Make room for lemonade stands: H.B. 52

Dels. Neil Parrott (R-Washington County) and Steve Johnson (D-Harford County) have introduced H.B. 52, which would bar counties and municipalities from banning or regulating “the sale of lemonade or other nonalcoholic beverages by minors from a stand on private property.” (The makers of Country Time lemonade, in a brilliant marketing stroke, have launched a campaign to defend kids busted for this activity; more at Overlawyered). WJZ has details.

Sponsors invited me to write up something about the bill and here’s what I came up with:

Today’s breaker of low-level regulations is tomorrow’s breaker of more serious regulations. The ten year old who dabbles in lemonade selling today could become tomorrow’s bringer of a church potluck casserole prepared in a home kitchen rather than an inspected commercial facility. A few years later, accustomed to the ways of regulation-breaking, that same miscreant might use that same home kitchen to bake a dozen pies, plus one for good luck, to bring to a homeless shelter for Thanksgiving.

The time to stop it is when it starts — on the June day when the first pitcher of lemonade is mixed and hawked to passersby for 50 cents, plus a tip if you get lucky. Stop them young, or they will get used to serving others and along the way learning to act and think for themselves.

Does this all sound a little crazy and upside down? Well, it is. We should make it easier, not harder, for kids to be enterprising, well organized, and friendly, all lessons of the lemonade stand. The bill can be marked up in sensible ways that limit it to the intended range of cases. But can we really disagree with the direction?

— Walter Olson, a Frederick County resident, is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and has written about small business and food safety regulation.

P.J. O’Rourke in Frederick Mar. 19

The Cato Institute’s own H.L. Mencken Fellow P.J. O’Rourke will be at the Frederick Speaker Series at the Weinberg Center Thursday, March 19, sponsored by Flying Dog Brewery’s fabulous First Amendment Society. There’s also a separately ticketed meet and greet event afterward. See you there!

Don’t suspend drivers’ licenses over fines/fees unrelated to road safety

Sometimes the attorney general of this state takes positions I agree with. WTOP:

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh joined state lawmakers in Annapolis to call for an end to the practice of suspending people’s driver’s licenses because they failed to pay a court fee or fine.

Using drivers’ licenses as leverage to collect other moneys owed can be self-defeating as well as harsh, since it will often cut off debtors from holding the jobs by which they could secure the means of repayment. Glad to see Sen. Chris West (R-Baltimore County), as well as several leading Democrats, co-sponsoring this important bill:

Republican Sen. Chris West said drivers who do commit traffic infractions and can’t pay “would not get off scot-free” under the legislation. West said the state could recover the fees with civil action.

Talking gerrymandering in Pennsylvania

I participated as both a speaker and a panelist in the November event “Getting It Right: Weighing the Options for Reform,” hosted by Fair Districts PA in Harrisburg. You can watch here.