National Street Vending Initiative
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Save D.C.’s Food Trucks D.C. is one of the best food-truck cities in the country. That’s something city officials should be proud of. But unfortunately, city leaders are considering new restrictions on food trucks that could be used to ban them from serving their customers in many parts of the city. If passed, these restrictions would make D.C. one of the worst cities for food trucks. In addition to reducing options for customers, these restrictions could force many food trucks to lay off employees, relocate to other cities with better laws, or go out of business altogether. To find out how you can help save D.C.’s food trucks from these anti-competitive and harmful restrictions, go to SaveDCFoodTrucks.org/video. For a detailed explanation of the problems with these restrictions, click here. And to learn more about commonsense food-truck regulations that D.C. and other cities should embrace, check out Food Truck Freedom: How to Build Better Food Truck Laws in Your City. As the report shows, cities like Los Angeles provide a good example of how local governments can enact narrow, targeted laws that address actual health and safety concerns while leaving food trucks free to compete, succeed, and benefit their communities Read more at saveDCfoodtrucks.org Atlanta Takes “Scorched Earth” Policy Against Local VendorsCity Continues Repression of Entrepreneurs, Now Seeks to Ban Them from Public Land
City Falsely Claims its Crackdown on Vendors Is Required by December Court Ruling Striking Down Vending Monopoly
After vendors scored a major state court victory in December, which threw out the city’s sweetheart deal that forced all vendors to operate with one out-of-state company the city granted a monopoly over street vending, the city’s new response is to put all vendors who operate in public spaces out of business. This barred them from selling near Turner Field before Major League Baseball Opening Day and the Georgia Dome, which hosted the NCAA’s Final Four basketball tournament—key opportunities for street vendors to sell their wares. Bizarrely, the city claims that its crackdown is required by the court’s order in December striking down the city-granted monopoly. But nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing in that order in any way prevents street vending or requires the city to stop it in any way. Indeed, contrary to the city’s claim that the order prevents them from renewing vendors’ licenses, the court’s order specifically states (with emphasis added in italics:) “This ruling is limited to any decision made pursuant to [the city council ordinance and resolution creating the monopoly and the contract with the private company] and the city may continue its other licensing and regulatory operations.”
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| Download IJ Reports: Food-Truck Freedom: How to Build Better Food-Truck Laws in Your City and Seven Myths and Realities about Food Trucks: Why the Facts Support Food-Truck Freedom | ||
| See the online compendium of the laws discussed in Food-Truck Freedom. | ||
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| Download: Streets of Dreams: How Cities Can Create Economic Opportunity by Knocking Down Protectionist Barriers to Street Vending | ||
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| Want a FREE “Legalize Street Food” sticker for your food truck or cart? Email activism@ij.org. Make sure to include whether you'd like a slate gray or sangria colored decal. |
Through its National Street Vending Initiative, the Institute for Justice works to defeat anti-competitive restrictions that violate the constitutional rights of street vendors to earn an honest living. This initiative combines litigating against these restrictions in state and federal courts, helping vendors organize in order to fight these restrictions through activism, and educating the public about the importance—both economically and socially—of street vendors.
Do you want to join our fight to legalize street vending in your city? Are you a vendor whose business is being hurt by protectionist laws? Please email activism@ij.org.
