Tedisco: Senate Committee Approves "Brendan’s Lemon-Aid" Law for Children To Keep Lemonade Stands Open in NY

Senator Jim Tedisco (R,C,I,REF-Glenville) legislation, “Brendan’s Lemon-Aid Law,” to help keep child-run lemonade stands open in New York State, today cleared its first legislative hurdle by passing in the Majority-controlled Senate Health Committee. 

The legislation (S.762) was in response to the New York State Health Department’s closing downof 7-year-old Brendan Mulvaney’s lemonade stand outside his Ballston Spa home. Mulvaney was saving money for a family trip to Disney World.

Permits are required to operate lemonade stands according to state regulationsbut they do not enforce it. The cost of a permit is $30. Senator Tedisco noted that if there is a regulation that’s in place that’s not being enforced it should be eliminated

Tedisco’s bill would exempt children 16 and under who operate pop-up lemonade stands under adult supervision from having to obtain and pay for any state permits. The bi-partisan legislation has a Majority Democrat sponsor in the Assembly with Assembly Member Kimberly Jean-Pierre. 

“There’s nothing that says America more than apple pie and kids running lemonade stands. ‘Brendan’s Lemon-Aid Law for Children’ will keep child-run lemonade stands open for business in New York State without this regulation hanging over them. It’s a sad commentary on the current state of New York State’s government that this legislation is needed to protect the entrepreneurial dreams of children selling lemonade. Kids like Brendan Mulvaney are trying to give people sweet lemonade and learn some important business skills but the overzealous state bureaucrats just keep giving taxpayers lemons,” said Tedisco. ‘

“This is a microcosm of what’s wrong with New York State. No wonder New York has lost one million people in the past decade and close to 200,000 people in the past year. That’s on top of the 25,000 jobs and $27 billion in revenue to reduce property taxes, help our schools and fix dilapidated infrastructure New York lost out on when Amazon pulled out of our state. The fact that taxpayer dollars were used to send a state health care bureaucrat to intimidate a 7-year-old’s lemonade stand is a symptom of a larger problem and a mindset that’s hampering private sector job growth,” said Tedisco.  

“I want to thank the Chairman and the members of the Senate Health Committee for passing ‘Brendan’s Lemonade Law’ out of committee and I hope it will soon come to the Floor for a vote so this summer, when kids look to run their own lemonade stands, they will have the peace of mind that some overzealous state bureaucrat won’t try and shut them down,” said Tedisco.