Speaker Quinn Announces Agreement on Key Small Business Proposals
Manhattan – In her address today on the future of New York City small business, Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn announced that an agreement has been reached with the Bloomberg administration on three small business proposals. The address was given at a Crain’s forum held at the Crowne Plaza in Times Square, before a group of hundreds of small business owners and professionals.
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PENALTY FORGIVENESS
The Speaker announced an agreement with the Bloomberg administration to establish a penalty forgiveness period for businesses and individuals with outstanding violations returnable to the Environmental Control Board – which make up the vast majority of non-parking fines on businesses. Right now the City is owed approximately $200 million in such unpaid fines. Those fines can drag a business down, while the City only sees pennies on the dollar.
“You hear plenty of talk about getting toxic assets off the books of struggling banks,” said Speaker Quinn. “Well let’s get these toxic assets off of small businesses’ books so they can start fresh.”
For three months starting this fall, if a business or individual comes forward and demonstrates that they’ve corrected the underlying problem, the City will waive their late fees.
Legislation to create the forgiveness program will be introduced later in June. Businesses and individuals will have a chance to pay their initial violation fine, and have all default penalties and interest waived.
ELIMINATING UNNECCESARY REGULATION
The many laws and rules the city imposes on small businesses can be another major obstacle to business growth. Last week the Council introduced a bill crafted with the administration to create a Regulatory Review Panel, made up of Council Members, representatives of the Mayor’s office, and the Commissioners of City Agencies like Consumer Affairs and Small Business Services.
The panel will be charged with examining agency rules and regulations that affect the business community, and looking for those that may be outdated, or unnecessarily interfere with business operations. They will also evaluate the rulemaking process at City agencies.
By the end of the year, the panel will have developed a report on its initial findings and recommendations, to be presented to the Mayor and Speaker.
COORDINATED INSPECTIONS
After all paperwork has been filed, and permits have been received, businesses must still be inspected by a number of City agencies. And since each agency visits separately, a business might remain shuttered for weeks or months, just waiting for one final inspection. That’s time when businesses are losing critical revenue, and New Yorkers are missing out on new jobs.
“Back in February, I did an event with the owner of a restaurant in my district who had hoped to open his doors after six months,” Quinn said. “But by the time all the different inspections were complete, over a year had gone by. That kind of wait can bankrupt a new business before it even starts.”
Speaker Quinn has worked with the Administration on a pilot program that will begin in the fall, coordinating inspections done by the Department of Health, the Department of Buildings, and the Fire Department. The pilot will also involve streamlined information sharing between agencies. It will start with restaurants waiting to open, as they require the most agency inspections. If the pilot is successful, the Council will work to expand it to other types of businesses around the city.
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The Speaker first outlined a series of small business proposals called “Open for Business” in her State of the City address in February of this year. The package includes initiatives intended to make it easier for new small businesses to open, help existing businesses to get more business, and avoid burdensome government regulation.