Children in New Jersey can now mow lawns and open up lemonade stands without having business permits.
This change comes thanks to recently re-elected Governor Phil Murphy, who signed a measure into law on Monday allowing kids to run pop-up businesses without municipal approval via permits or licenses. In several states, the law technically still requires local governments to sign off on such activities.
In defense of such laws, state officials have pointed to concerns over child labor or health-code violations, according to the Warren Hunterdon Daily Voice. New Jersey now joins the rest of the tri-state area, New York and Connecticut, in freeing kids up to mow lawns or shovel snow without filing paperwork.
State Senator Michael J. Doherty was among the five lawmakers in Trenton to sponsor the measure.
“There’s an endless stream of stories from around the nation about children being harassed by local officials for running lemonade stands without permits,” Doherty, a Republican, said. “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.”
Bettmann/Getty Images
Doherty first began pursuing this issue in 2016 after two teenagers were told to stop offering snow shoveling service door-to-door by police officers. The measure he sponsored back then was enacted and called the “Right to Shovel” law. The new law was an expansion of the original, grown to encompass any sort of business or service that might be run by children.
“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,” Doherty continued. “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.”
Newsweek reached out to Governor Murphy for comment.
In 2018, then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo offered to pay the fee for a permit for 7-year-old Brendan Mulvaney’s lemonade stand. The stand was shut down by a health inspector for not having a permit to operate in the town of Ballston Spa. This came after several complaints were lodged by vendors at the nearby Saratoga County Fair, who alleged that the boy was competing with their businesses.
“If a permit is needed, I will personally pay for any necessary fees,” Cuomo said. “We support Brendan’s entrepreneurial spirit and wish him the best of luck.”
