March 18, 2010

Greenwich Village Gazette

City Council Comes to Aid of Small Businesses

By Donna Lamb

At its most recent meeting, the City Council voted in two pieces of legislation to help small businesses. The first bill establishes a three-month penalty forgiveness period for businesses and individuals with outstanding violations, while the second creates a task force to examine unnecessary regulations.

"Small businesses are the backbone of our City's economy," declared Speaker Christine Quinn (left). "As we look to help these businesses through the recession, our first priority must be to ease their financial and regulatory burdens so they can prosper."

According to council officials, small businesses have racked up a total of $200 million in unpaid fines at the Environmental Control Board (ECB), which hears cases regarding people charged with violating New York City's quality-of-life laws. These laws are meant to protect the health, safety, and cleanliness of the City’s environment and neighborhoods.

On top of the $200 million in fines, an additional $518 million in interest and penalties has accrued. If businesses and individuals pay their initial violation fines, all default penalties and interest will be waived.

The penalty forgiveness period will take place in the fall. Businesses and individuals will be required to correct any underlying problems in order to qualify.

As to the second piece of legislation, the City Council has realized that the many local laws and rules imposes on small businesses can be another major obstacle to business growth. Therefore, the council voted in a bill to create a Regulatory Review Panel, comprised of councilmembers, representatives of the mayor's office, and commissioners of City Agencies like Consumer Affairs and Small Business Services.

The panel will examine agency rules and regulations that affect the business community, looking for those that may be outdated, redundant or interfere unnecessarily with business operations – such as a ban on small businesses putting anything other than their name and phone number on awnings. The panel will also evaluate the rulemaking process at City Agencies. By the end of the year, the task force will report back to the council with recommendations.

"Normally when the government assembles panels and task forces it results in more government," stated Minority Leader James Oddo (right). "But this panel is unique in that it will strive to limit bureaucracy, get government out of the way of small business, diversify the city's economy, and fully unleash our private sector's full potential."

Photo by Donna Lamb

Photos by Donna Lamb

She is a journalist and anti-racism activist who holds deeply-felt and wholly                            
justified convictions about the rampant  injustice of this society to people                                  
of color and our undeniable and  mutual responsibility as  white people to                                     
do everything we can do to rectify it. She attempts to stand by her convictions                       
in her writing, teaching, and in everyday private life.                                                                  
Donna is the Voice of the New York City Council.    Visit Her Site                                               


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