House approves twin bills to limit local fees on food trucks, set statewide safety standards

LANSING — The Michigan House on March 3 passed a pair of bills aimed at standardizing rules for food trucks statewide, voting to prohibit local governments from imposing extra fees on operators and to create uniform safety standards.

Representative Bon, sponsor of House Bill 5450, told colleagues the measure prevents municipalities from “piling on extra fees, taxes, [or] assessments just because someone runs a food truck for a small business.” He said food trucks often travel from town to town and face hundreds of dollars in disparate charges, and urged members to vote “yes.” Representative Aragona introduced the companion measure, House Bill 5451, which sponsors said sets a single safety and inspection standard across Michigan while preserving necessary health inspections.

Supporters framed the pair as fairness and small-business measures that reduce regulatory burdens and create predictable rules for vendors who operate across municipal boundaries. Representative Bon said the bills do not eliminate inspections — “safety still comes first” — but would make the rules “the same everywhere.”

Opponents registered concern about shifting authority from local governments to the state and potential local revenue impacts, but the House approved HB 5450 on a roll-call vote of 63–43 and HB 5451 by a roll call reported as 96–10. The majority moved and obtained immediate effect for both bills, sending them on for the next steps in implementation.

Procedure and next steps: Both measures were taken on third reading and recorded roll-call votes were tallied on the House floor. Further implementation details, including any required administrative rules for the statewide safety standard in HB 5451, were not specified during floor debate.