoop in front of her house with her sister neighbors were outside socializing and children were playing near their homes in the 300 block of 53rd Street between Cloud place and Clay Street and the Clay Terrace neighborhood a group of masked men and a black car drove up jumped out and fired a barrage of bullets into the crowded Courtyard Makaya and four adults including her older sister were struck but Makaya was the only victim who did not survive the shooting her death sparked outraged in the community and intensified efforts at combating gun violence in the aftermath of her death the police DC police launched an intense investigation to find an arrest the suspects responsible for their shooting eventually six individuals were arrested and charged with makaya's murder makai's family and community members also spoke out about the need for more resources and for and support to help prevent such tragedies from happening again lucaya's family founded the now and now manages the Makaya Lee Wilson Foundation which was committed to raising funds and promoting initiatives to support families impacted by gun violence this legislation was first introduced by councilmember gray and seven other council members on October 27 2022 the committee as a whole held a hearing on the measure on December 12 2022 committee has received no testimony or comments in opposition to the legislation goes reintroduced on January 11 2023 by councilmember gray and eight council members assuming this is approved by the council by the committee by the committee you have to let me read this um memorializing Makaya Wilson on the street where she was murdered will highlight the importance of curbing gun violence in the community and the tragedy of gun violence um this the community the whole recommends approved Council approval of Bill 25-24 the Micaiah Wilson Way designation Act of 23. uh without objection I'm going to move both to print and Report would leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is their discussion thank you Mr chairman I was glad to introduce the Makai Wilson Way designation Act of 2023 with my colleagues council member uh council members Lewis George uh frumin Henderson uh bonds Nadeau Robert White pinto and mayor Duffy uh I reintroduced this bill after initially uh presenting it uh in Council period 24. uh Mr chairman uh I want to uh thank the thank and acknowledge uh former advisory neighborhood commissioner uh Yolanda Fields uh Makai Wilson Makai Wilson's uh family and uh the community uh for their support uh by symbolically designating Kai Wilson Way uh this bill will honor Kaya uh who lost her life at the age of 10 years old as a as a victim of victims victim of Senseless violence um Mr chairman uh by this symbolically designation symbolic designation will also serve as a lasting uh And Timely statement uh against the gun violence in Celebration version of uh life and in support of the uh and support of the community uh negatively impacted by acts of violence uh Mr chairman I asked my colleagues to support uh to to vote and support uh of the of the legislation uh and I want to thank you Mr chairman for your support to make this happen and we're glad to be able to do this such a such a senseless act of violence to Snuff out the life of a 10 year old uh who really hadn't even hadn't even really begun life so we hope to be able to successful Endeavor on her behalf and uh join my colleagues and uh moving the same in this direction Mr chairman thank you very much thank you councilmember grade is there any further discussion yes Jimmy council member Trion white uh first I want to thank you uh councilmember gray for this introduction um I am one who knows makaya's mother and father and um we know the Deep Impact that her laws had on the community was fought a number of new initiatives in DC um that that people are currently uh involved in today but as mentioned by the chairman uh the family has requested more resource and support from the community for Youth and Young adults in the city who have long been neglected especially black and brown kids in our city um and I think that her foundation uh is an Avenue where uh people like Makaya shoot uh utilize those resources to go outside and play and enjoy fun and a safe environment here in the district well it's simply not it um and so as we go into these summer months uh I'm in deep prayer and thoughts about what we can do as a government to do our part to collaborate with Community stakeholders uh the police department the popular Behavior Health our non-profits grandmothers aunties fathers everybody to ensure that we we don't have tragedies like this again and it's happening far too much in the city um that is a nation's capital of the world um and so I'm in support of this uh chairman and councilmember gray and I look forward to uh when we put the sign up uh but a sign is not good enough for life that will never be here again again a semi condolences to micaiah's mother her father Mike and the family even the grand her grandmother and and you know just ask that we finding our hearts to have a passion for our kids to have safe spaces to go and play without being shot down in the streets thank you thank you councilmember our further discussion there's no further discussion the vote will be on if there's no objection the vote will be on both the print report with leave for staff Mr Cash would you call the roll council member Nadeau yes councilmember nadeaux votes yes council member Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes counselor Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes council member Treyon white yes councilmember Treyon white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Alan votes yes council member bonds yes is absent councilmember Freeman yes oh oh sorry counselor bonds votes yes council member Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes councilmember gray votes yes council member Henderson yes councilmember Henderson 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 Mr chairman there are 13 yeses the print and Report with leave for staff are approved unanimously Madam general counsel is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Madam Secretary is directly complete once the report is filed Madam budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does the objection dispatch will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting the third and final measure for markup in the committee the whole this morning is proposed resolution or PR 25-135 entitled Commission on the Arts and Humanities Aaron L Myers second confirmation resolution of 2023. this legislation was introduced to request of the share of the commission on the arts and humanities on March 3rd the purpose of the resolution is to confirm the appointment to confirm the appointment of Aaron Myers who for to serve the remainder of the unexpired four-year term of a unexpired four-year term to end on September 30th 2024. Mr Myers is award one resident he's an accomplished pianist and vocalist he is an advocate for mental health and lgbtq rights as part of his advocacy he cares the board of directors of the Capitol Hill Jazz Foundation sits as a member of the board of directors for CTE Vision foundation and Covenant full potential Development Center during the covid-19 pandemic he led the DMV music stakeholders cohort as I shared resources offered relief and advocated for Community needs to help strengthen and preserve the district's music ecosystem he also has spent I believe roughly the past year as uh executive director of Crittenden Services of greater Washington and he is the Minister of Music at Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ tuition on Arts and Humanities was established uh through the uh through uh the commission on the Arts and Humanities act that was adopted by the council in 1975 the commission is now an independent agency and is designated by the National Endowment of the Arts State Arts Agency for the District of Columbia the executive director position is charged with the following duties supervised the staff of the commission assistant Commission in executing its policies and duties or from other duties as directed by the commission and Report regularly on the activities and operations of the agency to report on them to the members of the commission if the hearing on his nomination Mr Myers discussed bringing an increased focus on diversity Equity inclusion Innovation and wellness to the commission his goal is to bring stable compassionate leadership and to be a bridge between working artists and the commission and to restore trust with the community in the areas where that trust has eroded Mr Myers brings extensive and relevant experience as well as a commitment to the Arts and the district's artistic community assuming that this is approved by the council by the committee uh the committee is impressed with this candidate and recommends Council approval PR 25-135 to complete an unexpired term to end on September 30th 2024. this legislation was introduced at the request of the commission on March 3rd 2023 the committee of the whole held a public hearing on March 30th 2023 communities received received at the hearing no testimony or comments and opposition and since then has received no written or comments or testimonial I guess we wouldn't receive testimony but since the hearing has received no written comments in opposition uh without objection I'll move both to print and Report with leave for staff to make technical conforming and editorial changes is there discussion Mr chairman councilmember Nadeau thank you I want to indicate my enthusiastic support for Aaron Meyer's confirmation as the new director of the commission on arts and humanities I would be hard-pressed to think of a more holistically qualified candidate for this job Mr Myers not only has the perspective of a practicing musician he brings to this job experience and non-profit management work in supporting venues and art spaces as well as a track record of effective advocacy as part of the DMV music stakeholders prohibition me my office and I have worked with him closely in the past and I can attest to the fact that he knows how to work collaboratively with Council to advance the best interests of artists organizations and venues alike thank you I look forward to voting yes on this measure and strongly encourage my colleagues to do the same thank you councilmember is there any further discussion Mr chairman councilmember Robert White uh thank you Mr chairman um I also want to uh speak in support of Aaron Myers as the permanent director of the commission on Arts I've worked with Mr Myers on a number of issues that he brought to the council that ended up becoming legislation that gave more opportunities for local artists to perform to get paid for their music I've seen him be a convener of people from different sides of issues work sympathetically to understand issues to move issues forward and to never get stuck on one opinion uh bringing also with that uh years of experience as a working Performing Artist and as a director of non-profits and in our faith community I think the breadth of experience Mr Myers brings uh will be incredibly useful to the commission as it continues to chart an important path so I look forward to voting in favor of this nomination thank you chairman thank you councilmember white any further discussion Mr chairman councilmember Freeman and I I would like to speak very briefly also very enthusiastically in favor of this nomination um Aaron Myers is a riveting performer and a very effective Advocate and I think he'll do a wonderful job on this important commission so thank you thank you councilmember any further discussion uh the vote will be on both the vote will be on both the print and Report would leave for staff Mr Cash would you call the world councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes council member Robert White votes yes councilmember Treyon white yes council member Tran white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes council member bonds yes councilmember Vons votes yes council member Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes council member great yes councilmember grabots yes councilmember Henderson yep councilmember Henderson 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 nudeau yes councilmember nadeaux votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Mr Cash the uh both the rest both the uh resolution and uh excuse me the print report are approved unanimously and federal council is to measure legally and technically sufficient for our consideration yes it is Madam Secretary is directly complete once the hearing record and reporter and budget director does the measures fiscal impact statement comply with Council requirements yes it does without objection this measure will be placed on the consent agenda for today's legislative meeting there are no further measures for markup in the committee of the whole we have no measures reported out of other committees so we have no other business uh we will take about six minutes because the assistant secretary likes to put me on a timer and then we will start to legislate a meeting time is 12. 28 and the meeting is adjourned foreign foreign I'm going to order this meeting of the Council of the District of Columbia I'm Phil Mendelson chairman of the council the today is Tuesday May 2nd 2023 the time is 12 35 in the afternoon and this meeting is our regular monthly meeting for the month of May and it is the sixth legislative meeting at Council period 25 and it is being held in room 500 the council chambers of the Johnny Wilson building although there are several members who are participating virtually because this meeting is a bit accessible uh via the zoom video conference broadcast platform is being broadcast live on Council Channel 13 and it is available on the council's website www.dccouncil.gov we always begin our legislative meetings with a moment of silence and I would ask that members in the chamber and those participating at home or wherever that we observe a moment of silence Madam Secretary would you uh call the role councilmember Allen here councilmember bonds councilmember bonds councilmember Freeman president councilmember Gray here councilmember Henderson here comes from Louis George here councilmember McDuffie here chairman mendelsohn president Adele here councilmember Parker here councilmember Pinto president councilmember Robert White councilmember Tran White president Mr chairman you have a quorum uh thank you Madam Secretary uh we have the uh secretary's report of committee filings I'm going to recognize the chair for Tim Mr McDuffie with regard to the secretary's report of committee filings thank you Mr chairman I'll move to wave the reading of the secretary's report it's been a motion to waive the reading of the report is there discussion on the motion uh by Voice vote all those in favor of the motion to wave the reading say aye aye are there any opposed don't see your hearing no votes uh the Motions approved we have the secretary's report of introductions and referrals uh again recognize that chair protem Mr McDuffie and again I'll move to wave the reading of the secretary's report of introductions it's an emotion the way to reading is there discussion on the motion towards reading all those in favor say aye aye are there any opposed don't see you hear any no votes the emotion carries unanimously we have the consent agenda are there any changes to the consent agenda Mr chairman customer Henderson um yes um item four on the consent agenda which is a contract um that councilmember gray and I um introduced on behalf of the executive we'd like to move that to non-consent please uh that's on page five PR 25-215 and build 25-271 correct um if that is the contract between the hospital Corporation and maximum healthcare yes I believe it is yes okay so that's removed uh further changes to the consent agenda I have two uh removing from the consent agenda on page two item B6 Howard East Towers alley closing in Street dedication act bill 25-146 and on page eight no page seven item 14 it's a contract with VTech Solutions um pr25-205 and Bill 25-262 so that's removed anything further with regard to the consent agenda are we of the consent agenda before us as modified um secretary would you call the roll let's remember Gray yes that's where McRae votes yes councilmember Henderson yes I'm from Henderson votes yes comes from religious George yes that's remember Lewis George votes yes councilman McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilman benedale yes councilman Adele votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember pinchill votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilman betray on white yes councilman betray on white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes and council member Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the consented vendors approved unanimously Bill 25-146 Howard East Towers alley closing and Street dedication action 2023 um without objection this will be postponed to May 16th legislative meeting additional legislative meeting hearing no objection the measures postponed to May 16th the next measure is on page by pr25-215 contract number nfphc Dash nsd-21-c-00027 modifications 10 and 11. between the not-for-profit hospital Corporation and Maxim Healthcare Staffing Services Inc approval and payment authorization emergency declaration resolution 2023 councilmember Henderson um I think councilmember gray is okay um I'll do it uh I'd like to withdraw this measure okay uh the message is withdrawn the next item is on page seven item 14 contract number cw105548 with VTEC Solutions Inc approval and payment authorization emergency declaration resolution of 2023 PR 25-205 I placed it on the agenda I am withdrawing it which gets us to the non-consent agenda if there's no objection we will skip items one and two uh for a moment and go to Bill item three which is on page eight bill 25-198 migrant Services eligibility temporary Amendment Act of 2023 councilmember Robert white or councilmember Lewis George uh thank you chairman I've asked to have um b25-198 removed from the consent agenda for the purpose of making a brief care of clarifying Amendment which was circulated to all members yesterday as we know the council supported the mayor last year in passing emergency and temporary legislation to create a new and separate support system for recent migrants to the District of Columbia and the office of Migrant Services has been set up to provide basic supports and interim housing for migrants one of the challenges that arose after the legislation passed last year was that it had the potential to Define long-time District residents as migrants if they subsequently became involved in the immigration system a recent emergency Bill sought to address that by maintaining District residences status as residents if they had documentation providing proving their residency dated before April 1 2022 since we passed the language that required some more clarification our amendment makes clear that a resident instead needs to have documentation that demonstrates their residency before April 1st 2022 a small but important distinction from what we passed a few weeks ago which will avoid challenges arising simply from disparate dates on documents I will move that Amendment shortly but before I do I want to speak to a broader problem that has arisen in our migrant Services System over the last several days the Department of Human Services announced last week that our hotel is dedicated to migrants are now full and that space in Montgomery County is full as well as a result new migrants coming into the district now have no options other than living on the street or receiving a ticket to somewhere else Advocates are calling on the mayor to utilize our contingency reserves to address this problem and to avoid the prospect of Children and Families living in encampments or on the street I agree with that advocacy I also recognize that our current system is not functioning migrants coming into the city placed in hotels are staying in those hotels for extended periods of time leaving no space for new migrants due to a lack of turnovers that appears to be caused by a few different things one is that restrictions on residents at the hotels may be impacting their ability to effectively seek and maintain employment and housing second the support services being offered may not be sufficiently targeted to us toward assisting residents with finding a path to stable permanent housing and employment in the district or elsewhere these issues will likely continue to get worse as federal policy evolves and as a greater share of migrants may be coming to the district or be sent to the district knowing that we have a better support network in place than many other jurisdictions and there are real tensions we have to acknowledge between welcoming new District residents and trans and and transits in migrants and meeting the needs of longer-term District residents experiencing homelessness at the same time all within a proposed budget with steep Human Services Cuts uh 30 seconds chairman without a protection thank you these are not easy problems to solve but if we want to avoid the Specter of increasing numbers of families and children sleeping on our streets they are these are problems we have to solve together I'm committed to working with the administration and stakeholders to identify solutions that meet our district values uh thank you Mr chairman with that I move amendment number one to b25-198 the migrant Services clarification temporary Amendment Act of 2023. oh thank you councilmember white so we have the amendment before us is there discussion on the amendment councilmember bonds wishes to be recognized Mr chairman uh thank you for noting that councilmember bonds um yes thank you very much and um I just wanted to ask of council member white um if he has any information data that would be an indication that migrants have applied for work that's an arena I'm very concerned about and want to get as many D.C residents employed as possible so I wondered if he has some real information that would inform us that migrants are not being given an opportunity for employment um thank you for that question council member bonds uh I I don't the short answer is I don't have that information uh the slightly longer answer is that it depends on where folks are in the immigration process uh federal law prohibits uh some immigrants from working uh that is a big issue that impacts the district that the council doesn't control I appreciate that um comment um I I was asking because you made a point of in your um conversation about the need for um I'm sorry I'm hearing the background noise forgive me oh God um you made a point of of indicating that there was some issue about employment so I just want to understand what that might be so thank you chairman thank you councilmember white uh further discussions this is on the amendment uh councilmember Lewis George wishes to be recognized uh thank you councilmember Lewis George uh thank you chairman uh as councilmember white uh just noted um we have a new housing crisis Brewing as migrant families are being turned away from a hotel shelter the immediate consequence here is that families many with very young children are going to be sleeping on our streets um buses have not and and will not stop arriving in the district and we still have an obligation to offer sanctuary and stability uh to uh these newcomers um this is what exactly what the migrant Services temporary act allows the city to do to use its discretion to provide welcome services and temporary shelter for migrants and migrant families who arrive in our city we need the mayor ndhs to act with urgency to expand office of Migrant Services operations to meet this increased demand for short-term uh hotel accommodations while families get on their feet I also want to note that the temporary bill before us authorized is the mayor to help migrants with resettlement services including resettling in BC for many that means assistance with new documentation IDs School enrollment uh and and Health Care uh with these basic needs many migrants would be in a much better position to move out of hotels and secure their own housing we need DHS and case managers to urgently prioritize ID assistance and to take time to help migrants who intend to stay in the district with the process of finding and moving into their own apartments or other housing similarly getting kids enrolled in school quickly will help parents have time to work on their immigration cases enroll in English classes and begin the process of looking for what if what work if that is permitted in their specific situation I think this is a difficult situation for everyone of course but only yes it needs to do more to help migrants land on their feet and not make it harder for anyone to support themselves and their family we we have authorized a lot of flexibility for OMS to be Innovative and how it serves migrants arriving in DC we haven't authorized uh we haven't authorized is a limit on our support especially so long as the federal government is still reimbursing many of these uh expenses um we cannot allow families to be turned out to the streets and exacerbate the homelessness crisis our city also faces and so I think this is a moment where we need to have the administration step up and increase our capacity to accommodate newly arriving migrant families and help them permanently resettle so thank you thank you chairman and thank you councilmember Robert White thank you councilmember the discussions on the amendment is there any further discussion councilmember pintail wishes to be recognized councilmember Pinto thank you Mr chairman just wanted to thank you councilmember white for moving this forward this as you may recall is an issue that I was very concerned about last summer and fall particularly around ensuring that we are not inadvertently excluding any of our D.C residents right now from receiving the services that they need and appreciate um this belt I'm looking forward to supporting it today thank you oh thank you if there's no further discussion the votes on the amendment that councilmember Robert White circulated and is linked on the agenda by a Voice vote all those in favor of the amendment say aye aye opposed I don't hear or see any no votes the amendment is approved unanimously we have the bill as amended is there discussion a roll call vote on the bill as amended Bill 25-198 Madam Secretary councilmember Henderson yes customer Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes how's Melinda McDuffie councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes Cameron mendels and votes yes yes councilman Adele votes yes councilmember Parker councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember pinchill votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilman Robert White votes yes councilmember Trey on light yes customer trian white votes yes councilmember Allen yes customer Alan votes yes councilmember bonds yes husbands.cs councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray councilmember Gray tell us there we go thank you councilmember gray votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh thank you Madam Secretary the bill as amended is approved unanimously uh we will go back to item one in the section of the agenda which is uh Bill 25-164 comprehensive policing and Justice Reform temporary Amendment Act of 2023. thank you Mr chairman given that the comprehensive policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 completed the required 60-day Congressional review period last week according to the count by our general counsel uh but understanding that uh there may still be a couple of days left on the Congressional count from their perspective uh I want to move to postpone this measure to our June legislative meeting uh to uh the June 6 meeting well maybe I should check with the general counselor would you like the May 16th or would you prefer Works May 16th then let's do May 16th would be my motion all right if there's no objection the measure will be postponed to May 16th uh I hear no objection uh the measures postponed to May 16th item two at the top of page eight motor vehicle and homeowner insurance prior approval rate filing temporary Amendment Act of 2023 Bill 25-148 councilmember McDuffie thank you uh Mr chairman on March 7 2023 the council approved PR 25-121 the motor vehicle and homeowner insurance prior approval rate filing Amendment emergency declaration resolution of 2023 and Bill 25-147 the motor vehicle and homeowner insurance prior approval rate filing emergency Amendment Act of 2023. the emergency measure changed the rate filing standard for motor vehicle and homeowner insurance rate filings from file and use to Prior approval so that the Department of Insurance Securities and banking would have time to review filings and ensure that rate increases are neither excessive nor discriminatory before the new rates become effective the department in coordination with various stakeholders requested an amendment to the temporary bill that I would like to move now let me move the underlying but I'd like to also move an amendment that was circulated previously I might have missed the question the bills before us do you have an amendment linked are you moving the amendment yes ah we have the amendment before us can I speak to it only if you moved it I did I think I did that just now and you get to speak to it okay the department of coordination with various stakeholders requested an amendment to the temporary bill which will better clarify the impacted lines of insurance also require insurers to provide renewal notices and require that insurers provide renewal notices no less than 45 days prior to policy renewal the 45-day notice brings the legislation in line with the advanced on its requirements of other states and I loved my colleagues to support the bill as amended uh Mr McDuffie had another two minutes to speak to the amendment um we have the amendment before us is there discussion on the amendment I'll buy a Voice vote on the amendment all those in favor say aye aye aye aye are there any opposed to the amendment I don't see you hear any no votes the members approved unanimously we have the bill is amended Is there further discussion uh Madam Secretary will you call the role the vote is on Bill 25-148 as amended councilmember Louis George yes councilman Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilman McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilman Adele yes councilmanado votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes that's remember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes customer betray on white yes that's what I'm trying white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilman Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember Barnes votes yes councilmember Freeman yes house number Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray councilmember Gray yes sorry there's a delay in the um transmission thank you councilmember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh thank you Madam Secretary the bill has amended is approved unanimously there's no objection we'll skip number one under emergency we'll come back to it uh so we'll go to item two which is District of Columbia Housing Authority procurement regulations emergency declaration resolution 2023 PR 25-197 council member Robert White thank you chairman from a technical standpoint the legislation before us is pretty short and simple but it reflects an important ongoing legal debate as we all know the D.C Housing Authority is responsible for administering our public housing program dcha also plays a major role in administering housing vouchers their second annual operating budget includes hundreds of millions of dollars of both local and federal funds and of course they frequently need to enter into contracts for goods and services in the home rule Act Congress requires that anytime a DC agency enters into a contract that's worth over a million dollars or that lasts more than one year the agency has to send the contract to the council for approval it's codified in our local law as DC code section [Music] 1-204-1.51 and has been reaffirmed by the Office of the Attorney General multiple times in recent months dcha's executive leadership and stabilization and reform board have devoted a huge share of their time and attention to addressing various deficiencies that the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development laid out in an assessment report last fall part of what they have to do is prepare updated procurement policies back in 1999 when the Housing Authority was getting ready to exit Federal receivership the council mandated that dcha send us procurement regulations for approval by November 5th 2000. now that the feds are involved again and dcha is following that long now that the feds are involved again dcha is following that long-standing legal mandate in March the star board voted to send us procurement regulations for approval the regs are 22 years late but better late than never the current exec director and board weren't in charge for most of those years and I appreciate them acting swiftly on Hud's directive now the problem is that the proposed regulations contain what we believe are an inaccurate interpretation of the home rule act if you look at proposed policy for 14 dcmr 7200.1 it claims that the council decided that DC code 1-204.61 and 2-352.02 don't apply to dcha's Federal procurements it's supposed to say 1-204.51 but either way the claim is inaccurate and not possible since the question of whether dcha's federally funded contracts are subject to council review is a big deal the Office of the Attorney of the general counsel has advised us to take emergency action and strike the statement from the proposed regulations and the reason we're doing this on emergency is that initially we believed we had until June 1st to act on the regulation approval the resolution that's already pending but we've been advised that the deadline may actually be much sooner my committee team and I are going to keep talking with dcha ogc in the office of the budget director to make sure everybody's doing what they need to under federal law for now I moved the District of Columbia Housing Authority procurement regulations emergency declaration resolution of 2023. thank you chairman thank you councilmember white we have the Declaration before us is there discussion Mr chairman customer of pinto thanks so much and thank you councilmember white I um just received this letter that we all got from the mayor about her concerns of this bill I just wanted to see if you could respond to that briefly councilmember White um yes the um this this would put the Housing Authority in the same status as every other local and independent agency um I think the fact that we are a couple decades late on doing this doesn't make it any less important I also want to clarify that the uh Office of the Attorney General has twice over the years reaffirmed that even independent agencies have to follow the provision of the home rule act that requires large contracts to come before the council for approval um I would note that the council cannot even if it wanted to in the past waive provisions of the home rule act and finally given where the Housing Authority is it is particularly important now that the council maintained its review Authority okay thanks so much and is this just for contracts that are over a million dollars that's correct got it okay thanks so much give me just a moment I'm sorry and multi-year contracts as well council member Pinto uh thank you uh Is there further discussion on the Declaration oh we have the Declaration before is PR 25-197 Madam Secretary would you call the rule McDuffie yes that's remember McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman mendels and votes yes councilman benedo yes that's where I'm going to do votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilman betray on white yes husband betray on light votes yes councilmember Allen yes that's one by Alan votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes councilmember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes that's remember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes councilman Lewis George votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying bill or resolution pr25-198 councilmember white so moved is there discussion since the Declaration was approved unanimously I think we can do a voice vote on this again the vote will be on PR 25-198 all those in favor say aye aye aye I are there any opposed Madam Secretary I don't see you hear any no votes do you agree agreed Mr chairman the resolution is approved unanimously the next measure is pr25-199 District of Columbia Housing Authority procurement clarification emergency declaration resolution 2023 councilmember White uh thank you Mr chairman from a technical nope one moment please okay Mr chairman thank you this uh makes uh clarifying uh corrections to the bill uh as recommended from the ogc with regard to the legislation we just voted on thank you Mr chairman uh thank you councilmember why is there discussion on this uh the vote will be on the Declaration PR 25-199 Madam Secretary would you call the roll Cameron mendelsohn I'm sorry were you calling me yes Mr chairman chairman Mendelson oh my uh yes chairman Middleton folks yes councilmanado yes that's one of nadeaux votes yes councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes I was born betray on white yes councilmember Allen yes that's remember Alan votes yes councilmember bonds let's remember bonds councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes that's one of the gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes house remember Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes house remember bonds yes councilmember Barnes votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the Declarations approved unanimously the underlying bill is built 25-252 District of Columbia Housing Authority procurement clarification emergency Amendment act 2023. councilmember Robert White so moved Mr chairman discussion since the Declaration was approved unanimously I think we can have a Voice vote on Bill 25-252 all those in favor say aye aye aye aye aye are there any opposed I'm secretary I don't see you hear any no votes do you agree agreed Mr chairman the bill is approved unanimously uh the next measure is PR excuse me not pspr 25-194 just targeted historic preservation assistance emergency declaration resolution of 2023 uh this declaration would enable measures to temporarily expand eligibility for the historic homeowner grant program which is administered by the office of planning to expand that eligibility to multi-family building to it to a multi-family building in the Meridian Hill historic district and the Mount Pleasant historic district the council previously ident adopted identical legislation by emergency and temporary act in 2021 and 2022 so this is not new this continues that previous expansion a third round of emergency and temporary legislation is necessary to complete a multi-family building Grant application the impetus for this legislation was repairs that needed to be made to a multi-family condominium and Cooperative building in the Meridian Hill in Mount Pleasant historic districts buildings known as the Kennesaw given the complicated governance structure of the building art condominium part cooperative with some units at market and some I believe are below Market the and given the large number of units determining eligibility for the grant awards has been complicated the Austin planning is asking for another round of legislation in order to complete this grant I will say to members that we expect that we will as a result of the experience with this building uh develop a permanent legislation which is why we're continuing to do rounds of emergency in temporary I moved the emergency PR 25-194 is their discussion Mr chairman councilman Doe thank you chairman this emergency measure as you mentioned extends Authority given to the historic preservation office to issue grants to homeowners in a multi-family property in Mount Pleasant that is in need of assistance typically the historic homeowner Grant programs only issued a single family residence but the Kennesaw building is one of the first hard-won topa successes and remains a novel mixed-use Cooperative in Condo building that has stood the test of time there are a number of repairs to the building being required by historic preservation and low-income Co-op and condo residents are at risk of having their housing costs go up to unsustainable levels due to those repairs this measure would give hpo and the building more time to work out the grants and timeline of the repairs as the application and approval process is taking longer than expected Ops indicated that funds are sufficient in the grant program as we discussed with director Cozart at the office of planning's oversight hearings this effort has raised some important questions of how we support multi-family properties with what is often the very expensive task of maintaining a building to Historic standards the preservation assistance program is currently constructed was clearly meant for single family homeowners the process of trying to graph that application and Grant making process onto each individual unit owner in a large building has proven extremely challenging it looks like we're close to reaching a conclusion on this property and I believe we can move forward with some lessons learned from a longer term solution that applies district-wide thank you chairman for continuing to show support for the Kennesaw and I encourage my colleagues to continue their support as well thank you thank you it comes from renado further discussion on councilmember bonds wishes to be recognized thank you councilmember bonds yes thank you very much chairman um and thank you very much for moving this important piece of legislation I think it will help a number of buildings across the city particularly in the older parts of the district Ward one little bitten board four and more three that fall into this category of being a multi-unit buildings as opposed to just being a single household so thank you very much for this and I'm looking forward to supporting or looking at your permanent bill that you indicate you're interested in getting done yeah thank you councilmember further discussion uh the vote will be on pier 25-194 the Declaration Madam Secretary would you call the role that's where I'm going to do yes councilmember Nadeau votes yes councilmember Parker yes that's one of Parker votes yes council member Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes council member Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilmember Treyon White yes that's one between white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Alan votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray councilmember Gray yes councilmember gray votes yes there's a problem with the um with the feed councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes that's where I believe is George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilmember McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes chairman Mendelson votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh thank you Madam Secretary the Declaration is approved unanimously we have the underlying bill bill 25-248 so moved uh I have an oral Amendment uh the bill has a uh applicability date and I believe the applicability date in the bill is April 21st 2023 general counsel is advised that we should make this applicable as of the date of the first emergency and that first emergency was August 5th 2021 I have the right general counsel yes Mr chairman okay so if there's no objection we have this oral Amendment to the bill that the applicability date is August 5th 2021 there's no objection that oral Amendment will be accepted hearing no objection that's accepted we have the bills amended before us further discussion since the Declaration was approved unanimously the uh we'll do a Voice vote on the bill as amended all uh Bill 25-248 all those in favor say aye aye are there any pose Madam Secretary don't see or hear any no votes do you agree particularly Mr chairman a bill as amended has approved unanimously the next measure is marionberry Avenue designation emergency declaration resolution of 2023 PR 25-195. the purpose of the designation is to officially designate Good Hope Road Southeast between Anacostia Drive Southeast and Alabama Avenue Southeast asmarineberry Avenue Southeast and also to symbolically designate marionberry Avenue Southeast between the intersection of Naylor Road and 25th Street and Alabama Avenue is Good Hope way so that would be a symbolic designation and to require the district to reissue certain documents to individuals and entities with new addresses on marionberry Avenue Southeast the designations are effective as of July 1st 2023 permanent legislation implementing official designation as well as the symbolic designation was adopted on Final reading on April 4th 2023 enacting the legislation on an emergency basis which is what I'm proposing now will allow the district to begin implementing provisions of the law with respect to replacement documents in anticipation of the July 1st 2023 so let me sort of restate all that uh usually when we do these uh designations namings uh they're effective whatever date passes Congressional review here because it's official and because it entails numerous individuals and businesses who will have to uh get reissued driver's licenses and other documents we have a specific applicability date which is July 1st 2023 the legislation takes all of Good Hope Road renames it as marionberry Avenue but at the top of the hill because there is a history of that neighborhood being known as Good Hope because of a Tavern that was there in the 19th century named Good Hope Tavern we keep that as a symbolic designation there was a question asked of me earlier that I'm going to be mean and nasty and instead ask the question instead of answering it councilmember Henderson do you know about implementation um yes well so for the um benefit of the public who might not have been listening into the breakfast my question given that there are over 2 000 addresses along this proposed designation my question was which agency is responsible for providing notice to either the business owners or the residents or the occupants of said addresses that the official address is going to change in July and I know you called the director of Department of Transportation so the answer is um so he said the only thing he's hearing really quickly is that the DC register now we read the DHC register but clearly I I can't imagine that everyone um enjoys a good weekend read of the register each week and so I know we didn't discuss this but I am wondering if you might entertain a verbal amendment to just name an agency as the person who needs to do this because I fear that there's going to be a lot of finger-pointing oh D dot o Department of buildings oh Department of Licensing and consumer affairs like we just need to pick one what I don't want to happen is that these folks say we didn't know so somebody just needs to send a letter to these addresses as notification that's all I'm saying pulling a Clarity chilling comes from Bertrand white yes I do remember that the DMV is supposed to send a notice to those I think it was 1600 individuals who had a license or ID but again that may I may not cover everybody and things change so much it doesn't include the businesses um but and I don't know if one agency can do that um so maybe we need some clarity from the mayor's office of Deputy Mayor to push it down yes so I guess the question is like someone needs to be the responsible party who has the addresses to send a notice so maybe the the amendment is the mayor I have language or their oh great wonderful and or the and designation uh the deputy mayor for operations and infrastructure comma or other official designated uh or or other uh official or agency designated by the mayor child timely notify residents and businesses of the name change and any need to apply for reissued documents and I can repeat that in a second should we say written notice no because it could be electronic could be door hangers we'll leave that to I think we given the nature of this I think we okay I just don't want them to send a robocall Mr chairman and claim that as noticed uh the deputy mayor for operation is an infrastructure come or other official or agency designated by the mayor comma so timely notify residents and businesses of the name change and any need to apply for reissued documents um yeah can you repeat that slowly after notify residence and the deputy mirror for operations and infrastructure comma or other official or agency designated by the mayor comma shall timely notify residents and businesses yeah of the name change and any need to apply for reissued documents thank you the intent here is that we do name someone the deputy mayor for operations infrastructure we give flexibility to the mayor to pick someone else be responsible and there's no reason why it couldn't be more than one agency if that's Tomatoes decision we say timely notified we do leave discretion how that notification will be but we make clear the purposes to give these individuals and businesses uh the ability to apply for reissued documents if they're needed correct that sounds great if there's no objection that Amendment will be accepted hearing no objection my note though is that we're still on the Declaration so actually that Amendment can't be accepted yet okay we'll hold that until we pass the Declaration correct great but thank you councilmember Henderson further discussion on the Declaration a roll call vote on the Declaration PR 25-195 Madam Secretary councilmember Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember pinzo yes councilmember vote Yes councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert whitefields yes councilmember Trey on white yes that's for patreon white votes yes councilmember Allen yes councilmember Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes that's one bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes thank you councilmember gravos yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes councilman blue is George yes that's remember Louis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes husband McDuffie votes yes chairman Mendelson yes chairman Mendelson votes yes and councilmember to do yes that's what I'm going to Dove votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill uh so moved and without objection I will move the oral Amendment which I will repeat the deputy mayor for operations and infrastructure or other official or agency designated by the mayor shall timely notify residents and businesses of the name change and any need to apply for reissued documents general counsel do you have that yes Mr chairman if there's no objection that's accepted uh we have the bill as amended before us for the discussion since the Declaration was approved be unanimously I'll do a Voice vote on the bill all those in favor of Bill 25-250 as amended say I I I opposed Madam Secretary I don't see her hear any no votes do you agree agreeing Mr chairman uh the bills approved unanimously the next item is PR 25-196 Reverend Lloyd young Court designation emergency declaration resolution of 2023 the purpose of the designation is to officially designate the public alley within Square 4546 has Reverend Lloyd young Court Northeast this alley is bounded by 17th and 18th streets and d and e streets in Northeast I believe it's the Rosedale neighborhood permanent legislation implementing this official designation was adopted on first reading on April 4th and it was approved earlier in this meeting on Final reading enacting the legislation on an emergency basis will allow permitting for a buy right development on a lot internal to the square all the permanent legislation is pending Congressional review I move the Declaration is there discussion the vote will be on pier 25-196 Madam Secretary would you call the role councilmember Pinter I'm sorry National where are we on the agenda uh Reverend Lloyd young court for declaration resolution page nine and six yes councilmember Pinscher votes yes Council under Robert White yes councilmember Robert White votes yes councilmember Treyon white yes councilmember Chan Whitefield yes councilmember Allen yes remember Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember Barnes votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes that's remember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes transformed by Henderson votes yes council member Louis George yes husband Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilman McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes chairman Mendelson votes yes councilman Joe yes councilmember votes yes councilmember Parker councilmember Parker votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 answers uh thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously if the underlying bill bill 25-251 so moved is there discussion since the Declaration was approved unanimously I'll ask for a Voice vote on Bill 25-251 all those in favor say aye aye are there any opposed um secretary do you I don't see or hear any um no votes do you agree agreed Mr chairman the bills approved unanimously the next item is PR 25-200 comprehensive policing and Justice Reform technical emergency declaration resolution 2023. councilmember Allen thank you very much Mr chairman on December 20th 2022 the council passed the comprehensive police and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 a package of reforms that promote transparency and accountability for law enforcement officers in the district that permanent law Builds on reforms initially passed during the summer of 2020 that have been maintained with successive emergency and temporary measures including most recently the comprehensive policing and Justice Reform emergency Act of 2023 which is passed on March 7th and is set to expire on June 22nd the permanent law has completed its Congressional review period on April 21st 2023 and so most of the law has taken effect superseding conflicting portions of the emergency act currently in effect however two sections of the permanent law are subject to a delayed applicability provision and will therefore not go into effect until October 1 2023 therefore this latest round of emergency and temporary legislation is needed to prevent the Gap in the law between the expiration of the emergency Act and the delayed applicability date of the two sections and the permanent bill the bill also clarifies the scope of certain mandatory reporting requirements that were amended in the expanding supports for Crime Victims Amendment Act of 2022 to ensure that they only apply to minor victims and don't inadvertently cover crimes committed against adults with that I move the Declaration thank you council member is there discussion on Declaration the vote will be on PR 25-200 Madam Secretary will you call the role councilmember Robert White yes councilmember Robert whitefields yes councilmember betray on white yes customer try on white votes yes councilmember Allen yes customer Alan votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes councilmember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George councilmember Lewis George councilman McDuffie yes that's one of my Duffy votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes chairman mendelsohn votes yes councilmember yes councilmember Parker yes thank you councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes Yes councilmember Lewis George Yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary of the Declarations of unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-254 councilmember Allen yes no move Mr chair I was so excited about for it all right we have the the bills on the floor is there discussion uh since the Declaration was approved unanimously I we we can have a Voice vote on this this is on Bill 25-254 all those in favor say aye aye aye uh opposed are there any opposed um secretary I don't see you hear any no votes do you agree agreed Mr chairman the bills have proved unanimously uh we're going to go back to the first emergency on page eight that's food delivery fees transparency emergency declaration resolution 2023 PR 25-172 just to remind members and for the record this measure came before us and our May meeting uh there was a motion at that time to postpone to today's meeting which is why it's on the agenda the notice was circulated for the main meeting and um with that let me recognize councilmember Allen thank you very much Mr chairman let me also thank the patients of my colleagues to be able to return back to this um as they say sometimes nothing focuses like a deadline uh so I appreciate it but I hope that it's a Harbinger uh ending in a very good spot uh we are returning to a debate that we tabled last month to put in place stronger protections and guidelines for our local restaurants to do business on apps like GrubHub ubereats and doordash just to reorient briefly the pandemic has dramatically changed the food delivery Marketplace and with it a handful of companies largely cornered that third-party application space in short it's now almost impossible to be a restaurant and not be on the apps very few restaurants are packed on weeknights and delivery can range from 10 or even 90 percent of your business during the pandemic the council created a 15 cap on fees but as the pandemic measures ended we've seen third-party apps move to increased fees and what we heard from many small businesses and restaurants are there without further protections they would be forced to pay higher fees or see themselves reduced and removed from consumers just looking to buy a meal that plays out by suppressing restaurants who pay a lesser fee in searches shrinking the delivery radius around restaurants and more they know they've got the upper hand small restaurants have few choices the third party app not the driver bringing that meal to your doorstep or the staff cooking in the kitchen are the ones making record revenues while everyone else is struggling so introduce this emergency Bill last month and after debate it was postponed one month to continue working on some consensus and what we have before us reflects the hard work to get to that point I'm grateful to the Restaurant Association for sitting down with me in a very collaborative way to make this a stronger Bill and for their support of this legislation I also appreciate my colleagues input and these revisions and as I'll move in just a moment when we get to the underlying act councilmember McDuffie for working with us on some compromise language that I'll move in an oral Amendment again when we get to the underlying Act today we'll be helping our restaurants stay on a fair footing in the marketplace without being forced to pay higher and higher fees that matter less to Taco Bell than District Taco the restaurant business is famously one of thin margins as soon as fees tick up the restaurant's cooking food just to break even and I said this last month but I want to re-emphasize today the fees that third-party app charges for that meal come into your home they aren't special fees tacked onto the final bill it's a cut from the cost of making a meal it's buying the ingredients running the kitchen paying the chef and staff salaries it also means everything costs more money on the consumer side so pricing out residents who can't afford the extra charge but that cost doesn't go to the kitchen staff or the restaurant's bottom line it doesn't go to the drivers we've heard from research and from lived experience that drivers in this economy lack power protections are often scrambling to make back-to-back runs when these apps can hide drivers and meals from view it's the drivers that struggle waiting for the chance to make that run for them time is literally money but it's not uncommon for some drivers to wait up to an hour for a chance to hustle and make that delivery those fees we're talking about are cutting into the drivers and restaurants instead they go to the people who own the algorithm so the underlying emergency ensures restaurants remain visible on the platforms by ensuring customers can see restaurants within a Four mile radius of the restaurant additionally we're ensuring that restaurants drivers and customers interests Mr chairman if I can have one more minute without protection are met in three other ways under the amendment and the nature of a substitute that I'm moving first it would prohibit the third party delivery services from hiding restaurants from drivers by reducing the delivery radius around a restaurant below four miles this is good for drivers because they'll be able to see more restaurants and deliver food faster to customers big tech companies Behind these apps try to constrain the supply of drivers available and this prevents that it doesn't mean the drivers have to take those deliveries in the radius but it means they have more choice and the apps won't be able to force restaurants to pay higher commission fees to get the shorter delivery times and second it requires the apps to disclose the services included in their commission fee package right now some apps just say your delivery radius will decrease if you choose a lower commission tier but what does that actually mean this provision makes sure the restaurants are actually getting a clearly communicated plan to them and third it makes a technical clarification that an internet search engine is not a third-party meal delivery service for the purposes of the law that we're talking about so with these changes the Restaurant Association has said they are now enthusiastically in support as I mentioned earlier when we use the underlying emergency act I'm going to be I will first move the amendment to the nature substitute and then I'll be moving an amendment that I worked out with councilor McDuffie I appreciate everyone's efforts to get to this place of support today our restaurants and our drivers need the help they don't have a lot of wiggle room nor they have a lot of time the less our restaurants uh the more that's being taken in these apps and fees the less our restaurants their workers are make the drivers make less and the more DC consumers pay as often the case the emergency legislation this is a common sense step that we can take right now and I know and I look forward to partnering with councilor McDuffie on larger permanent Bill to address this and many other urgent concerns that he and is working on so thank you Mr chairman uh with that I'm going to move the Declaration I think it comes from Rail and we had the Declaration before us councilmember McDuffie thank you Mr chairman I wanted to just uh offer some brief remarks uh for the benefit of my colleagues and the public and folks who have really followed this debate closely I want to thank councilmember Allen and his team they've worked really hard on this measure and and as he stated I've included uh some specific changes that we asked that he include in this uh amendment of nature substitute in order to address what we think are some challenges that are impacting our restaurant industry it's workers uh and everybody who cares about supporting an industry that has supported the District of Columbia for decades and been vital to the revitalization of our city over the last uh decades I also want to acknowledge that in making these changes I do plan to vote in favor of uh this emergency measures today uh also acknowledging the hard work that's been done by my staff and working with other members of the council including um uh stakeholders outside of the Council on a permanent bill that we introduced uh yesterday that we look forward to having a hearing on in May that we hope will Encompass some of the things that are being done in this emergency today but also addressing a number of important needs that have been expressed by the restaurants the customers that they serve the workers who are delivering food by on the delivery apps and frankly um so many people who are impacted by this important industry in the District of Columbia we have to acknowledge that the way we thought about restaurants our experience with restaurants pre-pandemic is is really vastly different today than it was a few years ago before we were impacted by the pandemic and we're trying to adapt to be able to address those concerns of being raised by the industry and sometimes this is what it takes is a little bit of back and forth um ultimately though I think what we've tried to do here and what I support today is in the best interest of the restaurant industry consumers um and all the patrons who supported the industry over the years so look forward to supporting this and also working on the permanent bill thank you councilman McDuffie councilmember Freeman uh thank you very much Mr chairman I I want to thank uh councilmember Allen for bringing forward this bill that can bring some very immediate relief for restaurants that are operating around the city I've heard from many restaurants on this issue and I'm really glad to see that we're going to get to some prompt relief I also really want to thank council member McDuffie for all the work that he's done on this not just this year but in previous years and setting the table for this and the work that he's going to do on the permanent legislation this is tricky territory and I don't want to hold myself out as being an expert I'm delighted that we're going to get to immediate relief and then the kind of Fuller deliberative process to think about the comprehensive relief in the months to come so thank you to you both thank you thank you further discussion we have the Declaration yes thank you um thank you councilman Allen for uh your thoughts and your adjustments that's more meaningful to the drivers who are everyday Working Class People trying to um feed their families um uh I did want you I see that you uh changed the language to speak to within a Four mile radius um for delivery services but I do do note that doordash has some issues with the legislation and I asked them to tell me what those issues are and they sent me a flyer with DC on there um it doesn't necessarily speak to this legislation but I guess it has some bullet points um about 75 percent of restaurants agree though that's enables them to reach their customers 69 of restaurants believe that they acquire new dining customers who were first introduced to the operation my daughter is just trying to bring their credibility I guess to the industry to ensure that their uh drivers uh included in this legislation I think you uh spoke to part of it during the reference but what was changed that spoke to the drivers in this legislation and it have you uh addressed any issues that doordash and other uh the driver services had sure um I appreciate that and yeah I want to note too I appreciate your comments uh during our conversation last month as well about this um so one of the things and once we get to the emergency act um we will I'll move the oral amendment that might address one of the questions you have which is related to the radius um and so while we have different radius that are set by different apps uh in the oral Amendment I'll be recommending that we adjust it from the five that was proposed the original ANS to four and that'll be consistent and that also will be consistent uh with the permanent legislation that has been introduced uh that'll be part of that conversation I think that perhaps addresses one of those concerns but from the driver's perspective I'm also making sure that again the meals and the opportunity to get that meal to be delivered that that's not going to be shielded from that driver is important and that's part of what some of these protections are my understanding is that as we have the debate on the more comprehensive legislation there will also be additional type of driver protections uh that might be more suitable for a permanent piece of legislation that we're able to work on as well anything is specific related uh I don't I don't want to single out one particular third-party app so I don't think I could say that there's something in here that is specific to address doordash our goal was to focus on the restaurants and the drivers and what their concerns are but taking into account considerations that we've heard from the different apps I got that I guess um when they call my office I wasn't there they spoke to my legislative director and I asked him to I didn't speak to them personally um but I didn't know if they reached out to you with any concerns this legislation and so when I asked about anything particular from their concerns I'm not talking about creating legislation particularly for that company but addressing any of the concerns that they had um that's pretty much my question not more so the legislation particularly for them you know what I'm saying I think so um have you spoke to them yes and my staff has met with them multiple times um and I could certainly follow up afterwards too if there's something more specific I can try to make sure I get for you on that but we try to take that input uh in as one part of the many different type of inputs that were coming into this I digress thank you councilmember white further on the Declaration council member Pinto thanks so much chairman and thank you councilmember Allen and councilman McDuffie for working on this very important issue and I'm happy that there is hopefully going to be a step towards resolution today to get this relief for some of our smallest restaurants and make sure that they're not being overly burdened and penalized by this protection that we intended to provide last December but hasn't played out that way um I will say I am a little bit concerned over the long term and excited that there will be a hearing coming up so that we can think about the whole universe of issues for our restaurants and delivery drivers and workers um that are still being asked to be resolved and I guess this is a question perhaps for councilor McDuffie which is that as chair of the business Economic Development Committee do you see this emergency as a kind of helpful supplementation of what is to come at this hearing as in we're not putting Folks at risk of passing something today and then a month later doing something different as was kind of talked about at the breakfast uh thank you for the question councilman pinso thank you for your ongoing engagement around these issues I know you have perhaps more restaurants than any other War um in the district and so I appreciate your insights on this um I I think the short answer is yes I think the the version including the the amendment to uh the ANS um I think lays a better foundation for us to move from passage of an emergency to a discussion that is more comprehensive about uh the restaurant industry some of the needs that restaurants have expressed as well as some of the needs that workers have expressed I think councilmember Treyon White's uh concerns to be raised are are very valid I raised some of these last month in the debate around the emergency and so I do appreciate that councilman Allen has made some adjustments uh that I think um are are going to be more consistent ultimately with the permanent measures that we take up and if anybody wants to to see the permanent measure that we've introduced I'm happy to share it um to make sure that they have that and I'd love to welcome you all as well as any members of the public um to testify when we have the hearing later this month so I think the short answer is yes this is uh I think a better version of emergency that will make it less challenging to implement a permanent and perhaps follow up with another emergency that addresses um a broader uh challenges that the restaurant industry have expressed okay thank you so much and Mr chairman if I can have another minute because this will save me from asking the question later which was could counselor Allen can you speak to what the amendment will be um that you talked about that there will are some substantive changes that were worked out what what are those yeah thanks um I appreciate counselor Pinto um so just from a procedural standpoint instead to get to the deck first I can't move the amendment yet but just what it will be is uh there'll be two changes one is defining the radius from five year five so five years five miles to four miles and also in terms of uh replacing some language that will clarify that a third-party meal delivery service shall not exclude any restaurant with whom the third party meal delivery service has an agreement from a customer within four miles of the restaurant you see um okay well thank you so much thank you both and looking forward to supporting this today thank you if there's nothing further on the Declaration councilmember Lewis George um I just had a question a follow-up there um from councilman Pinto's question um I just in if we shrinking I guess why why would why do we need the amendment to go from five to four like why is that five before with why would that be needed because it feels like it does that would shrink food delivery options for restaurants drivers and and patrons um I think like I'm thinking practically the smaller radius is fine for people who may live like in live in you know Shaw um in the center of DC but if you live on the outskirts of DC and and it really limits your options because most drivers now won't be able to have an option to provide service so for example Shepherd Park and Ward four is seven point miles uh to to DuPont is seven point mile so basically Shepherd Park can only get food from Adams Morgan which is up to 4.6 miles so I'm just I'm just curious and thinking about those of us who are representing words that have out on the outskirts um what what the thinking is in in regard to that because it seems like that would shrink delivery options for the restaurants drivers and patrons in in that regard and so the only party benefiting from the smaller radius would be the delivery platform sure I appreciate the question um and let me make sure I state that what we're setting is the floor not the ceiling so to be clear that restaurant uh could certainly uh through the app the app can provide a longer distance than this what we're doing is not setting the ceiling but we're setting the floor so it can be no smaller than four miles and what we've seen is that different apps have different radiuses so um summer at four some are at five and so for this emergency measure we're going with four and that does not exclude someone who has five or six or seven miles as a radius and then my hunch will be this will be one of those items that is part of the discussion uh as we move towards the hearing that Mr McDuffie referenced uh where that radius can be talked about further but I just want to make sure it's clear that we're talking about the floor not the ceiling of what that radius is all right okay thank you yeah thank you thank you councilmember Lewis George if there's no further council member Parker wishes to be recognized councilmember Parker thank you Mr chairman um I have a question about some of the language and the amendment I recall the foundation of this emergency was concerned around uh drivers or restaurants rather uh facing ever increasing Rising fees and that language seems to have been taken out of the emergency and so councilmember Allen if you could just speak to why that was taken out uh because it and and why then is this such an emergency because I thought that was the reason why we had to take action immediately sure is there a certain line you're you're referencing so I can make sure I'm trying to look at the exactly yeah uh give me a second so obviously we're all just seeing this so this makes it harder in the moment but on the bottom of page three the language reads that was taken out reduced the placement of a covered restaurant in any page list or search results and inflows on and I recall there being a lengthy back and forth and the argument that I found compelling and that uh was echoed by Ward 5 restaurants was in fact that case that they were being punished by ever increasing fees um and so that this emergency was coming in to kind of provide relief I imagine that may have been point of the contention between you and councilmember McDuffie and that is the reason why I was taken out my question is then what was the question now so so you're an accomplished yeah I hear what your question is um I think what you're referencing is the oral amendment that is to come later um and that is uh clarifying that the third party meal delivery service shall not exclude any restaurant with whom the third party meal delivery service has an agreement from the search results within the four miles of a restaurant which uh previously the phrase well I've said previous yet but once I moved the amendment uh was related to um let me make sure I'm reading it correctly reduce the placement rather than exclude the placement and so one of the things that we were trying to get at is how we both set up uh this so that we do not exclude our restaurants from that search engine from within the app but at the same time it does obviously you know a uh an app that um has others be able to pay for higher settings would still even in ANS and an amendment would be able to be able to have different types of listings but the goal here was to make sure that a restaurant is not excluded from that third third party meal delivery service uh because that's what we were doing for restaurants is that they were being excluded and even at the uh what we'll call that basic level of 15 were being excluded from the algorithm or being excluded from the searchable findings and this language that'll be part of the oral amendment is what makes sure that it's very clear they cannot be excluded Mr chairman if I could have just 15 more seconds so I I do understand the difference in that language the concern though was not that restaurants were excluded from the app but that they had to be manually entered in the search box in order to be found and so are we now taking that away as well with this switch in language to exclude it uh that not my reading no I I believe that restaurant is it with this language is still included uh in that space uh and it clarifies that they cannot be excluded okay um I would just say um I'm I'm a bit concerned that I think the reason for the Emergency is now being undermined and some of these changes um but thank you for that clarification and thank you Mr chairman for the additional time I think it comes from Parker if I I appreciate that I I know that's focused on that one element of the oral amendment I I do want to make sure and stress the uh multiple other protections for both restaurants and drivers that are in this so even if uh that one piece maybe gives you uh some heartburn uh over the change uh and I think we may be reading it a little differently there are many other parts within this emergency action that work to protect our restaurants and our drivers that are uh that I think you you share knowing those are very worthy and necessary now oh thank you if there's no further discussion uh the vote will be on the Declaration PR 25-172 Madam Secretary would you call the roll that's remember Treyon White yes councilmember Tran white votes yes remember Allen yes councilmember Alan votes yes councilmember bonds yes councilmember bonds votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilman agree yeah councilmember gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes yes comes from under Lewis George yes councilmember Lewis George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes house remember McDuffie votes yes chairman mendelsohn yes chairman mendels and votes yes that's what I'm going to do yes votes yes councilmember Parker let's remember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes councilmember Pinto votes yes councilmember Robert White yes husband Robert White votes yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses thank you Madam Secretary the declaration has approved unanimously we have the underlying Bill Bill 25-214 councilmember Allen thank you very much Mr chairman uh first I need to move the amendment and the nature of a substitute and then I have an oral amendment that we've also reduced in writing and given to general counsel and I'll move to procedurally do you want me to say so move to the ANS and then move my oral amendment to it yes all right so so moved to the amendment in the nature of a substitute and with that let me now read the oral Amendment and again has been reduced to writing uh for the general counsel um so uh I moved the oral Amendment the underlying ANS striking the language of subsection e and inserting the following quote a third party meal delivery service shall not exclude any restaurant with whom the third party meal delivery service has an agreement from a customer within four miles of the restaurant end quote and additionally move to strike at subsection f five and insert four and I'm looking to The General Counsel to make sure that's consistent with what she has in writing as well what you read online 7879 of the amendment nature was substitute is a third party meal delivery service shall not exclude any restaurant with whom the third party meal delivery service has an agreement from a customer within four miles of a restaurant correct and the rest of e is struck and then on line 92 that the number is the number four rather than five correct as any member have a question or want that repeated not hearing that um because there's no objection [Music] who um the oral Amendment will be accepted it's accepted on the amendment of a substitute as amended is there any further discussion uh by a voice photo all those in favor of the amendment nature of a substitute as amended say aye aye aye aye aye are there any no votes uh the nature of the substitute is approved now we have the bill as amended further discussion this is last chance on the bill uh because the Declaration was approved unanimously and so far everything seems to have been a unanimous uh we can do the bill by uh Voice vote the vote is on Bill 25-214 as amended by the amendment nature of a substitute which was itself amended all those in favor say aye aye aye aye are there any no votes I'm secretary I don't see her any no votes do you agree agreed Mr chairman the bills approved unanimously we'll turn to Temporary legislation if there's no objection we'll move all four and block that would be number one build 25-215 which will contemporary will conform to the emergency is that clear Madam general counsel yes it is Mr chairman bill 25-253 which is the Housing Authority uh bill 25-249 which is targeted historic preservation bill 25-255 which is comprehensive policing and Justice Reform technical temporary there was no objection to all four and I believe only the food delivery had amendments oh no target has had one as well it was amended to uh have the applicability date go back so we don't have to move all the Amendments we simply are incorporating in my motion the Amendments that were approved to the emergency and I know it drives the secretary crazy but we'll do a roll call on the um Temporaries so everybody clear what's before us which is the four Temporaries two of which were amended as emergencies and so the Temporaries will reflect those amendments um secretary please call the roll councilmember Allen yes it comes from Allen votes yes councilmember bonds yes votes yes councilmember Freeman yes councilmember Freeman votes yes councilmember Gray yes that's from the gray votes yes councilmember Henderson yes councilmember Henderson votes Yes councilmember Lewis George yes councilman believes George votes yes councilmember McDuffie yes councilman McDuffie votes yes chairman Middleton yes Cameron Mendelson votes yes councilman Adele Parker yes councilmember Parker votes yes councilmember Pinto yes that's remember Pinto votes yes comes from bar Robert right yes councilmember Robert White votes yes and councilmember Tree on white yes Mr chairman there are 13 yeses uh the four measures are approved first reading unanimously that is going to conclude the business of this legislative meeting the next regular meeting is June 6 2023 the uh we have a uh additional meeting to vote on the budget scheduled for May 16th in an additional meeting or second reading on the budget May 30th time is 207 in the afternoon this meeting is