Title 2, Government Administration.

(a) The Office shall be headed by an Executive Director (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the “Director”), who shall be appointed by the Mayor. The Director shall devote his full time to the duties of his Office, and shall appoint qualified staff including a “Busines…

The Office shall be funded by a variety of sources currently available or potentially available in the future, including, but not limited to, federal loans and grant funds, community development block grant funds, District of Columbia government appropriated or borrowed funds, an…

(a) In accordance with § 1-204.04(b), there is hereby established in the Executive Branch of the government of the District of Columbia an Economic Development Liaison Office, to be headed by an Assistant City Administrator for Economic Development, who shall serve as liaison bet…

The Economic Development Liaison Office shall perform the following functions: (1) Develop and support programs to ensure local business development and the participation of small and disadvantaged businesses in public and private economic development activities; (2) Assist busin…

(a) All authority responsibilities, and functions assigned to the Office of Tourism and Promotions by Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1992, effective October 1, 1992, including oversight responsibility for the D.C. Committee to Promote Washington and the Office of Motion Picture and…

(a)(1) There is established as a special fund the Film, Television and Entertainment Rebate Fund (“Fund”). The Fund shall appear as a separate program line within the budget of the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment. The Fund shall be funded by annual appr…

(a) To qualify for a payment under § 2-1204.11(b), an eligible production company shall: (1) Spend at least $250,000 in the District for the preproduction, production, or postproduction costs of a qualified production; (2) File an application with the Mayor pursuant to subsection…

(a) To be eligible for a payment under § 2-1204.11(c), an approved applicant shall: (1) Invest and expend at least $250,000 for a qualified film and digital media infrastructure project in the District; (2) File an application with the Mayor pursuant to subsection (b) of this sec…

For the purposes of this chapter, the term: (a)(1) “Above-the-line crew” means a person employed by an eligible production company for a qualified production, such as a producer, director, writer, or actor, who is not otherwise identified as below-the-line crew, as defined in par…

(a) The Mayor may issue a permit for the occupation of the public space for motion picture, television, and other media productions (“film permit”) pursuant to § 10-1141.03. (b) The Mayor may impose a one-time fee for processing of the film permit application in the amount of $30…

The Mayor may promulgate rules necessary to implement this chapter.

All references in statutes, regulations, rules, orders, and other official documents to the “Film DC Economic Incentive Fund,” “Incentive Awardee,” and “incentive agreement” shall be deemed to refer, respectively, to the “Film, Television and Entertainment Rebate Fund,” “Rebate A…

(a) For the purposes of this part, the term: (1) "Movie theater" means an entity holding a basic business license with an Entertainment: Moving picture theater endorsement as identified in § 47-2820. (2) "Office" means the Office of Human Rights. (3) "Open movie captioning" means…

(a)(1) A movie theater with more than 2 screens shall, no later than 90 days after July 19, 2024, provide scheduled open captioned showings for each motion picture currently showing at the movie theater. The number of open captioned showings provided shall be as follows: (A) Duri…

(a)(1) The Office shall have the authority to conduct random reviews of movie theaters for the purpose of ensuring compliance with this part; provided, that for each movie theater covered by § 2-1204.22(a), the Office shall review no fewer than 3 operating weeks per calendar year…

(a)(1) Within the next operating week after issuance of a notice of infraction, a movie theater found to be in violation of the requirements of this part shall be required to provide one additional open captioned showing of a motion picture than would otherwise be required pursua…

(a) The Mayor shall conduct a continuous public awareness campaign publicizing the requirements and benefits of this part. The public awareness campaign shall include information on the potential benefits of open captioned movies to all moviegoers, including patrons who are not D…

The Mayor, pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of this title, shall issue rules to implement the provisions of this part.

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term: (1) “Chief Financial Officer” means the Office of the Chief Financial Officer established by § 1-204.24a. (2) "Economic development incentive" or "incentive" means any expenditure of public funds by a granting body for the purpose of…

(a)(1) On or before March 1, the Chief Financial Officer shall compile and publish an annual Unified Economic Development Budget Report (“Report”) with regard to the fiscal year just concluded. The report shall be produced in both printed and electronic form and shall be freely a…

(a) For purposes of evaluating the success of economic development in the District of Columbia, the Mayor, before the start of each legislative period, shall prepare a strategic plan for economic development that reflects the District’s economic priorities (“strategic plan”). At …

All data collected and maintained as part of the reporting obligations imposed by this subchapter shall be fully subject to, and comply with, subchapter II of Chapter 5 of this title [§ 2-531 et seq.].

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term: (1) "Department" means the Department of Small and Local Business Development, established by subchapter IX-A of Chapter 2 of this title. (2) "District-based business" or "DBB" means a maker that: (A) Maintains its primary office in …

(a) There is established within the Department a Made in DC program, which shall: (1) Promote products created, manufactured, or assembled in the District; (2) Develop and promote the Made in DC brand name as an identifier of products created, manufactured, or assembled in the Di…

(a) There is established as a special fund the Made in DC Fund, which shall be administered by the Department in accordance with subsection (c) of this section. (b) Revenue from the following sources shall be deposited in the Fund: (1) Appropriated funds; (2) Donations from the p…

(a) Within 180 days of the effective date of this subchapter, the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development shall submit to the Mayor and the Council a report on opportunities for establishing a District-sponsored Innovation Space and Marketplace to support the local mak…

The Mayor, pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of this title, shall issue rules to implement the provisions of this subchapter.

In enacting this subchapter, the Council of the District of Columbia supports the following statutory purposes: (1) To facilitate the establishment of 1 or more business incubators in the District of Columbia by offering the use of city-owned property, credit support for financin…

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term: (1) “Business incubator” means a building that provides low-cost space and services to eligible tenant businesses. The term “business incubator” does not mean a multi-tenant facility that offers space alone. (2) “Council” means the C…

(a) The Mayor shall define eligibility criteria for business incubators receiving public support. These criteria shall be stated in terms of business and economic development objectives, including, but not limited to, consideration of the following recommendations: (1) The Mayor …

(a)(1) The Mayor shall establish admissions criteria for occupancy in a business incubator. (2) Admissions criteria may include, but not be limited to, factors such as the age, size, and financial status of the business. (b) The Mayor shall establish screening and application pro…

(a) Selected basic services shall be included in the rent for the business incubator; other services shall be paid for on an as-used basis. (b) The only free services shall be those ordinarily available free of charge from participating providers. (c) Services available elsewhere…

The Mayor may contract with a for-profit or a nonprofit corporation or educational institution that can utilize its resources to provide management of the business incubator facility and its services, to provide business development assistance, and to coordinate financial assista…

Priority shall be given to tenant businesses owned by persons who are residents of the District.

Tenant businesses chosen for occupancy in business incubators shall execute a first source employment agreement with the District government pursuant to § 2-219.03.

The Mayor shall devise a policy that encourages tenant businesses to leave the business incubators when a certain level of development is reached, but does not arbitrarily evict a tenant business at a crucial period in its development.

The Mayor shall locate business incubators in areas in the District appropriate to the types of businesses targeted for occupancy, based on District-determined priorities, and shall seek sites which have the least prohibitive zoning in order to allow a range of uses.

The Office of Business and Economic Development shall annually prepare a report for the Committee on Economic Development which shall describe in detail the operations of each business incubator, including, but not limited to, a discussion of: (1) The business operation of each t…

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term: (1) “Capital access loan” means a loan that is entitled to be secured by the Fund. (2) “Enrolled loan” means a capital access loan issued in accordance with: (A) The participation agreement; and (B) The program’s objectives. (3) “Fin…

(a) There is established as a nonlapsing fund the Capital Access Fund, which shall be used solely for the uses and purposes set forth in subsections (d) and (e) of this section. The Fund shall be funded by appropriations and from other amounts received by the District for the adm…

(a) There is established the Capital Access Program, to be administered by the Mayor, to assist financial institutions in making loans to businesses and nonprofit organizations that face barriers in accessing capital. (b) The Mayor shall determine the eligibility of a financial i…

(a) To participate in the Capital Access Program, a financial institution shall, at a minimum, enter into a participation agreement with the Mayor that sets out the terms and conditions under which the financial institution will make contributions to the financial institution’s r…

(a) Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter, the Mayor shall not determine the recipient, amount, or interest rate of a capital access loan or the fees or other requirements related to the loan. (b) A loan shall not be eligible to be enrolled under this subchapter if the …

(a) After entering into a participation agreement with the District of Columbia and upon approval by the Mayor, a financial institution making a capital access loan shall establish a reserve account. The reserve account shall be used by the financial institution only to cover any…

(a) The Mayor shall not deposit more than 10% of the total funds deposited in the Capital Access Fund into reserve accounts for capital access loans requiring a 200% match under § 2-1210.06(d)(3). The 10% limitation under this subsection may be waived at the discretion of the May…

(a) All funds deposited in a reserve account shall be the property of the District of Columbia. (b) The District shall earn interest on the amount of contributions made by the District, the borrower, and the financial institution to a reserve account. The District shall withdraw …