Council Member Robert Holden is chairperson of the council’s Committee on Veterans.
Photo by John McCarten/ NYC Council
Council Member Robert Holden has re-introduced legislation in a package that would provide military veterans support for their businesses and connect them to community boards if it passes in City Council.
The slew of veteran-focused bills were introduced last year, but a lack of progression shifted Holden’s efforts to requesting swift collective approval of his legislation.
The legislative package aims at assisting the operators of veteran-owned businesses by providing them with more time to address city agency-issued violations; requires community boards to establish a veterans committee; provides resources and protections to veterans who are street vendors; and establishes a Korean War Veterans Day.
Holden, as the chair of the Veterans Committee on the City Council, is a longtime advocate for veterans and continues to push for legislation that gives them more support.
“Our priority should be with the veterans first and foremost,” Holden says.
The Procurement Opportunities for Veteran-Owned Business Enterprises Bill (Int 0685) as one of six pieces of legislation in the new package, would require the Department of Small Business Services to provide veterans with a unique business classification.
The bill also allows for DSS to provide more opportunities for veterans to participate in a Veteran Leadership Advisory Program, designed to educate veterans on business opportunities in the city.
Another of Holden’s bills (Int 0688) aims to increase the length of time a veteran-owned business would be required to address a violation issued by city agencies. Violations administered to veteran businesses by either the Fire Department of New York City or the Department of Sanitation will allow for 120 days to resolve an issue, with the possibility of an extension.
Any violations that could cause an immediate threat to health…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply