Chicago Needs A ‘Small Business Bill Of Rights’ To Reduce Red Tape, Local Leaders Say
I think this is a good idea, and I'm glad to see it getting real political attention. But in my day-to-day work helping clients get liquor licenses, food licenses, and other City and State approvals, the fines and fees are only part of the story. The deeper problem is structural: every City agency operates like its own island, keeping its own records and running its own procedures with no visibility into what the others require. I've built my practice around navigating exactly this kind of red tape, and I see the pattern constantly. During the licensing process, I'm often asked to supply an agency with paperwork or documents that another City agency already has in its possession. While putting together a single license application, I can end up navigating four different payment systems for four different categories of fees, each with its own login and its own rules. Capping fines and speeding up inspections would genuinely help. But until the City's agencies can actually share information and coordinate with each other, business owners will keep paying a hidden cost in time and confusion, no matter what the official fee schedule says.
Block Club Chicago reports that Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th) is introducing a resolution at City Council this week calling for a Chicago 'Small Business Bill of Rights,' backed by the Small Business Advocacy Council. The non-binding resolution would aim to cap fines and fees, streamline inspections and permitting, and give small businesses more time to comply with new regulations.