An Assembly bill that would allow the sale of home-baked goods saw mostly positive support during a public hearing this week.
Shannon Heupel would like to have a commercially licensed kitchen to make her custom-decorated cookies, but right now she can't afford it. She said legislation known as the “Cookie Bill” would allow her to take her hobby further.
“I would like to make this as a stepping stone to a business,” she says.
Heupel was one of a number of the bill's supporters who told lawmakers this week at a public hearing that the legislation would help them earn money and build new businesses. Co-author of the bill Rep. Janis Ringhand (D-Evansville) said it can be expensive to use space licensed for food processing, which home bakers have to do under current law in order to sell their products. She said the bill offers small businesses a place to start.
“This just gives people the opportunity to earn a small amount of income and find out if their product is as viable as they think it is and it gives them a leg up to get started without major overhead expense,” she says.
Critics of the bill are mainly concerned with food safety. The bill in its current form recommends people take food safety classes, but one person at the hearing suggested this be a requirement. Ringhand said lawmakers will look into it. The bill has support in both the Assembly and the Senate.
