[dropcap size=big]F[/dropcap]or Angelenos used to picking up a tamale for lunch on their way to work, or hitting up the Ave 26 taco stand after a Dodgers game, it may come as a surprise that street vending hasn't always been legal in Los Angeles.
It was only decriminalized in February of this year, after at least a decade of activism from organizing networks and street vendors themselves. And the sidewalk entrepreneurs are still waiting for Los Angeles to institute a permitting system that would give them more access to the formal economy.
Now, their efforts to fully legalize the practice might be getting a boost from Sacramento. On Monday, Governor Brown signed the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act, a bill authored by local state Senator Ricardo Lara that decriminalizes street vending across California.
Rudy Espinoza, director of the Leadership for Urban Renewal Network, says the success of the state bill is in large part thanks to the efforts of the Los Angeles Street Vendor Campaign.