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Committee backs amendments to narrow cottage-food bill to farm producers
Summary
House Bill 150 was reported with amendments that narrow the bill’s scope to producers with USDA farm identification numbers, create labeling and tax requirements, and keep the existing cottage-food law intact. The committee also adopted a technical amendment clarifying that "pasteurized milk products" are required in certain preparations.
House Bill 150, sponsored by Representative Coats, was returned to the committee with an amended scope and then reported with amendments on June 3. The revisions change the bill’s terminology from “homemade food” to “farm food product,” limit eligible sellers to farmers who hold a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) farm identification number, and preserve existing cottage-food laws while creating a separate exemption for qualifying farm-based producers.
The bill’s sponsor said the measure was intended to help small farmers and value-added agricultural producers—people who convert farm products into items such as custards or small-batch preserves—by easing licensing requirements so long as gross annual farm food sales do not exceed $50,000. Representative Coats told the committee states such as Texas and Florida set higher caps (sponsor cited $150,000 and $250,000 respectively) and said inflation and input costs are justification for adjusting the threshold.
The committee adopted a multi-part amendment set (identified in committee materials as set 3,745) that: changes the bill language to “farm food product”; limits eligible sellers to producers with an established USDA identification number; clarifies that preparers must obtain a tax certificate and pay taxes on sales; permits direct sales on the farm and at farmers markets; sets a $50,000 gross sales cap as a threshold under which certain sanitary-code revisions would not apply; and preserves existing cottage-food law provisions.
Representative Cruz offered a narrowly focused amendment to clarify language about dairy: the committee adopted an amendment adding the word “pasteurized” to read that a preparer shall only use pasteurized milk or pasteurized milk products in the preparation of potentially hazardous foods. The committee approved that clarification by voice vote with no recorded objections.
The sponsor said the bill was not meant to replace existing cottage-food law but to provide an additional avenue for farmers to market value-added items they produce from farm inputs. Representative Goral and others voiced support; Representative Butler moved the bill favorably. The committee reported HB 150 with amendments to the House floor.
