No new bills yesterday, nor did we see any of the reworked language that has been promised for the big land use bills yet.  So, in the meantime, let me share this about HB408 – Mobile Business Licensing Amendments that I got yesterday from Lee Sands, Local Government Policy Analyst with the Libertas Institute.

Lee says, “the bill is a result from extensive input I’ve gathered from state and local health departments, some careful consideration of the strangeness of state law currently defining Food Carts and Ice Cream Trucks AS Food trucks, and — most importantly — the logic behind granting the existing regulatory framework that exists for food trucks to businesses that functional identically, but that do not sell food. I’ve seen these businesses in the wild, and due to their inherently cross-jurisdictional behavior, I think it’s wise to go ahead and get a regulatory framework in place for them.

“HB 408 is amending existing state law for food trucks, which was first established in 2017 when we first teamed up with now-Lieutenant Governor Diedre Henderson to tackle the Food Truck trend and to set up a regulatory framework for them.

“The intent with the current bill is not to renegotiate or relitigate the past, but to take the existing state law established for food trucks and extend it to mobile businesses that look and operate almost identically to a food truck, but that do not sell food. To achieve this, we propose the Food Truck section of state code have a definition for “Enclosed Mobile Businesses” added to enable microentrepreneurs who wish to operate such businesses the certainty that if they get permits, pass any required inspections, and abide by lawful city and county regulations, they can operate throughout Utah without the hassle and cost of redundant processes.

1. Food Trucks, Ice Cream Trucks, Food Carts, and Enclosed Mobile Businesses should each have their own independent definitions, but establish that each is a type of mobile business.
2. Clarify that each of these businesses are required to get any and all initial and ongoing inspections currently required of them by a health department, but only those inspections that the nature of their vehicle and goods or services require of them. In other words, clarify that the state is not mandating that a mobile barbershop get food handlers permits, that Ice Cream Trucks, Food Carts, and Food Trucks be subject to identical regulations, etc.
3. Food truck event organizers can invite other types of mobile businesses to the same event, without additional hassle. In other words, Food truck events can have more variety and be more fun :)”