I will SO be there for Cake Walk 2009!! This is so stinking exciting!!!!!

Just to reiteate, there IS a bill, House Bill 3282.

Go here to find out who to call and what to say to your legislators.

Even though we don't now which committee will get the bill yet, you can still call your own senator and representative and tell them about the bill, ask them to read it, and tell them how important it is to you and your family.

Get your friends and family to call, too.

Guys.... I think it's safe to say that "legal home bakeries" were not on a single lawmaker's agenda when they went to Austin in January, and now look what we've achieved. This is a grass roots movement in the purest sense of the term. Spread the word. We are making a difference.

WOW!!!! This is amazing. Great Job Kelley! You are awesome!

Kelley,
No matter what happens at this point, I think you are a very awesome person. It would be an honor to meet you in person.
Thank you very much for everything you have done. And all the time you have put into this.

Kelly...WHOHOOO! I forwarded your email to my Rep. and my editor friend...I can be available to keep Austin Weird! grace

I am SO proud of you Kelley and of ALL of us! Look at what we have achieved! I am saving now to get myself to Austin!

Would everyone still have to comply with the local health dept or code enforcement? They are really cracking down here on anyone that cooks. We have to install huge grease traps not to mention all of the other requirements.

Your grease trap has nothing to do with the state or even your county, it's a city requirement. If you are in College Station, as I am, you are required a 1000 gallon grease trap - this is an inground installation. I questioned this when I was talking to the city person I was sent to regarding this. Something told me to ask about where to find the list of rules online and he did direct me to these. You should do the same in your area. There is a clause that says you can petition the need for the grease trap, especially the size. I have a friend who lives in Dallas, says he has a friend who opened a coffee shop. The city told him he needed a huge grease trap. When the friend met with the inspectors, explained what they would be doing with the coffee grounds and what was on the menu, the grease trap was waived. So it is possible to get a waiver. If the bill passes and the city still decides it wants to stick with this, you can ask for a waiver, and would probably get it. I told the guy I talked to on the phone, seriously - the grease (Crisco) goes into the icing on the cake, not down the drain! laughing. But I believe we would be exempt if the bill passes because we fall under a different category!

The text of the bill currently says that the Health Dept. may not require commercial grade appliances or surfaces, and then later says they may not impose "onerous" rules, so I do not believe grease traps will be required in any way for a Cottage Food operation. That would kind of defeat the purpose of giving us licenses to operate out of our homes.

Of course, it is not up to me (AT ALL!), and changes will still be made in Committee.

I did ask Patrick to ensure that it was written in such a way that city/county/HOA ordinances could not override the statewide Cottage Food Law. What a disaster that would be!

That is excellent news! I hope, and pray, it passes!

Is there a companion bill in the Senate? This might help moves things along.

It has been my experience (our agency works with the legislature each session) that cities/counties cannot 'weaken' or over ride State law but they can definitely add more restrictions at the local level.

For example, the State can require that all the cakes be either chocolate or vanilla. A city can then require that all cakes only be vanilla. You are still complying with the State law by making a vanilla cake.

Our fight always seems to be the hardest at the local level. But this has been my experience.

This is awesome! I will SO be there for Cake Walk 2009!! I have other friends who decorate as well and i know they will attend as well! Thanks for all the info Kelly!! I'm sooo excited about this!

I hope I'm not duplicating information, but here is the link to follow the bill and be notified when there are changes. I set up an account, then went in and signed up to follow and "be notified of committee and calendar postings, be notified when bills are assigned subjects of interest, be notified when the house or senate adjourn."

Of course, there is no activity yet, but I did run the saved bill report and 3282 came up. Be sure to use HB 3282. It won't accept just the numbers.


http://www.legis.state.tx.us/Resources/FollowABill.aspx

Happy Happy Joy Joy! (sorry, channeling Ren & Stimpy for a minute there)

Great work Kelly & everyone! Color me there if we do a walk!

Nobody wants that, right? I'd much rather be registering my legal home bakery on September 1 this year!!!!![/quote]

Amen to that!

Just called my House Rep, Madden. His assistant had not heard of the bill but when I said new jobs in texas ..he perked up A LOT. He was very interested in it and took my name and number.

I live in Dallas so if anyone else can call and mention the bill the more we bombard the phones, the more likely Madden is to read it and you know they'll vote for it just so they can say they support jobs in texas.

Kelley, I never believed that we could really get this law changed. You inspire me!

Has anyone looked into or considered the added work load that this bill might cause on the Health Department? If all of a sudden 1500 new in-home bakeries spring up across Texas in September... how will this affect the local health departments? I'm only asking because this might be one of the things that the committee might consider. Do we know, or has anyone from a "cottage laws" state have any idea how this would impact the local HDs? For the good or bad?

Also, there will be those arguing that home bakeries, who don't rent buildings and hire workers, or buy commercial equipment, will actually hurt the economy and cause small legal bakeries to go out of business. I'm not trying to be a downer... I'm ALL for the cottage laws, but I think that when we write our letters, make our phone calls and generally try to sell our viewpoint, that we need to have all our ducks in a row and have actual numbers and proof as to how this not only helps US personally, but how it can positively affect our economy and or how it will bring in revenue for Texas.

Has someone already done this and I've just missed the information? There's always a "big picture" and in order to address it, we have to be able to see it. Sorry if I'm asking for something that's already been addressed, but I like to be fully aware of all sides when making an argument!! Thanks!!!

I had wondered about the questions that might come up myself. But - from my standpoint - my DH just got downsized from his job of 16 years in January. That's one person in my area without a job, not able to find a job either. By having a home bakery, I'm making up the difference in income, so it keeps me off any state assistance programs. Um, that would be the up side for me having a home bakery license.

Just for the record, I still have to have a separate kitchen because I have dogs who live in my house with me. But I'm good with that knowing I don't have to go the commercial equipment route unless I choose to.

AND - looks like I wont have to have that 1000 gallon grease trap that I suppose I'm supposed to hold swimming lessons in to pay for it because I dont think there is going to be any grease in it. LOL

But seriously, it's good to consider the conversations that could come up. I can't see it putting any more strain on the inspectors - and even if it does, it's better to be legal than not - they've been missing us all this time as it is. I'm sure they'll work it out, especially if possible fines could be involved.

Then there are the fees that will be collected for licensing, etc. On paper, surely the benefits will outweigh the non benefits.

But I do understand what you are saying and I appreciate brining up the possibilities. We should be prepared for those!

j-pal.
Those are great points. I actually think the HD thing is a good thing, if we create more work for the HD, then the HD hires more people thus more jobs..

As for professional bakeries being put out of business, this is a concern but realistically most home bakers do not do the volumn of a professional bakery.

There was a thread on here once about home bakers and how many cakes a week. For people who did it as a side job it was 1 per week. For people who did it full time I think the average was 4-6 a week. A professional bakery can easily do 10 to 15 cakes a week, some more like Duff so it would take at least 3 full time home bakeries to take on the business of a full bakery. And some people will always not like the idea of "home bakery" so I don't think that will be an issue.

For responding to question from one of your reps I would say something like. "I appreciate your concern. With so many people out of work, we are all concerned about the economy. This cottage law allows people to start a business with less overhead and less risk thus creating a new business where before the cost was too great and no business would have been generated. As the business grow, they will need to hire more people and purchase larger space which is just more revenue and jobs in texas."

I think we should look at all sides because the committee definately will. I personally don't point out any negatives unless it's to respond to a negative they bring up.

First, I must pass on this tidbit of awesomeness:

Stephanie in Senator Ogden's office just called me to let me know that if this bill makes it through the House, then Senator Ogden will more than likely sponsor the bill in the Senate. (That is, if there are no amendments or changes tacked on that he doesn't like.)

This is huge, enormous. Senator Ogden is chair of the Senate Finance Committee and he is extremely influential. Extremely.

So we have to get this bill out of the House so he can do the rest in the Senate.

Now on to some of the previous questions/points.

1. Financial impact of the bill on local Health Departments:

• The way the bill is currently written, with no required inspections, I do not believe the impact will be significant. There WILL be a required 'Fiscal Note' attached to the bill in committee to discover exactly what the impact will be.
  
  When I called regulators in other states with Cottage Food Laws, they all said the biggest staffing impact was annual inspections, because it is so difficult to actually catch people when they are home! So many people do this as a side job, and work outside of the home from 9-5. So the inspectors would have to make multiple trips to homes to try to do the inspection. I hope that this will be a non-issue here with no annual inspections. The way the bill is written, there would only be an inspection if the Health Dept. had reason to believe you were operating in an unsanitary way.
  
  The budget is very tight. There is no money for additional staff. This bill would not pass if it were written with tight, close regulation.

2. Opposition, probably from the restaurant lobby.
Yes, they will be coming out, as soon as they hear about the bill, and we need to be ready for them. They will complain that they can't compete against home bakers with no overhead. They are just not thinking this through, because:

• - They are already competing against illegal home bakers.
  - Home kitchens are not set up for production. If you can make 20 cakes a week you're better at this than I am. At some point you have to say, "ok, I've outgrown this, I need a commercial facility." This would be a true success story if this law were passed.
  - People who want to buy from a home baker are not going to go to a licensed baker just because it's illegal to sell from home. Consumers are smart enough to make their own decisions about who they want to buy from.

3. Some uninformed people may claim that homes aren't clean, the public health is at risk, and the quality of items coming from home will not be good.

• - The bill includes a provision for us to have to take a food handler's class before registration. ANYONE can learn to handle food safely. After all, the current Texas Food Establishment Rules focus primarily on safe food handling and storage rather than cleanliness.
  - Our homes aren't clean? Oh please. Have you seen the inside of some restaurants?
  - Home bakers without a quality product will fail, just like a large business.
  - The bill is for non-potentiallly hazardous foods only. See

here for the facts about NPH foods. These are not foods that make people sick. They do not require refrigeration.

If you have more rebuttals please post them. We do all need to be informed, and working off the same "script" per se, because our opponents will be coming after the bill.

p.s. Sen. Ogden is going to sponsor the bill, y'all!!!

I've been worried about the Health Dept thing and that it would create more jobs, but those jobs are funded by the state, and there's no money for that... I hope the bill doesn't change too much. Not to sound like I would mind having my home inspected. I wouldn't, but I know that this bill won't pass if that's necessary.

That's awesome that he will sponsor it! I feel like we have a HUGE edge. This keeps getting better and better!

how do you get the senate to propose the bill if the first place? Did they do it on their own... yea right or do you write and write asking the law to be changed? I would like it change here in florida