ASSEMBLY COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

ASSEMBLY, No. 853

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED:  JANUARY 27, 2020

 

      The Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 853.

      This bill would prohibit municipalities from requiring a child to obtain a license or permit in order to operate a business temporarily.  This bill is based upon a law enacted in Utah.  News accounts out of Texas, Utah, and New York State reported incidents of government officials shutting down child-run lemonade stands for failing to secure licenses or permits.  A similar problem, a municipality penalizing teenagers for soliciting work shoveling snow because they did not have a permit, led to the enactment of P.L.2015, c.240, a New Jersey law which prohibits municipalities from regulating the solicitation of snow shoveling services.  This bill proposes a more broad approach to this general issue by allowing anyone under the age of 18 to occasionally operate a business without having first secured a local permit or license.

      This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2020-2021 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.