Yeah, I know, I\u2019m likely to catch hell from you guys for this\u2026 but it\u2019s worth it if it helps at all.<\/p>\n
I spammed y’all in 2009 about this<\/strong><\/a>, but it\u2019s come full circle again in 2011 \u2013 the Texas Cottage Food Law<\/strong>.\u00a0 Currently it\u2019s illegal in Texas for the operation of a food-based business from a residential kitchen, even if it\u2019s \u201cnon-potentially hazardous\u201d foods that are at a low risk for spoilage, specifically bakery products and some other foods \u2014 jams, jellies, and salsas \u2014 that are considered low-risk for spoilage because they are not able to support the growth of potentially harmful organisms and do not require refrigeration.\u00a0 This makes it prohibitively expensive and complex to start up a small bakery business. The passing of this bill would allow, with appropriate licensing, home-based bakery style businesses.<\/p>\n Most anyone reading this post knows a married couple in Texas that have been trying to quietly drum up business while flying below the radar for some time now.\u00a0 They can\u2019t really advertise, as that would call unwanted attention to them, so it\u2019s all word of mouth.\u00a0 They can\u2019t approach places like coffee houses or other little retail establishments to get them to buy their goods, can\u2019t get a stall at a farmer\u2019s market, etc.\u00a0 Which means that growth is negligible.\u00a0 If the Cottage Food Law passes, They could (as early as September) get started making a lot of noise and picking up some business.<\/p>\n What does this mean to everyone?\u00a0 Well, to get the bill passed, those of you living in Texas have to let legislators know that they want them to support it, and to do that folks need to call and\/or write them.\u00a0 There is a site out there with info on the bill, and what to do\/how to help.<\/p>\n Texas Cottage Food Law<\/strong><\/a> (they’re on Facebook<\/strong><\/a> too).<\/p>\n Those good folks are even providing a letter template<\/strong><\/a>, the best way to conduct yourself on the call<\/strong><\/a>, along with how to find who your local legislators are<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Even if you don\u2019t intend to actually call or write (and I heartily encourage you to do so!), maybe you could pass the information along \u2013 email, Facebook, Twitter (there is a hashtag group on twitter — #texasbakersbill<\/strong><\/a> — so follow\/use that if you go that route), etc.\u00a0 The more people who know about it, the greater the percentage of people who will call\/write.\u00a0 C’mon, this is the modern age, and social networking rules the land… there’s no reason this information can’t be spread far and wide in relatively no time at all.<\/p>\n The passing of this bill will allow individuals and small groups of home bakers to generate some revenue in this otherwise tepid economical landscape.\u00a0 That revenue is subject to local sales tax (more money for the Texas state coffers!), income tax (moolah for the Feds!), and spending cash in the pockets of the bakers themselves to help stimulate the local economy.\u00a0 It would help build small businesses that may one day flourish into larger enterprises, creating even more jobs and revenue along the way. It would allow individuals to ply a trade they truly enjoy, flexing their creative culinary skills, making for a happier person.<\/p>\n I can’t speak for the rest of Texas, but Austin is fiercely proud of it’s reputation for locally owned and operated businesses and the eclectic atmosphere that comes when the majority of the shops are run by individuals and not mega-corporations and chains.\u00a0 Think of the vast variety of tastes and styles, ethnic and cultural confections that only ever get served up at the family table… then imagine those miraculously being available in farmer’s markets and little stalls and shops around town, all across the State.<\/p>\n It was once stated (quite sadly by a member of the committee with her hands on the bill in 2009 — her name rhymes with “Lois W. Kolkhorst<\/strong>“) that home baking businesses were “the worst kept secret”<\/em> in Texas, and it was asked why there was need for a law to make it legal?\u00a0 Go ahead and read this post from the beginning again, I think I’ve covered that quite nicely already.\u00a0 Seriously, who would oppose<\/strong><\/em><\/span> passing a law to let people come out of hiding, become legitimate, start paying taxes and earning income above board?\u00a0 These legislators have other agendas… they simply must.<\/p>\n The bill has been filed with the Texas House of Representatives — HB1139<\/strong><\/a> — here\u2019s the text<\/strong><\/a> of it.\u00a0 The next step is for it to get assigned to a committee, then read before that committee (which, by the way, is open to the public… so why not show up in support of it?).\u00a0 Then it goes up for a vote, and if that works out well it gets passed to the Texas Senate to be voted on.<\/p>\n So, Texans (and family of Texans who can poke their kin with a sharp stick for us), we need to be BIG and LOUD about this.\u00a0 This needs to be more than just a fart in a hurricane.\u00a0 Put it on the radar of your legislators.\u00a0 Make yourself heard, dammit!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yeah, I know, I\u2019m likely to catch hell from you guys for this\u2026 but it\u2019s worth it if it helps at all. I spammed y’all in 2009 about this, but it\u2019s come full circle again in 2011 \u2013 the Texas Cottage Food Law.\u00a0 Currently it\u2019s illegal in Texas for the operation of a food-based business […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,9,11,3,31,32,19],"tags":[57,58,56],"class_list":["post-1451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coolness","category-family","category-friends","category-links","category-promotion","category-spotlight","category-stress","tag-cottage-food-law","tag-texas","tag-the-texas-bakers-bill"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1451"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1460,"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1451\/revisions\/1460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmentd.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}