Street vendors say Johnson's food cart license doesn't go far enough. The Council has passed at least eight ward-by-ward peddling bans this term

The proposal would let vendors sell prepared food from carts for the first time, for $500 every two years. Our records show nine bans on peddling or mobile food vendors since 2024, three of them on Oct. 14.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated Oct 29, 2026

Street vendors rallied this week for changes to Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposal to license food carts, saying it leaves in place rules that keep many of them from working legally, Block Club Chicago reported.

Why it matters: food carts are a fixture of many Chicago neighborhoods, and vendors say the current rules leave them open to tickets for doing their jobs. The proposal, part of the Mayor's 2027 budget package, would for the first time let vendors get a City license to prepare and sell hot and cold food and drinks from carts on public streets. Whether it changes much depends on details still being negotiated, including where carts would be allowed at all.

What's proposed, and what vendors want

According to Block Club:

The new license would cost $500 every two years.
Today, vendors may sell only prepackaged food, must move carts every four hours and must use a licensed commercial kitchen.
The draft would still bar selling within 200 feet of a brick-and-mortar business and adds sanitation requirements that could raise costs.
Vendor groups are pushing to extend the four-hour rule to six hours, reduce fines and cut the license fee to $200. The president of the Street Vendors Association told Block Club the measure needs 26 Council votes.
The chief of staff of the Council's Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, chaired by Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), told Block Club the draft does not address ticketing and arrests of vendors or alderpersons' power to restrict peddlers in their wards.

A spokesperson for the Mayor said the plan would "open new opportunities for food entrepreneurs," Block Club reported.

What our records add

The ward-by-ward bans. Alderpersons can ask the Council to add streets or whole wards to the list of places where peddling is prohibited, in Section 4-244-140 of the Municipal Code. Our database of Council roll calls this term shows nine such measures passed since 2024, none with a single no vote:

23rd Ward: O2024-0008773, Ald. Silvana Tabares, in the 23rd Ward. Passed May 22, 2024, 48 to 0.
8th Ward: O2024-0010865, Ald. Michelle Harris, parts of E. 79th and E. 87th streets. Sept. 18, 2024, 48 to 0.
21st Ward: O2024-0013694, Ald. Ronnie Mosley, in the 21st Ward. Jan. 15, 2025, 50 to 0.
7th Ward: O2024-0012863, Ald. Gregory Mitchell, parts of E. 79th St., E. 75th St. and S. Euclid Parkway. Feb. 19, 2025, 50 to 0.
15th Ward: O2025-0015853, Ald. Raymond Lopez, parts of W. 47th St. and S. Halsted St. April 16, 2025, 50 to 0.
1st Ward: O2025-0017550, Ald. Daniel La Spata, part of N. Milwaukee Ave. June 18, 2025, 50 to 0.
19th Ward: O2026-0026775, Ald. Matt O'Shea, specified areas. Oct. 14, 2026, 49 to 0.
2nd Ward: O2026-0027679, Ald. Brian Hopkins, in the 2nd Ward. Oct. 14, 2026, 49 to 0.
2nd Ward, mobile food vendors: O2026-0029055, Hopkins, a separate ban on mobile food vendors on parts of N. Wells St., E. Huron St., N. Lake Shore Drive, W. Chicago Ave. and other streets, under Section 4-8-037. Oct. 14, 2026, 49 to 0.

How each ward voted

49 yea, 1 not voting · Oct 14, 2026 · Passed

Yea Nay Not voting

O2026-0027679: the roll call, the timeline and the documents

The three Oct. 14 measures carry identical tallies, a sign that ward items like these are usually voted on together. Our list covers the roll calls in our database; there may be others.

Where it goes next. Block Club reported the Mayor introduced the vendor license as part of his 2027 budget proposal; we have not yet matched it to its own record in the Clerk's system. The Committee on License and Consumer Protection, which handled the Oct. 14 mobile food vendor ban, lists its pending items on its page. The Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, which would issue the licenses, is scheduled to testify at the budget hearings on Nov. 4.

What's next

Nov. 4: Business Affairs and Consumer Protection's budget hearing (meeting page).
Dec. 8: the Council's public hearing on the 2027 budget.
Find your ward's alderperson, and the ward items they've sponsored, on our alderpersons page.