A Michigan lemonade stand run by three brothers was shut down over permit fees that would have totaled nearly $400 for the summer.
Instead of giving up, the kids took their case to lawmakers. They helped advance a bill that could make it easier for other young entrepreneurs to get started.
What happened?
A new permit requirement ended a three-summer run for the Mielke brothers at a farmers market in Rogers City. Ethan, 13, Seth, 11, and Jonathan, 8, had been selling lemonade there through their small business, Triple M Goods, before the local health department said they would need permission to continue, according to The Washington Post.
The permit costs $57 every two weeks, which would have brought the brothers' total for the season to nearly $400. Since they sold lemonade for 50 cents a cup, the expense made the stand impossible to sustain, and they shut it down.
The boys pushed back by sending letters and meeting with state Rep. Cam Cavitt during a coffee hour.
"Children from our community initially brought this issue to my attention when their local health department demanded that they pay repeated fees to run their lemonade stand," Cavitt said in a statement, as Globe Magazine reported. "We shouldn't let red tape stand in the way of kids making an effort to work hard and learn about the values of entrepreneurship."
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Their efforts later brought them to Lansing, where they appeared before a House committee on June 11. "It was a little bit uneasy, but after a while we got used to it," Ethan told the Post.
Why does it matter?
If the law is enacted, families could avoid paying hundreds of dollars to let their children run seasonal lemonade stands.
The exemption applies only to minors selling nonalcoholic beverages, and only if they make less than $5,000 a year.
What's being done?
House Bill 6007 passed by a 110-0 vote June 25 and headed to the Senate. Under the legislation, minors could run lemonade stands without permits if they stay within the measure's limits on income and products sold.
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"It's refreshing to see Republicans and Democrats come together to support our youth," Cavitt said. "This is a practical change that will make it easier for our kids to gain real business experience and develop civic responsibility. I was glad to see the votes pour in."
"It was a pretty neat experience for them to see how the process works when you have an idea or want a law changed," Jessica Mielke, the boys' mother, said.
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