Majority Whip Hanks questions OMB on SBS right-to-counsel pilot program
Hanks asks about the $4 million right-to-counsel pilot for small businesses facing commercial lease harassment. Solomon explains it differs from the existing commercial lease assistance program by providing counsel after disputes arise, and that the amount was determined by the overall funding envelope.
Majority whip hangs, followed by Councilmember Areola on Zoom.
Thank you, Chair.
Good morning.
It's good to see you.
Good morning.
So my line of questioning is about the right to counsel pilot of the Department of Small Business Services.
The executive plan includes an additional $4 million in fiscals 2027
and 2028 for a right-to-counsel pilot program at SBS designed to provide negotiation and settlement support for small businesses experiencing commercial lease-related harassment.
My question is, how did the administration arrive at this estimate for the cost, and how will this program differ from the core commercial lease assistance program that SBS currently operates?
Sure.
So thank you for the question.
So the commercial lease assistance program is really designed to be sort of
pre, it's like the advice and counsel that we can provide and assistance we can provide to small businesses
as they're going into negotiating a lease to make sure that they're best positioned to be able to get the best deal for that particular small business.
The right to counsel
comes in
after the fact, right?
So it's sort of like where it lands in the process, where right to counsel then will be if there is a dispute and there is a need for counsel at that time by the particular small business.
And I think that we came up with the number, just again, it comes back to the funding envelope overall.
We said, can we make an investment here?
This is a real need to support businesses.
And that is how we arrived at the $4 million.
Thank you so much.
So does the administration have any estimate of when the RFP for contracted legal services be issued in order to get these services ramped up for fiscal 2027?
We will work closely with SBS to make sure we understand what their timing is.
This is something that the administration believes in.
That's why we're making the investment and making sure that they can access these services because we want small businesses to thrive in our city.
Thank you so much.