Street vendor advocates press council to lift permit caps, speed licensing during same hearing

During a later panel at the same Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection hearing, street vendor advocates urged the council to advance a package of bills that would expand permits and reform a permit cap they described as producing a black market and repeated enforcement actions.

Speakers from vendor advocacy groups and individual vendors said the current cap on mobile food and general vendor licenses has created a secondary market in which permits are sold illegally, forcing many vendors to operate without licenses and subjecting them to fines and confiscations. Calvin Baker, who described the bills (including Intro 4-31), said the measure would increase the number of new food-vendor and general-vendor licenses available annually for five years and then lift the cap entirely.

Vendor witnesses recounted enforcement actions, including recent ICE activity they said targeted vendors, and said the inability to access lawful licenses leaves vendors vulnerable. Several vendors described paying thousands of dollars every two years to operate under someone else’s permit, and called for faster processing, more permits issued under individual names and reduced costs for compliance. Speakers asked the committee to move the package promptly.

Committee members acknowledged vendor concerns and said they would share testimony with colleagues. The council hearing did not produce immediate action on the vendor proposals; staff said testimony would inform future hearings and possible language changes.