DC’s new vending laws remove the following key barriers to obtaining licenses that vendors fought against for years.
Excluded Workers' Stop the Swipe Campaign
In 2020, workers excluded from COVID-19 federal stimulus funds, including undocumented workers, people married to undocumented immigrants, and workers in the informal cash economy such as street vending, along with citizen worker-owners who were denied employment insurance and pandemic unemployment assistance because many were not classified as employees, organized the Excluded Worker Campaign. BCI signed on as one of the lead organizers of the campaign, which secured more than $61 million for workers.
Earlier this spring, DC’s Mayor stole the final $21 million in assistance as part of her budgeting process. In response, the Excluded Worker coalition has created the Stop the Swipe Campaign, which over the past few weeks has put pressure on the DC Council to restore the stolen money to excluded workers. Today, we celebrate that campaign was successful in convincing the DC Council to restore the $21 million for workers!
Street Vending Has Been Decriminalized in DC
After five years of organizing by DC Street Vendors, the DC Council voted unanimously today to pass The Street Vendor Advancement Amendment Act of 2023, which decriminalizes street vending and creates a blueprint for regulatory transformation and city investments in public spaces and street vendors.