Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection meeting
May 29, 2026, 12:00 PM
Jointly with the Committee on Finance
The Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection held an FY2027 executive budget hearing on the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, jointly with the Committee on Finance. The committee took testimony and recorded no votes.
What was discussed
- Chairs and Speaker open the DCWP budget hearing Finance Chair Linda Lee opened the second hearing of the day on the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection; Speaker Julie Menin, a former DCWP commissioner, and Consumer and Worker Protection Chair Harvey D. Epstein welcomed Commissioner Sam Levine, and both stressed that the agency needs
- Swearing in the DCWP panel Committee counsel administered the affirmation to Commissioner Sam Levine and his team before testimony.
- Commissioner Levine testifies on DCWP's FY2027 budget and enforcement record Commissioner Sam Levine presented DCWP's roughly $78.5 million FY27 budget and its largest-ever authorized headcount, saying the Mamdani administration's 181 new lines will let the agency implement new worker-protection laws; he catalogued recent enforcement wins including exposing Uber and DoorDash
- Is this really the biggest DCWP investment, and how fast can it hire? Speaker Julie Menin challenged the claim that this is the largest DCWP investment, noting last year's headcount and budget looked higher and active headcount (409) is below last July's; Commissioner Levine said last year's budget was inflated by a $12 million summer-jobs contract being eliminated
- Is the Executive Budget enough to enforce the Council's laws? Speaker Julie Menin asked whether the Council's requested $32 million more is needed; Commissioner Levine said he had just learned of the Council's proposal, welcomed more resources generally, but said that for the laws already passed and being implemented the 181 authorized headcount would be
- How is DCWP enforcing the earned safe and sick time amendments? Speaker Julie Menin asked about the roughly 56,000 employers sent compliance warnings on paid safe and sick leave and what enforcement followed; Commissioner Levine said the warning blitz was meant to educate, not open investigations of every business, and Deputy Commissioner Wagoner said the list
- Why so few summonses under the FARE Act on broker fees? Speaker Julie Menin noted DCWP received over 1,400 illegal-broker-fee complaints but issued only about 50 summonses; Commissioner Levine said the agency is now up to 73 summonses with penalties and restitution awarded, and General Counsel Michael Tiger said the new administration's investment will
- Why are financial-counseling outcomes declining? Speaker Julie Menin cited a drop in the share of financial-counseling clients meeting a goal within a year (from 21.1 to 17.3 percent) and fewer clients served; Commissioner Levine said the one-year measurement window misses longer-term outcomes and that the agency wants more New Yorkers to use its
- What is driving the OFE literacy and cloud-migration savings? Chair Lee asked about savings from re-estimating the financial-literacy expansion and discontinuing the cloud-migration project; Commissioner Levine said the literacy delay was purely because vendor background checks took longer (the FY29 goal is unchanged) and that cancelling an expensive cloud
- Can DCWP cut the six-month worker-complaint backlog to zero? Chair Harvey D. Epstein pressed on the six-month backlog for worker complaints and how fast new hires would clear it; Commissioner Levine and Deputy Commissioner Wagoner said the goal is to reduce the backlog to zero, that the Office of Labor Policy and Standards is getting 10 new investigators
- Should DCWP fund community groups like the Street Vendor Project directly? Chair Harvey D. Epstein urged DCWP to fund front-line groups such as the Worker Justice Project and Street Vendor Project that field deactivation and vendor cases; Commissioner Levine and Chief of Staff Carlos Ortiz said their new money is for personnel, not subcontracts, but that the agency
- How does DCWP ensure equitable enforcement across communities? Deputy Speaker Nantasha M. Williams asked how DCWP defines equitable enforcement and whether it maps where violations and revenue are concentrated; Commissioner Levine said communities of color are often targeted by the worst abuses and are less likely to report, so DCWP does heavy outreach (up to
- How is DCWP educating tax preparers and consumers on Local Law 168? Council Member Chris Banks asked what outreach DCWP is doing on the new tax-preparer disclosure law (Local Law 168); Commissioner Levine and General Counsel Michael Tiger said the agency ran a warning blitz to every licensed preparer, is updating multilingual educational materials, and uses sweeps
- Can DCWP process the new street-vendor licenses and run 'click to cancel'? Council Member Pierina Ana Sanchez asked how DCWP will process 10,500 new general-vendor licenses with only six new staff, how it will prioritize the waitlist, and the status of the Click to Cancel rule; Commissioner Levine said the licensing division is efficient enough to start this summer, will
- Is DCWP ready to enforce the taxi and delivery-worker deactivation law? Council Member Shekar Krishnan asked whether DCWP has the resources for the for-hire-vehicle and delivery-worker deactivation protections; Commissioner Levine said he feels confident based on staffing projections but would revisit if volume spikes, and Deputy Commissioner Wagoner said the agency is
- What can DCWP do about unlicensed tow trucks? Council Member Phil Wong described unlicensed tow trucks with fake plates extorting drivers in his district; Commissioner Levine said the onus must be on tow companies, not consumers, and General Counsel Michael Tiger said DCWP filed a case against Instant Recovery, keeps several tow investigations
- Will DCWP have resources for the Delivery Protection Act and expanded Fair Work Week? Council Member Tiffany L. Caban asked whether DCWP could enforce the pending Delivery Protection Act and expanded Fair Work Week protections; Commissioner Levine said DCWP enthusiastically supports the delivery bill and estimated it would need 19 additional lines not yet in the budget, and said he
- Is DCWP's outreach and security-guard-wage enforcement staffed enough? Council Member Shirley Aldebol asked about outreach capacity and the new security-guard prevailing-wage law; Chief of Staff Carlos Ortiz said the agency aims for about 760 outreach events this year with three added positions, and Commissioner Levine said DCWP will partner with 32BJ to publicize the
- How are the new enforcement lines allocated, and will the backlog really disappear? Chair Harvey D. Epstein walked through the division-by-division staffing (about 20 lines for General Counsel, 29 for labor policy) and pressed whether it truly ends the backlog given deactivation lookbacks and rising complaints; Commissioner Levine and General Counsel Michael Tiger said the mix of
- Is DCWP ready for full Instacart minimum-pay compliance and street-vendor coordination? Chair Harvey D. Epstein asked about the July end of Instacart's grocery-delivery exemption, DCWP's role in street-vendor enforcement, and junk fees; Deputy Commissioner Wagoner said the agency already monitors Instacart's wage reports, Commissioner Levine said DCWP's role is to help vendors get
Agenda
1 item
- T2026-1890 NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL FISCAL YEAR 2027 EXECUTIVE BUDGET HEARINGS 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Jointly with the Committee on Finance Hearing Held by Committee