Three Michigan brothers had to take on their state government just for the right to sell lemonade — and their victory exposes how readily the regulatory state shakes down even children for the crime of running a business.
Ethan, 13, Seth, 11, and Jonathan Mielke, 8, operated their "Triple M Goods" lemonade stand at the Rogers City Farmer's Market for three summers, charging 50 cents a cup for adults and a dime for kids. Then last year, a market manager handed Seth a printout of new rules: no license from the local health department, no lemonade. The District Health Department No. 4 demanded a $57 biweekly temporary food service permit — nearly $400 for the season. The brothers said with those fees, they would make "less than $0." They shut down.
This is the regulatory state at work: a bureaucracy that sees a child's card table and sees a revenue opportunity. Michigan law classifies lemonade stands as temporary food service establishments, and enforcement falls to local health departments. Chelsea Engle, the administrative health officer for District 4, told MLive the department doesn't "go out of its way to find kids selling lemonade at the end of their driveways," and no child was fined — just informed of the requirements. But the requirements themselves were enough to kill a small business. The Rogers City Farmers Market, which referred the boys to the health department in the first place, did not respond to MLive's request for comment.
Rather than fold, the Mielke brothers wrote letters and showed up at a coffee hour with Rep. Cam Cavitt (R-Cheboygan) in Alpena. Cavitt said the rules "left a sour taste in my mouth" and were "never intended for kids running a simple lemonade stand." He introduced House Bill 6007 in May.
On June 11, the brothers testified before a Michigan House committee in Lansing. "It was a little bit uneasy, but after a while we got used to it," Ethan said, according to the New York Post. The House voted unanimously to pass the bill on June 25. The legislation would prohibit local governments from requiring licenses or permits for minor-operated stands selling non-alcoholic, non-temperature-controlled beverages, so long as annual earnings stay under $5,000. The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Michigan Farmers Market Association both backed the bill.
The bill now heads to the state Senate.
Cavitt celebrated with a pun-filled press release: "It's time to raise a glass and celebrate." Fair enough. But the deeper lesson is less cheerful: it took three children writing letters, attending town halls, and testifying under oath just to get permission to sell lemonade without paying the government for the privilege. The system worked — this time. The question is how many other small enterprises, run by kids and adults alike, get quietly priced out before anyone makes it to a committee hearing.
