Baltimore committee advances bill to create Department of Consumer Protection and Business Licensing

The Baltimore City Council Housing and Economic Development Committee advanced legislation on a 3–1 vote that would create a Department of Consumer Protection and Business Licensing and grant that office civil citation and adjudicative authority.

Councilman Ryan Dorsey, sponsor of Council Bill 250001, opened the hearing saying Baltimore has “resorted over time to repeatedly reinventing the wheel” and argued the city needs a professionalized office to coordinate licensing and consumer protection. “This bill creates a department of consumer protection and business licensing, a professionalized city service that is long overdue,” Dorsey said.

The bill would consolidate licenses and consumer protection enforcement that now sit in several agencies and create a board to adjudicate hearings and provide oversight. Eric Friedman, director of the Howard County Office of Consumer Protection, testified by remote connection in support, praising the consolidation and local enforcement tools and saying the measure would help both “consumers and merchants.” “If merchants and consumers in Baltimore are shopping for…