Seeing none, thank you so much. Panel 5, we have Will Carter, Kamil Salter, and Maurice David. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Will, if you want to start first. Just state your name for the record and proceed with 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 your testimony, and we'll go in that order.
All right. All right. It's great to be back in these Chambers. My name is William Carter. I am Vice President of Local Government Affairs for the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia. I have some prepared remarks, but I also have some other remarks at the same time. It's still morning, right? Yes. Good morning, Chairman Squilla, Vice Chairman Jones, and members of the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development. My name is William Carter, Vice President of Local Government Affairs at the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia. I appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony on Bill 21 200087 -- 240087. The Chamber's vision is to make the Greater Philadelphia region the top local destination for business and a leader in inclusive growth, and we 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 support public policy that encourages the growth and prosperity of the City of Philadelphia and our region. This bill, although well intentioned, puts an undue burden on business owners and their operation, possibly infringes upon free enterprise, and sets a precedent that could create a slippery slope affecting the bottom line of a lot of small business service professionals. Albuquerque, New Mexico, which was mentioned earlier, adopted a tax preparer ordinance, which took effect on January 1st, 2023, with a very similar purpose. Albuquerque's ordinance 18 requires tax preparers to provide service and fee disclosures, which we agree with, both written and posted inside and outside the establishment to ensure consumers understand the tax preparers' obligations and qualifications and their rights as a consumer. A notable difference from 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 Albuquerque's ordinance and this bill is a requirement to disclose information on free tax preparation services. This provision was also included in Albuquerque's ordinance, as was mentioned earlier, when first introduced, but was later amended to remove due to concerns about constitutionality and open potential to litigation against the city if challenged in court. Additionally, the State of New Mexico, you may not know, does not have to -- you do not have to be certified to prepare taxes, which is the impetus of this bill, and we know obviously that you don't have to be certified in PA. And this provision -- excuse me. Eligibility to register as a taxpayer in the State of Pennsylvania, you must obtain a degree from an accredited college, and this is what we understand is not the -- is the case here. The Chamber supports fair 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 business practices. We understand that there have been reports of predatory behavior, which we do not agree with, specifically low-income individuals during the tax filing season, and we're supportive of reasonable solutions to resolve this issue. In the context of this bill, we support requiring tax preparers and the respective establishments to be transparent on the cost of any service. That should happen in any business altogether. However, there are many concerns raised by our members as to the bill as currently written -- as the bill 17 is currently written, specifically the requirement to provide consumer information with no or low cost services. The Chamber remains committed to working with key stakeholders in both the public and private sector to ensure businesses in the City of Philadelphia are conducted fairly and equitably for the same considerations for any 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 legislation that impacts their ability to grow and access free enterprise. As I was listening to this conversation, and once again appreciate everybody here, it sounds as though we're trying to target a specific group of bad actors, as we should. I mean, at the end of the day, if you have a business, you should be disclosing your costs. People should know how much it costs. Right out of law school, I worked in the entertainment industry. I had my own entertainment practice.
I was all over the City doing contracts for a lot of nefarious people, a lot of non-nefarious people. I'm just saying, not everybody in the music industry is Babyface. But at the end of the day, I put up front these are my costs to do the contract. I was known, as Councilman Young sometime know, I was known as loyable (ph) throughout the City. I'd be down in West Philadelphia, Brooklyn Street, a studio 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 down that way right beside Bus's Gym. You guys know Bus. He was sending people over to me all the time. But I was hustling in a good way trying to make a living. I was in debt, not rich, not poor but in debt, which is a different type of hustle when you have to make your rent, you have to eat, those type of things. And so I remember it being very hard to do business in the City as a young professional. However, as a licensed attorney, I know that I had to do it in a fair and fiduciary way, and many people in this industry -- and I have a lot of friends who are in the tax preparer industry who are certified accountants. When you became certified, you actually have something to lose. You're not out here doing anything unscrupulous, although it can happen, but there's a further thing that you have to lose, which is your license, if you're found to be doing something in an 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 unscrupulous manner. And I think this kind of -- there's a better way to balance this bill 5 so we're not affecting the people that you see out here during tax season. The reason you see them during tax season, because that's tax season. Just like you see football players through the football season. It's not like they're fly-by-night. They come out and then, you know, they have other things that they do in the off season. But they're no less good business actors, for the most part, out here trying to make a living, and we're trying to make the City more palatable, more attractive for businesses, particularly diverse business. I'm pushing inclusive growth. Bottom line, what that means is more people making a good living inclusively, whether they work for themselves or for others. But our city gets a bad rap for businesses, because we keep on piling 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 impediment on top of impediment for small businesses trying to grow, and it's something that is known obviously nationwide. I sat in this Chamber for years working for the former Council 8 President. I used to think that these 9 businesses were crying wolf. Now I'm on 10 calls on a regular basis where they say 11 Philadelphia is a non-starter, there's 12 just too much cost, too much red tape, 13 and I'm like -- I really get it, and I 14 also get it from my standpoint for when I 15 was a young attorney out here working for 16 myself. So I think if we limit this bill, possibly an amendment, to say let's go after non-certified tax prep services, not licensed accountants who are out here trying to pay their student loans back, which I'm still trying to pay back. I'm 53. I'm still paying my student loan back. Maybe a bill about that. But I would just say that at 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 the end of the day, there are people who are trying to make a living in this space who are not doing the wrong thing, and maybe if we have some type of amendment, we go to the non-certified tax preparers and say, this is something you need to provide if you're going to be non-certified, may be a balance to it. So with that, I'll end my testimony and just allow these gentlemen to speak.
Please proceed. State your name for the record and then proceed with your testimony.
Good morning, Council. My name is Kamil Salter. I'm a CPA in Philadelphia. I own six Liberty Tax stores. Opened my first store back in 2008. My grandparents had a tax office in West Philadelphia for many years. My mother is a CPA and had a tax office for many years. So I'm a third-generational tax professional, but I'm also a licensed CPA. 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 I would say, you know, just where our store is located, a lot of low-income business corridors throughout the City, all of my staff are from those corridors. You know, like my staff, for the most part, this is the longest job they've ever had. They now have careers from working at these with me. These people actually care about the job probably more than -- they care about what they do more than I do. I mean, I try to say, you know, take some time off, this and that. No, I want to come to work, I really enjoy what I do. But with that being said, having -- every year we go through 18 hours-plus of training just to be able to -- for Liberty Tax, just to be able to do tax return, just to do tax service from Liberty's perspective. And now having to offer -- like when customers come in, they want us to do their work. They don't want to go anywhere else. 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 We'll say, hey, why don't you go check out this other place here. And for some people, it may be beneficial to get their taxes done for free, but a lot of times they still want us to provide the service. Or there may be -- the scope of the tax return may be just a little more challenging or a little more complex that a free place may not be able to do. So then they have to come back and now they're angry. Or when it comes to like after tax season per se, we are open year round. There's so many different things that happen after April 30th. Somebody gets a letter in the mail, how do I do this. My refund didn't come for whatever reason during the tax season, and now we're on the phone with the IRS trying to help you get your refund. Whether it's in August, you need help with getting a copy of your tax return, FASFA information. So many different things that 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 we provide for services all year round. So part of the fee is not just for, oh, hey, we're going to get paid for taxes. So, no, in November 22nd when you need help, you have somebody you can call, you have a place to go and you can get assistance. Additionally, when it comes to the pricing, I mean, our price -- because a lot of times the customers that come in, everybody's return is simple when it starts. It's always a simple return, but then as you get into the interview, you start going through things, you find out they had just so much more going on, especially now a lot of people, they have the small businesses, whether it's gig workers, rental properties. Everybody is doing stocks and crypto currency, so things that come out of the conversation when they just thought, oh, it's simple, but now the price goes up, and if we were to gave you a price in the beginning -- I don't disagree with the concept of 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 up-front pricing. Actually this year for the first time ever we have up-front pricing that the customers can see where they fall into. So it's their choice, and it's always since day one for me it's been -- it's always been free estimates with Liberty Tax. You were never obligated. But if a customer didn't like it or whatever, they didn't have to stay. We don't make you pay just to sit with us. That's never been the case. And from the customer perspective, just even things like with the City of Philadelphia, I don't know how familiar you are with the -- the City of Philadelphia's tax preparation services, just to be compliant with Philadelphia, there's so many different -- let's say just if you have a rental property, you want to get your rental license renewed.
If you don't have your tax return filed with the City, not with the state or the IRS or with the 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 City, a lot of people don't know how to do that. I've had to -- we in our office, we have to actually pay -- I'm sorry. People have to come pay us that they've already paid or gone in other places to get their taxes now. They have to pay an additional fee, because the other places don't know how to do these additional services. So we have a lot of skills and experience that we've garnered over the years. And then, lastly, I would just say, you know, we're not -- it may appear, but we're not raking in millions of dollars. So when it comes -- like if there's ambulance chasers out there now saying -- like grouping up a bunch of people, if they give you -- did they tell you about their tax preparation fees. Okay, we're going to get all these people. So we may be able to prove that we did do these things, that we did provide service, but we have to pay 20, 30, 40, 50 thousand dollars in legal 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 fees, we might as well just close all our businesses, which our business corridors are already dying. I mean, we're like one of the last vestige of businesses that have been there. Like I said, most of my stores, we're ten-plus years and we just -- you know, we've been handling business. So that's kind of just all I wanted to share in that space.
Thank you. Maurice David. Just state your name for the record and then proceed with your testimony.
Hi. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good morning. My name is Maurice David. I work for Jackson Hewitt Tax Service. I'm the Regional Manager for the Philadelphia area. So I just have a couple of topics to discuss. I don't want to be redundant. Most of the things have already been said. 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 On a practical level, when you talk about a tax preparer, so if you think about coming into a store and asking a tax preparer should I prepare with you or should I go free, it would be very difficult to think practically that that tax preparer can make that assessment and understand everything that every free service offers, because that preparer would have to be trained in that, and that is not something that we regularly do. We don't train folks to teach them what this particular one offer is, what H&R Block's free offer is, what Liberty's free offer is. We don't do that. And the other problem with that that I see is if you refer someone to something for use, you in a sense own that referral. So if they go to this free service, if they go to VITA and they weren't correct or they couldn't do it, they come back to you and say, hey, you referred me there. You own that 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 referral. So I think from just a purely practical standpoint, it would be very difficult to ask preparers to figure all this out, understand this, learn this. The question previously was how many hours, what would it cost you to train these folks. So we train about 9 to 30 hours, due diligence, tax 10 preparation. If we had to add geography, 11 you know, topography, geography, that you 12 have to go to Smith Street but you're 13 here and I need directions, we would 14 probably have to add several hours of 15 training to teach them everything. So I 16 think from a practical standpoint, that's 17 a problem. 18 And then the other comment that 19 I heard was the whole regulation thing. 20 As paid preparers, we're highly regulated 21 by the IRS, right? So if you file a 22 return that is deemed to be fraudulent, 23 your penalty is $500 per tax return. 24 These are huge penalties. We are 25 required to do due diligence. We are 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 required to complete form 8867. Non-paid preparers are not required to do that. So we do have regulation. We are regulated. We have long-term preparers that have been preparing tax returns in Philadelphia. We operate about 50 locations here, and hundreds of Philadelphia-based employees. These are folks that live and work in these communities and prepare tax returns for friends, families for a fee. That's what we do. So I just -- the whole point of being that we are regulated. The Internal Revenue Service highly regulates us. We can't share their information. IRS code 7216 does not allow us to just share their information. We can't just give it out to anyone. They have to agree to that. So from a regulation standpoint, we are much different than non-paid preparers. So I just wanted to 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 make that point. But, again, I'll wrap it up by just saying that we are a community-based business, just like my friend from Liberty said. We are based. We have employees that live here and work here and have year round jobs. We are open year round. We are not fly-by-night. We have 5,200 Jackson Hewitt locations around the country. If you had your return prepared in Philadelphia and you moved to California and there was a letter and a problem, bring it right into a tax office. Right now we're dealing with rejects, right? The biggest reject the IRS has right now is this 1095-A problem, right, if you got your health insurance through the exchange. Well, we work through that with the taxpayer. We make sure we get that resolved. So I'm not sure if everybody else is doing that, but we do do that. We have IP pin issues that we help taxpayers solve. 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 So we are a service for a fee.
We are a business in the City of Philadelphia. That's pretty much all I have on this. Thank you.
If I could just add one more thing. We talked earlier about moving it out of Committee without having the enforcement piece worked out. It could have a huge chilling effect here in the City on businesses if the community does not know what's going to happen once it's passed and it hasn't been worked out as to how it will be implemented and how it will be enforced. I think that is a concern. I'm certain it's a concern of the business community altogether on any legislation passed. And, once again, we're trying to promote business growth here. We need more jobs here in the City. We need more people like this young man and this young man growing, and when they grow, what they hire. Nobody 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 hires just to hire. They hire because they need help, and if they don't grow, they don't need help. We want to make sure that that happens. So just around the enforcement, around a clear set of guidelines, whatever happens with this legislation, should be worked out, in my opinion, before this legislation is passed just so we don't have that chilling effect.
Thank you all for your testimony. Councilmember Jones.
Yeah. I just want to go on record thanking the Wilson family for their dedication to small business. Their Lansdowne Avenue office, I used to do -- I used to be responsible for delivering the payroll to them, who did the accounting for the House of Umoja, and that Treasury check that I talked about was because you guys did that. And is it grandparents? That's 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 Salter. Yeah, Jeanice. Oh, gosh. I feel horrible now. You're making me feel old, sir.
I went to camp with your grandson, sir -- I mean, with your son.
And did I hear you say you have ten offices in neighborhoods?
Six. And that's incredible for that longevity. That's uncommon in business in general, but in fact for small Black and brown businesses from the neighborhood. So thank you for that. And I would hope that you work with the author to provide your insight to what impacts it has on you and your -- how many employees do you have now?
There you go. So, again, thank your momma, your 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 grandparents and all of you for what you do.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This question is for Mr. Salter. I don't know your momma or your grand-momma like other people on the Committee, but you certainly seem like an upstanding person. Thank you for your testimony. You talked earlier about providing your costs already up front as a matter of how you do your business. Can you just expound? As a franchise how bound are you by the national practices of Liberty Tax? Because it was our understanding from the national company that those fees are provided right before -- at the end of the process, right before filing.
So we are 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 franchisees. Liberty Tax corporate gives us recommendations, but as far as how we execute, it could be different at every office. But I will say at a corporate level, they have been pushing up-front pricing this year, but because a lot of franchisees are -- you get stuck in your ways and it's a fear of change with anything, fear of change. So our offices, we jumped on it. We did do it, but it's not the case for everybody or every Liberty Tax across the country. But I'm sure there are other Liberties across the country that are doing it. I can't say what percentage in Philadelphia or just in general, but it has been a recommendation from corporate, but it's up to the individuals' offices to decide how they want to do it.
Okay. I just wanted to sort of clarify that there's a difference between what you are doing locally as an upstanding citizen and providing your cost and what we 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 understand as the practice of the corporation more broadly. And I also wanted to clarify for the record that this bill does not -- is not requiring a referral. This is about information provided to vulnerable people about what they are entitled to. So I just wanted to clear that up. And then I wanted to thank Mr. Carter for his testimony. I can certainly appreciate that we want Philadelphia to be perceived as open for business, but I do firmly believe that our city's economic strategy cannot be built on extracting hundreds of dollars from people that don't have to put that out, right, that can keep that money in their households and in their neighborhoods.
Can I just respond? I 100 percent agree with you. I don't think anything should be built off the backs of anyone as you just described. What we are talking about is 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 trying to make sure that we have the environment that's conducive to growth, whether you work for yourselves or for others. And as a city, our largest employers are government, eds, and non-profit eds and meds. Not a lot of business density in the City, because true data and actual anecdotal conversations have said Philadelphia is not a place to be if you want to run a business. And so when we keep on adding impediments on top of trying to grow, that message gets out there even more. I don't think anybody should be railroaded. I don't think anybody -- I do believe that there should be disclosure of fees, to the extent that you can disclose your fees, that you can forecast that, certainly. And the barber shop was mentioned earlier. You walk into the barber shop and he says, you know you go on Broad Street to get your haircut for free, which I pass by the guy every summer, it just doesn't even sound 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 right coming out of an entrepreneur's mouth. But we want to make sure that people understand how much it costs. I didn't realize haircuts cost $50 now. Back in my day it was 20. $50 -- you know, so that's another bill. You can bring that up later. But I would just say that disclosure of cost is important so people know what they're getting into. You can't assume that all people are bad actors because there are a bad few. We have a bad few residents out here. It doesn't mean all of us are bad residents. And painting that broad brush, which could inhibit their growth and add impediment and send a message that the City of Philadelphia will always add on top of whatever they already have on top of the red tape that you go through to grow your business, is something that we don't want to be known for. We want to change that dynamic and get our city popping again. 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087
Absolutely. But just to close out as a sort of alternate view, this bill at the end of the day is about providing information to low-income residents about free tax preparations that they are qualified for so that they can keep money in their households and in our local economy, which is also a differing view on how we can stimulate our local economy. Thank you.
And having worked in this body for so long, I know when to stop.
Thank you. Thank you. Again, I just wanted to reiterate what Councilwoman Gauthier has mentioned, that this is -- this bill 24 requires a notice, and if you look at other legislation throughout this 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 municipality and country, notice is required for employers to place in their place of businesses. We require landlords to provide notices to tenants. We require commercial landlords to provide zoning notices about rights. It's just about letting people know what their rights are and what's available to them from a consumer protection standpoint, again. But I do have a question for Mr. Salter or even Mr. David, both of you all. What is the definition of a simple return? Like is that a standard definition or is that something that is a standard in the industry or is it flexible? Like can you describe that?
So the definition of a simple return is what everybody says they have when they walk in. So a definition of simple return to me would be a single W-2 with state and federal withholding. But that's the dilemma in this industry. Everybody, when you talk 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 to them on the phone, when I talk to them, everybody starts with, I have a simple return, except I had five rentals in the City and I have one in Louisiana. It's not simple anymore. I think that's where the point is missing. It's complexity, complexity. It may take an hour in software, but you still have to know how to do the tax return.
Thank you. I guess if they just have a W-2 and that's it, that's simple.
One more question again. It's a similar question I asked earlier. If you could, I guess, provide us with information on, I guess, how many of your employees are actual CPAs and real agents or attorneys versus those just are participating in the annual filing season or those that are just PTIN holders. 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087
So in our model, we have owners who are CPAs, EAs. We have employees who are EAs who have taken it upon themselves to train themselves. I can't give you a percentage of the several hundred employees that we have in the Philadelphia area. If I were to throw a number out to you, I would say one out of ten would be an enrolled agent. As far as CPA and attorney, it would be hard to hire CPA and an attorney to work in a retail tax office.
And, Councilman, I'll see what I can do in terms of getting that data for you at least based off what we have at the Chamber. I just add that when we talked about the notice, absolutely, notice of rights, and I agree with you, are everywhere in all types of entities, but we're talking about notice of competition or other services, which is a little bit different. And I know you get that, and we've talked about it as attorneys. 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 However, it's a little bit of a nuance there, and we can talk about that further.
I just think that providing -- letting consumers know that they have a right to a free tax preparation service is something that -- I don't see that as a competition to you all, because, again, consumers are going to make the decision ultimately. You're not steering them to it. You're not making them go to these places. We're not mandating that these consumers utilize these VITA sites. We're just letting them know that you have a right to this particular service. It's like when the cops lock you up, they got to tell you what your rights are, right? And we just want to let you know, we want consumers to know what their rights are in this particular space and industry.
And I appreciate that. I appreciate that. I don't know 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 that it's necessarily a right, but there are other services. And so, yeah, your rights, you should definitely know your rights. I don't know if you have a right to these other services, but definitely we're talking about promoting that there are other options out here.
In the City of Philadelphia, if you make under $64,000 or less, you have a right to utilize the Campaign for Working Families, you have a right to utilize these free services in Philadelphia. That is a right that we as a body, as a city has given to the consumer base by putting money to these places to allow them to utilize those services.
Okay. Thank you. Councilmember Gilmore Richardson.
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. And I wanted to thank you all 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 for the testimony you provided. In particular to Mr. Salter, I had to put two and two together, because I also did work with Jeanice Salter, CPA. So I thank you for your longstanding commitment and continued commitment to the community. My only ask is if you could today prior to or at the conclusion of this hearing share additional information with the sponsor, Councilmember Landau, regarding your specific concerns as a Philadelphia-based small business owner, as a sort of generational business, which is very, very difficult to sustain a business for three generations, particularly with a minority business. So I ask that you could please speak with Councilmember Landau regarding your specific concerns so that you can ensure they are registered with her directly. Okay?
All 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 right. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you all for your testimony. We will now go into public comment. We have two people for public comment. Andy Reid, coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. (Laughter.) (No response.)
Graham O'Neill. I do not see him. We have some written testimony to be added to the record beside we added also the redline legislation, written testimony from Ty Brown, the Office and Community Empowerment and Opportunity, 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 and we also have PACDC testimony. Before we leave the hearing, we want to have a closing from Councilmember Landau.
Thank you so much. I'll be very brief. First, I wanted to thank all of my colleagues for holding this hearing in the Commerce Committee and everybody who testified today. Just two final points that I wanted to say. One, the government has decided as a policy reason that having free tax services, just like free legal services and sometimes free healthcare, is essential for us to have a thriving population and economy and making sure that we're caring for folks who can't afford it. We cannot compare telling people about free legal services as telling them the burger down the street might be cheaper, which they'd still have to pay for, because we're not subsidizing 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 burgers down the street or fixing your car or getting a haircut. So just wanted to point that out. And the second thing I wanted to just say that I've been saying all week and remind you now, my door is open. We are still having these conversations. I'm open to all of the conversations. So thank you very much.
Thank you, Councilmember Landau. Great work, and we know you're willing to keep the conversation going and working with Law and the people who testified. Seeing that there's no other questions or no one else to testify, we'll ask that we close the hearing, and I want to thank all the panels of witnesses for their participation. We now go into a public meeting. We have a quorum present. To my left, we have Councilmember Gauthier and Councilmember Richardson. To my right, Councilmember Jones and 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 Councilmember Young. So there is a quorum. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jones for a motion on Bill 6 No. 240019.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that Bill No. 9 240019 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading at our next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record Councilmember Young seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that the Bill No. 240019 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further moved the rules of Council be suspended as to permit the first reading at the next session of Council. All those in favor signify by 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it, and the motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jones on a motion for Bill 11 No. 240087.
Thank you again, Mr. Chairman. I move that Bill 14 No. 240087 be reported from this Committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading at our next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Young seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 240087 be reported from this Committee with a favorable 3/20/24 - COMMERCE - BILLS 240019 & 240087 recommendation and further moved that the rules of Council be suspended to permit the first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor will signify by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. The motion carries. That concludes the meeting of the business for the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development. Thank you all very much for your testimony and attendance. - - - (Committee on Commerce and Economic Development concluded at 11:59 p.m.) - - CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. -------------------- MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)