Legislation sponsored by Senator Michael Doherty that would allow children to run temporary businesses such as lemonade stands without municipal permits was signed into law yesterday by Governor Murphy.
“There’s an endless stream of stories from around the nation about children being harassed by local officials for running lemonade stands without permits,” said Doherty (R-23). “Instead of providing space for kids to learn about entrepreneurship, they’re being taught harsh lessons about the heavy hand of government by overzealous bureaucrats. This legislation, now law, makes clear that New Jersey’s children have the right to run a lemonade stand from their driveway or mow a neighbor’s lawn for a few bucks without a municipal license or permit.”
Doherty also sponsored the “Right to Shovel” law that was enacted in 2016 after a pair of teenagers were stopped by police and told they couldn’t go door to do without a permit to solicit snow shoveling business in advance of a snowstorm the next day.
The new legislation, A-853/S-797, would expand that law to any type of child-run business by prohibiting municipalities from requiring a child to obtain a license or permit to operate a business temporarily.
“Nobody is getting sick because a six-year-old’s lemonade stand didn’t get a health inspection, and professional vendors aren’t being driven out of business by the $5 a child might collect from supportive neighbors,” added Doherty. “Unfortunately, those are the exact excuses towns have used to put the smack down on entrepreneurial kids from coast to coast. It’s absolute nonsense that should never have been tolerated in New Jersey and I’m pleased that Governor Murphy agrees.”