Occupational licensing is an economically crippling action that prevents potential employees from engaging in beneficial work. Currently, Texas licenses nearly 500 professions, and the alarming reality is that they can license potentially as many as they want. House Bill 234 prevents license and regulation laws from being placed on arguably the most innocent entrepreneurial activity: running a lemonade stand.
Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates both started businesses before the age of twenty. The beginnings of many great entrepreneurs began through childhood creativity and curiosity. Without opportunities to practice entrepreneurship, kids would be sent blindly into a competitive world of business.
Thankfully, there are many outlets for children to begin to learn the ins and outs of business practice. Lawn mowing, babysitting, and housework services all fall into this category of entrepreneurial outlets. However, one of the most well-known ways for kids to express their business skills is through lemonade stands. In order to continue to allow future entrepreneurs to engage in business transactions, it is important to keep government regulations away.
Regulatory measures have no place in the developing minds of young entrepreneurs striving to understand the basic principles of business. Through lemonade stands, child entrepreneurs learn about sales, marketing tactics, and the value of a dollar. Children learning how to save for the future and spend wisely is important to the future of society. Learning these valuable lessons from a young age enables children to grow into financially stable hard workers.
In many states, lemonade stands have been shut down because of regulatory measures. Specifically in 2018 in Texas, two girls under the age of ten set up a lemonade stand to raise money for their dad’s father’s day present. Instead, they were charged $150 for not having a peddling permit.
The need for a license or a permit for a lemonade stand run on private property is superfluous at best, and represents the dangers of excessive government control. With the help of House Bill 234, Texas can avoid excessive government involvement in lemonade stands. This bill prevents any “city, county, or local health official from adopting a local ordinance that prohibits a child (18 and under) from having a lemonade stand.”
This bill enables the continuation of the long-time practice of young entrepreneurship, and facilitates child entrepreneurs to engage in smart business practice. We can foster the entrepreneurial growth of our future business men and women through this bill, because when the government gives you unregulated lemons, you can make legal-ade.