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OTH CONGRESS 2d Session

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SENATE

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REPORT No. 1673

AMENDING SECTION 7 OF THE ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS TO PROVIDE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1903"

JUNE 15, 1948.-Ordered to be printed

Ir. CAIN, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 6452]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred he bill (H. R. 6452) to amend section 7 of the act entitled "An act aking appropriations to provide for the government of the District f Columbia for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, and for other urposes," approved July 1, 1902, as amended, having considered the me, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend at the bill do pass.

The purpose of this bill is to provide for reimbursement to he District by private enterprise requiring special police and fire ssignments.

The Senate District of Columbia Committee adopts the House port as it sreport.

[H. Rept. No. 2216, 80th Cong., 2d sess.]

The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill H. R. 6452) to amend section 7 of the act entitled "An act making appropriations provide for the government of the District of Columbia for the fiscal year ending ne 30, 1903, and for other purposes," approved July 1, 1902, as amended, having nsidered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recomend that the bill do pass.

The purpose of this bill is to provide for reimbursement to the District by ivate enterprise requiring special police and fire assignments.

Section 1 provides for reimbursement to the District of Columbia for the cost fire details at theaters having a stage and movable scenery by way of a monthly rmit fee, payable in advance, the amount to be determined by estimate at the ge rate of the firemen so assigned.

Section 2 provides for the reimbursement to the District of Columbia for the st of police and fire details at public halls by way of a monthly permit fee, yable in advance, the amount to be determined by estimate at the wage rate the police and firemen so assigned.

Section 3 provides for reimbursement to the District of Columbia for the cost police and fire details at grounds used for baseball, football, or other athletic hibitions. The fee here would be based on the cost to the District of inspection d supervision of each individual establishment, the amount to be determined estimate at the wage rate of the police and firemen so assigned.

The transmitting letter from the Commissioners, dated April 22, is made a rt of this report.

Hon. JOSEPH W. MARTIN,

GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
Washington 4, D. C., April 22, 1948.

Speaker, United States House of Representatives,

Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. MARTIN: The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have the honor to submit to you herewith a draft of a proposed bill to amend section 7. of the act entitled "An act making appropriations to provide for the government of the District of Columbia for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, and for other purposes," approved July 1, 1902, as amended.

Section 7 of the above act, more commonly known as the License Act of 1932, which it is proposed to amend further, provided for the licensing of certain businesses, trades, professions, and callings in the District of Columbia and imposed varying license fees therefor. The report of the Committee on the District of Columbia on said License Act submitted to the House of Representatives May 19, 1932, stated:

"The purpose of this bill is to remove existing inequalities and inequities. In a few instances the license is required for regulatory purposes. In other cases, the tax is fixed as compensation for the use of public space. But for the most part, the license taxes imposed are based solely upon the cost of the required inspections. The inspections, dependent upon the character of the business involved, are made by one or more of the following agencies: The Police Department, the Electrical Department, the Inspector of Plumbing, the Fire Department, the Health Department, the Superintendent of Weights and Measures, and the Inspector of Buildings. Many of the classes of business now subject to license taxes are relieved of this burden in the bill for the reason that no inspections are required, no public space is occupied, and no regulatory authority need be exercised. the other hand, those businesses now escaping the payment of license taxes, but which require inspection or supervision, or occupy public space, are made by this bill subject to the payment of fees. The plan of taxation here adopted is similar to that now in force in most of the cities in the United States." [Emphasis supplied.!

On

By section 47-2344 of the District of Columbia Code 1940 (July 1, 1902, 32 Stat. 622, ch. 1352, sec. 7; July 1, 1932, 47 Stat. 562, ch. 366, par. 45), "the Commissioners of the District of Columbia are authorized and empowered, when in their discretion such is deemed advisable, to raise or lower the amount of the license fee provided in this chapter, as the cost of inspection, supervision, or regulation is raised or lowered." [Emphasis supplied.]

The License Committee of the District of Columbia (a committee appointed by the Commissioners) under direction of the Commissioners made a survey and study of the License Act of July 1, 1932, and the various licenses required by the District of Columbia thereunder, together with the cost to the District of Columbia, including traffic and other policing, and building and fire inspection incident to activities carried on under such licenses, and submitted a report to the Commissioners recommending certain increases in license fees based upon the increased cost of inspection, supervision, and regulation.

The

Section 1 of the proposed bill proposes to amend paragraph 20 (a) of the aforesaid License Act, which provided for the licensing of theaters having a stage and movable scenery and fixed the license fee therefor at $50 per annum. District of Columbia License Committee, in its report hereinabove referred to, recommended to the Commissioners an increase in said license fee from $50 to $450 per annum, which recommendation was adopted by the Commissioners. In addition thereto, the Committee pointed out that firemen were detailed at such theaters during each performance therein at a substantial cost to the District of Columbia. The Committee in recommending an increase in the license fee to $450 per annum did not, however, take this detail into consideration as an item of cost in recommending the increase, for the reason that of the four theaters having a stage and movable scenery licensed in the District of Columbia, there was a wide variance in the number of man-hours required for such a detail at each theater and the committee did not feel it would be equitable to charge all theaters the same fee where the actual cost of maintaining such a detail in one theater was considerably less than maintaining such a detail in another theater. Although the Committee did consider the possibility of apportioning this cost among the theaters and charging each a different fee based upon the actual cost in each instance, it did not believe such authority existed under the License Act and recommended that the Commissioners request legislation to provide therefor. This recommendation was adopted by the Commissioners and the purpose of section 1 of the proposed bill is

to provide for reimbursement to the District of Columbia for the cost of fire details at theaters having a stage and movable scenery by way of a monthly permit fee, payable in advance, such fee to be determined monthly by the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department based upon a reasonable estimate of the number of hours to be spent by firemen at, on, and about the licensed premises, the charges for such detail being by the hour at the wage rate of the firemen so assigned in effect on the first day of the month for which the permit is sought.

Section 2 of the proposed bill proposes to amend paragraph 20 (c) of the aforesaid License Act which provided for the licensing of public halls and fixed the license fee therefor at $8 per annum. The District of Columbia License Committee, in its afore-mentioned report to the Commissioners, recommended an increase in such license fee from $8 to $30 per annum, which recommendation was adopted by the Commissioners. In addition thereto the Committee pointed out that Uline's Arena and Turner's Arena required special police and fire inspection, supervision, and regulation, although this was not required for most of the other licensed public halls. This special police and fire inspection, supervision, and regulation necessitated the detailing of at least one fireman when events were being held therein and numerous addicional policemen dependent upon the number of persons attending such events. The Committee in recommending an increase in the license fee did not, however, take the above into consideration as an item of cost in recommending the increase for the reason that if the license fee was fixed using these special detailed police and firemen as an item of cost, the resulting license fee would be prohibitive in the case of other public halls licensed under this paragraph. The Committee likewise was of the opinion that the cost of special details of police and firemen could not be apportioned in fixing the license fee for the reasons herein above mentioned with respect to theaters having a stage and movable scenery and therefore recommended that the Commissioners request legislation to provide therefor. This recommendation was adopted by the Commissioners and the purpose of section 2 of the proposed bill is to provide for reimbursement to the District of Columbia for the cost of such police and fire details at public halls by way of a monthly permit fee, payable in advance, such fee to be determined monthly by the Major and Superintendent of Police and the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, based upon a reasonable estimate of the number of hours to be spent by policemen and firemen at, on, and about the licensed premises, the charges for such details being by the hour at the wage rate of the policemen and firemen so assigned in effect on the first day of the month for which che permit is sought.

Section 3 of the proposed bill proposes to amend paragraph 23 (a) of the License Act which provided for the licensing of grounds used for baseball, football, or other athletic exhibitions for which an admission fee is charged, directly or ndirectly. The license fee therefor was fixed by the License Act at $5 per annum. Griffith's Stadium comes within the purview of this paragraph. The District of Columbia License Committee in reporting to the Commissioners on this aragraph stated:

"Your committee is well aware that all athletic exhibitions staged at Griffith Stadium draw large crowds and require police supervision and in some instances re inspection. Your committee is further aware of the fact that due to these arge crowds additional policemen must be assigned ouside the stadium to andle the traffic situation thereby created. In regard to the police supervision nd fire inspection within the stadium, your committee has been informed by he Police and Fire Departments that the annual cost of such is $7,463 and $410, espectively. With respect to the number of police assigned outside the stadium o control traffic, the police have reported an annual cost of $13,479 or a total of 20,942 for both inside and outside services. These figures, when broken down, now a present cost of $1.52 per hour per man for the police, based on an 8-hour ay, 279 days per year, and a cost of approximately $1 per hour per man for the remen, based on a 12-hour day. Your committee could solve this problem, if riffith Stadium alone were to be considered, by simply raising the present cense fee to the amount as reported by the Police and Fire Departments. Howver, this fee would be prohibitive for the proprietor of the present softball and otball stadium on Montana Avenue and Bladensburg Road NE., and probably reclude the establishment of any other similar sports activities conducted on a mall scale.

"While the Commissioners, under the License Act of July 1, 1932, are empowered o raise or lower the license fees as the cost of inspection, regulation, and supersion is raised or lowered, your Committee is of the opinion that the CommisOners are not empowered to establish different license fees under the same sub

paragraph of the License Act where the cost of inspection, supervision, and regulation vary. Therefore, your Committee recommends that legislation be recommended to Congress by the Commissioners to provide a fee based upon the cost to the District of inspection, supervision, and regulation of each individual establishment required to be licensed under this subparagraph."

The recommendation of the License Committee above was adopted by the Commissioners and the purpose of the proposed amendment to section 23 (a) of the License Act is to provide for reimbursement to the District of Columbia for the cost of police and fire details at grounds licensed thereunder by way of a monthly permit fee, payable in advance, such fee to be determined monthly by the Major and Superintendent of Police and the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department based upon a reasonable estimate of the number of hours to be spent by policemen and firemen at, on, and about the licensed premises, charges for such details being by the hour at the wage rate of the policemen and firemen so assigned in effect on the first day of the month for which the permit is sought. The Commissioners urge enactment of this bill.

The proposed draft of bill was submitted to the Bureau of the Budget and returned to the Commissioners with the advice that there is no objection on the part of that office to the presentation of the bill to Congress.

Respectfully,

JOHN RUSSELL YOUNG,

President, Board of Commissioners, District of Columbia.

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 2a of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, as introduced, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

That section 7 of an Act entitled "An Act making appropriations to provide for the government of the District of Columbia for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, and for other purposes," approved July 1, 1902, be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 7. No person shall engage in or carry on any business, trade, profession, or calling in the District of Columbia for which a license fee or tax is imposed by the terms of this section without having first obtained a license so to do. Applications for licenses shall be made to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia or their designated agent in accordance with the provisions of the Act of Congress, approved March 3, 1917, and no license shall be granted until payment for the same shall have been made. Every license shall specify by name the person, firm, or corporation to which it shall be issued, the business, trade, profession, or calling for which it is granted, and the location at which such business, trade, profession, or calling is to be carried on. Licenses granted under the terms of this section may be assigned or transferred on application upon the conditions applicable to granting the original licenses, and the Commissioners of the District of Columbia or their designated agent shall issue a certificate of such assignment or transfer upon the payment to the District of Columbia of a fee of $1 therefor. All licenses and transfers issued or granted shall be signed by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia or their designated agent and impressed with a seal to be adopted by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia.

"PAR. 2. No license shall be issued to any person to conduct any business for which a license is required in any building mentioned in the Act entitled 'An Act to require the erection of fire escapes in certain buildings in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes,' approved March 19, 1906, as amended by the Act approved March 2, 1907, until such building has been provided and equipped with a sufficient number of fire escapes and other appliances required by said Acts; and no license shall be issued under the provisions of this section relating to hotels, apartment houses, lodging houses, theaters, public halls, public amusement parks, or buildings in which moving pictures are displayed for profit or gain, until the inspector of buildings, the chief officer of the fire department, and the electrical engineer have certified in writing to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia or their designated agent that the applicant for license has complied with the laws enacted and the regulations made and promulgated for the protection of life and property.

"PAR. 3. Any license issued by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia or their designated agent to the proprietor of a theater or other public place of amusement may be terminated by the Commissioners whenever it shall appear to them that after due notice the person holding such license shall have failed to comply with such regulations as may be prescribed by the Commissioners for the public decency.

"PAR. 4. When more than one business, trade, profession, or calling for which a license is herein prescribed shall be carried on by the same person, the license fee or tax shall be paid for each such business, trade, profession, or calling, except where otherwise specifically provided herein: Provided, That licenses issued under any of the provisions of this section shall be good only for the location designated thereon, except in the case of licenses issued hereunder for businesses and callings which in their nature are carried on at large and not at a fixed place of business, and no license shall be issued for more than one place of business, profession, or calling, without the payment of a separate fee or tax for each: Provided further; That no person holding a license under the terms of this section shall willfully suffer or allow any other person chargeable with a separate license to operate under his license.

"PAR. 5. All licenses issued shall date from the 1st day of November in each year and expire on the 31st day of October following, except as hereinafter provided. Licenses issued at any time after the beginning of the license years shall date from the first day of the month in which the license was issued and end on the last day of the license year above prescribed, and payment shall be made of the proportionate amount of the annual license fee or tax: Provided, That where the license fee is $5 or less the fee shall not be prorated: And provided further, That no fee or tax shall be prorated to an amount less than $5.

"PAR. 6. All licenses granted under the terms of this section must be conspicuously posted on the premises of the licensee and said licenses shall be accessible at all times for inspection by the police or other officers duly authorized to make such inspections. Licensees having no located place of business shall exhibit their licenses when requested to do so by any of the officers above named.

"PAR. 7. For the purposes of this section the word 'person' shall signify and include firms, corporations, companies, associations, executors, administrators, guardians, or trustees; the word 'agent' shall signify and include every person acting for another; the word 'merchandise' shall signify and include every article of commerce whether sold in bulk or otherwise; the word 'dealers' shall signify and include every person engaged in selling or offering for sale any description of merchandise or property. Words of one number shall signify and include words of both numbers, respectively, and words of one gender shall signify and include words of every gender, respectively: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be interpreted as repealing any specific Act of Congress or any of the police or building regulations of the District of Columbia regarding the establishment or conduct of the businesses, trades, professions, or callings herein named, and not inconsistent with the provisions of this section.

"PAR. 8. Apothecaries or druggists shall pay a license fee of $12 per annum. Every person who sells patent medicines, or manufactures, compounds, sells, or dispenses medicines by prescription or otherwise from a located place of business hall be regarded as an apothecary or druggist.

"PAR. 9. Auctioneers shall pay a license fee of $5 per annum. No license hall issue hereunder without the approval of the major and superintendent of >olice. If any licensed auctioneer, his agent or employee, shall convert to his wn use in the District of Columbia any goods, wares, merchandise, or personal ›roperty of any description, or the proceeds of the same, and shall fail to pay ver the avails or proceeds from the sale thereof, less his proper charges, within ve days after receiving the money or its equivalent from the purchaser or purhasers of said goods, wares, merchandise, or personal property of any description, nd after demand made therefor by the person entitled to receive the same, or is or her duly authorized agent, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, nd upon information and conviction in the police court of the District of Columia shall be fined not more than $1,000 or be imprisoned not exceeding six months, r both, in the discretion of the court. Nothing herein contained shall be contrued to repeal or alter the provisions of the Act entitled 'An Act to prevent aud at public auctions in the District of Columbia,' approved September 8, 1916. "PAR. 10. Owners or managers of barber shops, beauty parlors, beauty salons, anity shops, or shingle shops, by whatsoever name called, where hair cutting, airdressing, hair dyeing, manicuring, and kindred acts are practiced shall pay a cense fee of $5 per annum.

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