Hi there,

It's been a couple months since I announced this year's cottage food bills.

I have a few new bills to announce, plus a few updates since the last time I wrote.


EFFECTIVE BILLS

Utah SB 151

This bill has now become law. It's a very basic change that exempts minors from labeling requirements.


PASSED BILLS

Washington HB 1500

Will increase the sales limit from $25k to $35k. Will also increase the sales limit to adjust for inflation every four years.

Also, producers will only need to renew permits every two years, instead of annually.

It's not much, but it's Washington (where it's been extremely difficult to pass improvements), so we'll take it.

This was an odd bill in that it was partially vetoed by the governor (two vetoes in one year? what is happening?). But in this case, I understand the veto. The bill was written to require timely processing of permits (it's been a problem in WA), but didn't allocate funding to ensure that that requirement was met. Hopefully with permits no longer needing annual renewal, that will make it easier for the health department to process permits faster.

Minnesota SF 1955

Another attempt to improve Minnesota's cottage food law via a large omnibus bill, but this time it didn't go so well.

It almost allowed in-state shipping and all types of direct sales, but that language was removed at the last minute before the bill got passed.

Instead, the only improvement left in the bill is an allowance for shipping homemade pet food. At least it's something, I suppose!


BILLS IN PROGRESS

Oregon SB 643

This would be a massive improvement to Oregon's cottage food law, affecting almost every aspect of their law.

It would more than double the sales limit, would expand the allowed foods, would allow certain sales to stores, would allow online sales and in-state shipping, would remove the home address requirement, and would allow pets in the home.

Basically, they're going for it all! But it does seem like it's faced some resistance in the House so far.

It's now in a House committee, and you can easily help by submitting a letter via this form (kudos to the Institute for Justice for making it so easy!).

Hopefully they'll find a way to get it passed, even if they have to make some compromises to do so.

California AB 1325

A relatively simple bill that would greatly expand how much MEHKOs can sell.

It's now in the Senate Health Committee, and you can easily help by submitting a letter via this form.


FAILED BILLS

Minnesota SF 1563

A very basic bill intended to slightly raise the sales limit, but unfortunately it never got prioritized in the session, so it failed.

Georgia HB 287 & 583

Both of Georgia's bills (food freedom & micro-restaurant) have died in committee, so they have effectively failed.

Arizona 2509

As mentioned in my email a couple weeks ago, this bill has now failed. But they will be trying again next year!


Overall I'd say it's been a strange year so far. Then again, I thought that around this time last year, and things turned around by year-end.

There are some bills with potential, but we haven't seen any major changes yet. I'll keep you updated!

Until next week,
David