Texas Gov. Signs Bill Legalizing Child-Run Lemonade Stands

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law on Monday allowing lemonade stands run by children without a permit for short periods of time.

It’s now legal for kids to sell lemonade at stands.

We had to pass a law because police shut down a kid’s lemonade stand.

Thanks to ⁦@RepMattKrause⁩. #txlege #LEMONADE pic.twitter.com/xwfCob2nvV

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 11, 2019

Abbott signed the law after it went through the Texas legislature earlier this year, calling it a “common sense law” so police officers would not go after children looking to gain a few dollars selling lemonade.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth), told a state house committee in May he drafted the legislation after an officer shut down a kid’s lemonade stand in East Texas in 2015 to raise money to go to a local theme park, KERA reported.

The code enforcement officer said the two girls running the lemonade stand with their father had to obtain a permit to sell lemonade or else they would be shut down for violating state health codes.

KLTV reported that the girls were raising money to bring their dad to a nearby water park.

Although young entrepreneurs in Texas will no longer have to fear about being shut down for selling lemonade in front of their residences or in public spaces, other children throughout the country may not be so lucky.

In one case, the Denver Police stopped two young boys selling lemonade in 2018 because they did not obtain a permit to operate as a business.