Michigan Kids' Lemonade Stand Fight Leads to Bill to End Permit Fees

A group of Michigan kids took the old adage “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” to heart as they fought back against a local law requiring them to obtain a costly permit to run a lemonade stand.

Three young brothers in Rogers City, Michigan, had sold lemonade at their local farmers market for years, but were told last summer they were required to get a temporary permit from the local health department that cost $57 every two weeks, The Washington Post reported. That would add up to about $400 if they ran the stand from June through September.

Their mother, Jessica Mielke, told The Washington Post they were “really discouraged” by the news about the permit, and sad to shut down the stand, which they called “Triple M Goods.” But the brothers weren’t going to take no for an answer.

The young boys — 13-year-old Ethan, 11-year-old Seth and eight-year-old Jonathan — got in touch with state Rep. Cam Cavitt, and together, they’re leading efforts to change the rules for kids who want to sell lemonade.

The Republican lawmaker sponsored a bill that would end permitting requirements for minors who run lemonade stands, which unanimously passed the Michigan House of Representatives last week and is now under consideration by the Senate.

“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. 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,” Cavitt said in a statement celebrating the vote.

Cavitt’s bill would allow end permit requirements for minors who are selling lemonade or other nonalcoholic drinks and making less than $5,000 a year. The lawmaker also noted that any potential financial losses for local health departments would be “very small.”

Last month, Cavitt and the Mielke family testified before Michigan’s House Regulatory Reform Committee in support of the bill. Ethan Mielke recalled how the family brought the issue to the lawmaker’s attention earlier this year.

“I told him about the fees my brothers would have to pay and gave him letters we wrote. He said that he would help us figure out how to change that law. We hope this bill can come to a vote and pass so that other kids like us do not have to pay fees to sell lemonade,” the 13-year-old told lawmakers.

“When they brought this issue to my attention, it left a sour taste in my mouth,” Cavitt added. “These young entrepreneurs weren’t asking for special treatment, they were simply trying to make the best of lemons and learn a little about hard work along the way.”

The Mielke brothers are proud of their efforts and excited to reopen their lemonade stand, according to The Washington Post.

“They were pretty excited,” Jessica Mielke told the newspaper. “It was a pretty neat experience for them to see how the process works when you have an idea or want a law changed.”