House Bill Prevents Local Governments From Banning Kids' Lemonade Stands

Indiana lawmakers want to make sure local governments don’t ban children from operating lemonade stands. And there's a bill unanimously approved by the House and on its way to the Senate that does just that.

Rep. Jim Pressel (R-Rolling Prairie) acknowledged he doesn’t know of any Indiana city or town that shut down a child’s lemonade stand.

But he said, looking at the law, there’s nothing to stop them from doing that. And he wants to make sure it won’t happen to any Hoosier kids.

“[The bill] doesn’t allow them to sell food," Pressel said. "But it does give them the opportunity to become young entrepreneurs.”

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Pressel’s bill bans local governments and homeowners associations from shutting down stands – operated by someone under age 18 – that are selling nonalcoholic beverages.

There are still a couple of rules: children couldn’t run the stand more than two days in a row and more than eight days in a month. And if the stand is in a public park, they have to get approval from the park manager and an adult must be present at all times.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.