Bill In Texas For Legal Home Bakeries! Calling All Texans!
Decorating By kelleym Updated 7 Feb 2011 , 11:14pm by kelleym
Kelley, I just have to say what an inspiration you are. Congratulations on such a wonderful wonderful job. Have you ever thought of law school and running for office yourself? 
Thank you so much for all you have done!!!!!!
how do you get the senate to propose the bill if the first place? Did they do it on their own... yea right or do you write and write asking the law to be changed? I would like it change here in florida
(holding my side from laughing so hard) No, they didn't think of it on their own. You can go back to this thread to see our fight that began more than 2 years ago: http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-46933.html
summer, you're making me blush. 
A lot has been accomplished, but I'm not going to be satisfied until we get the law. Then I'll explore taking on Obama in 2012. 
Someone needs to, Kelley, before all our money is gone. 
OH my god !!!!!!!!this is great, besides cal my rep, I will pray and pray, I really need this bill to pass.
P.S (good bless you Kelleym)
Has anyone contacted the ICES Texas chapter about this? I'm not currently a member so I don't know. But it seems like that would be a great way to get the attention of a lot of Texas decorators.
(Sorry if this has already been asked in one of the many pages of this thread and the one before it)
Thanks,
Emily
First off, thank you KelleyM for all of your hard work!
Second, I hope that I do not sound too ignorant, but I am ready to start calling, but am not sure who to call. I have entered my info in the 'who represents me', and I not sure if I should be contacting the TX US reps, TX state senators, and/or the TX state reps.
Thanks,
Mara
1. I believe Jennifer at All In One was going to contact ICES and the other cake clubs around the state, but I will check with her again.
2. You need to be calling your Texas State Representatives at this point, telling them about HB 3282, what it's all about, and how important it is to you. Ask them to read it! It's very important, with thousands of bills, they don't read them all. Please get your friends and family to call, too.
3. Go to this link to find out who represents you and what to say:
http://www.texascottagefoodlaw.com/HowToHelp.htm
cavtte - go here to see exactly how to help. 
We need every single person to call and get their friends and family to call/write. Please don't think "well, everybody else is, so I can do this later". There is no later. We need you and you and you and you and all of you calling, writing, and faxing. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
I found out that the session ends May 31/June 1. That is only two and a half months for this bill to travel a long, long way.
Again, if, come May 31, it is stuck in some committee somewhere, then it's over. Even though it may not have been "killed", it will die if we don't get it passed into law by the end of the session.
I fired off three letters this morning to Senator Jane Nelson, Congresswoman Kay Granger and Represenative Vicki Truitt (FW area).
Hope it will get their attention. My letter started off: "Last year I was counting down the months until retirement...now I don't know if I'll ever be able to retire. " Then went on about the benefits of legalizing the home baker....
It takes only a few minutes and a little more than a dollar for postage! We can do this!!!!!!!!
Kelley - thank you SO much for all your hard work on this!!! This is how we make our voices heard and the more voices they hear the more they'll realize how important this is!
Cake Walk Austin 2009 - I'm there...and I'll bring cake!!!!
[quote="kelleym]
I'm not going to be satisfied until we get the law. Then I'll explore taking on Obama in 2012. [/quote]
Kelley, you're my new hero!!! YOU GO GIRL!!!!!!!!!
Now on to some of the previous questions/points.
1. Financial impact of the bill on local Health Departments:
- The way the bill is currently written, with no required inspections, I do not believe the impact will be significant. There WILL be a required 'Fiscal Note' attached to the bill in committee to discover exactly what the impact will be.
When I called regulators in other states with Cottage Food Laws, they all said the biggest staffing impact was annual inspections, because it is so difficult to actually catch people when they are home! So many people do this as a side job, and work outside of the home from 9-5. So the inspectors would have to make multiple trips to homes to try to do the inspection. I hope that this will be a non-issue here with no annual inspections. The way the bill is written, there would only be an inspection if the Health Dept. had reason to believe you were operating in an unsanitary way.
The budget is very tight. There is no money for additional staff. This bill would not pass if it were written with tight, close regulation.
2. Opposition, probably from the restaurant lobby.
Yes, they will be coming out, as soon as they hear about the bill, and we need to be ready for them. They will complain that they can't compete against home bakers with no overhead. They are just not thinking this through, because:
- - They are already competing against illegal home bakers.
- Home kitchens are not set up for production. If you can make 20 cakes a week you're better at this than I am. At some point you have to say, "ok, I've outgrown this, I need a commercial facility." This would be a true success story if this law were passed.
- People who want to buy from a home baker are not going to go to a licensed baker just because it's illegal to sell from home. Consumers are smart enough to make their own decisions about who they want to buy from.
Thanks Kelly - both for your work on this project, and your well thought-out responses to some of the possible points of contention.
Regarding the health department requiring additional workers... I agree, if this bill increases the needs for more jobs, it won't fly. While in essence creating more jobs in this economy is usually a good thing, creating more work for the government, is not. They do NOT have a bottomless coffer from which to pay new hires (although you'd think so with the way the government spends our money!)
I do, however, believe that there will be contention from bakeries and legalized home bakers (I've heard it on this board). I can tell you from personal experience that as a previous owner of a legalized home bakery that I would be very concerned about this legislation. I know a lot of folks who have gone to the trouble to "get legal" and this could hurt them. I know I used to hate when I'd get the price shopping phone calls from customers who would tell me about Susie Q and Betsy B and how much less expensive their cakes were and why did I charge so much! I've heard tons of similar comments on this very board! Without overhead, home bakers can afford to be less expensive and many customers, even the loyal ones, will be tempted by the less expensive cakes - particularly in this economy.
Saying that home bakers can't do the quantity as a professionally set up kitchen may be true, but if you have 50 - 100 more home bakers able to take on 2 - 5 extra cakes per week, then we're talking problems! Particularly because a lot of home bakers are cheaper, offer a "homemade" product, will frequently deliver at little or no extra charge for even small cakes, and everybody knows somebody who "does" cakes. As a previous instructor, I know that there are hundreds of "cake decorators" just in my town.
Speaking from my perspective, I know that if the cottage laws pass in Texas, I will be happy. I will actively seek new customers and bigger cakes... something that I've purposely avoided due to the threat of being contacted by the HD. If I were a local bakery, I'd worry about people like me... and all my cake buddies!
I contacted my representative today. I am a single mom in the military here in Texas. This would be amazing for me. I can't wait to see what happens! I will be in Austin for the public hearing as well! YEAH!!!!!
I just talked w/ the offices of Senators Cornin, Wentworth, Zaffirni...and a few other ...oh Cuellar. They were all pretty attentive to my cause and did give me good explanations of what will happen next (same thing Kelley has been telling us).....I really have a good feeling about it.
Everyone did reiterate to me that showing up in Austin makes a big difference. One of the gals told me that writing a letter, as simple as it may be, especially one with lots of signatures or if they arrive in mass are also effective.
However, they did tell me that the best thing to do is contact the committee members assigned to the bill (it will be 5-7 people on the committee).
We'll def. make a difference one way or another! Thanks again Kelley for all of this! I am so glad I stumbled upon this thread....I would have never known it was illegal!
Saying that home bakers can't do the quantity as a professionally set up kitchen may be true, but if you have 50 - 100 more home bakers able to take on 2 - 5 extra cakes per week, then we're talking problems! Particularly because a lot of home bakers are cheaper, offer a "homemade" product, will frequently deliver at little or no extra charge for even small cakes, and everybody knows somebody who "does" cakes. As a previous instructor, I know that there are hundreds of "cake decorators" just in my town.
Yes, but that just proves the first point. Everyone already knows someone who "does cakes". They're already out there.
Keep in mind that when people are able to register and be held accountable for their business, they often start to treat it as a business. Instead of being content to just "make a few bucks" on a cake, they start actually thinking about this from a business perspective.
Also, a BIG point to reassure the already-legal folks in commercial kitchens: this bill is for NON-potentially hazardous foods only. So all those consumers wanting cheesecakes, mousse fillings, or coconut cream pies would still need to purchase them from a commercial facility.
People who want to buy something from a home baker will always do so, regardless of regulation.
Everyone already knows someone who "does cakes". They're already out there.
People who want to buy something from a home baker will always do so, regardless of regulation.
AMEN!!!
Edited to add that a lot of people who are baking from home and selling illegally already have a built-in customer base/following. And most of those customers are friends of friends of friends. They aren't "stolen" from a licensed baker in the same sense that Starbucks steals customers from the Seattle's Best down the street.
Those word-of-mouth customers don't say "Oh, So-and-So isn't licensed? Well, I'd better go to Legal Bakery down the street." They don't care. They will continue to patron the baker that has sold them quality products. It's likely that they never were and never will be the Legal Bakery's customers, regardless of the law. So why not let the illegal baker become legal so that they are better servicing their already established customer base?
First I would like to thank lanibird for pm'ing me and bringing this issue to my attention. I have been out of the cake world for a while (new baby) and have not been on cakecentral in forever. So if it wasn't for her I would've never know this was going on.
Second, may I say that I am EXTREMELY excited about this! Thank you SO MUCH to Kelley for getting the wheels turning!
Lastly, I must say that when I read about How to Help my stomach dropped at the thought of CALLING a rep and senator's office. But I finally just took a deep breath and did it this morning. They were extremely nice. So for those of you too afraid to call, just do it, it is not so bad.
I've also posted a Note about it on my facebook as well as have emailed everyone in my address book about it. So hopefully we get this wheel REALLY squeaky!
Go Cakes!
Hey jewelykaye, it's great to see you! I also want to publicly thank lanibird for all the PM's. She has been manually going through the CC memberlist (200,000 members) and PM'ing everyone from Texas. THAT is dedication.
I am on Facebook and we have a group for this. Just add me as a friend (Kelley Masters), and I'll invite you to join!
Edited to add - every person I've spoken with in every Rep and Senator's office has been extremely, extremely nice. Please don't let fear of the unknown stop you from calling! If you're not a phone person, though, send a letter or fax today.
Hey jewelykaye, it's great to see you! I also want to publicly thank lanibird for all the PM's. She has been manually going through the CC memberlist (200,000 members) and PM'ing everyone from Texas. THAT is dedication.
Awww, thanks guys! 
I was a member of CC for two years before I ventured into the forums; I figured there were others who were the same way, and that had no idea this was going on.
Plus, I really want to be registering my kitchen on September 1! 
I really want to be registering my kitchen too! I contacted my 3 local news stations yesterday, but have yet to hear back. 
Of course, if it doesn't involve someone being murdered or caught selling drugs, SA just doesn't care. I'm going to follow up with them on Monday. I need to contact the paper too, maybe they could put a blurb in there...
And Kelley, I joined your fb group and added you!
Amia, I am going to contact my friend Shelly Miles of Kens 5. She might be able to get something out there for us.
I also found that a lot of the reps have their email addresses posted on their sites. Emailing might be a way to easily send quite a few at once.
lanibird, this is really off topic but I noticed your avatar and I have ask if you saw Jon completely rip Jim Cramer a new one last night. It was so fantastic!
Okay, sorry! Back to Cake Walk Austin 2009!
I emailed Ogden's office. It was after hours and no one was answering the phone and I wanted to get it over with. That was before we had a bill#. Now that we have one, I'll be emailing him again. I got a confirmation email from them on the first one.
I called Rep Fred Brown's office before the bill# too. They took all of my information, and then I got an email from them saying that he had been made aware. At that point, I emailed back to the person who emailed me and told her to ask the Rep to read, support, and approve the bill, reiterating stimulating the Texas economy. At this point, I have to think small to big, local economy, texas economy, national economy, etc. One must have short-term goals to achieve long-term goals.
Anyway, the girl I did talk to at Rep Brown's office was very sweet, and very interested in what I had to say. I was nervous about calling, as I had never done it before, but then I started thinking, if she grew up in this area, she probably knows one of my boys, if she is a college student, she hasn't got anything on me - while i didn't go to college, I did go to the school of hard knocks and shoot, I'm a Texas-born woman, we aren't as frail as people would think we are 
. I figured if she gave me attitude, I'd ask to talk to someone else who could do something about it.
My FIL - also a Texas resident - emailed his rep and Sen Ogden on our behalf too. He forwarded his emails to me. So don't think you can only put a letter in the mail, they have emails too, and they are a LOT faster! The people who work in their offices are probably cursing us right now for all the work we are making them do, but hey, if you aren't heard, you don't get noticed.
I believe that today's economy is forcing people to get back to basics of life too. This is going to be a very good thing. More people are going to be spending more time with family because they can't afford to to the things they were used to doing. As we get back to basics on the whole, this bill plays right into the overall picture. With layoffs and jobs being hard to find, people need to be able to legally do something to make ends meet. The more Texas lawmakers help us do that, the less people need to turn to the state for assistance. It's a win-win situation all the way around, and besides - has anyone stopped to ponder - who in the world made that official's wedding cake and do they realize that if it was not a professional bakery it came from an illegal kitchen? I know my wedding cake and grooms cake did 25 years ago. And nobody thought anything about it being an illegal bakery. The wedding cake was awesome and the chocolate groom's cake permeated the room.
Maybe we should be asking them that question - who made your cakes? It might spark some reality into whats been going on for a long time.
Along these same lines - did you know that you do not have charge sales tax on your cakes if you are not providing eating or serving utensils? We found this out when we went for a tax ID # for a cake peripheral business we are starting. You must pay sales tax on items you purchase, but you do not collect them. The law changed about 3-4 years ago and became much simpler!
It has been the law about no sales tax on whole cakes and whole baked goods but you must tax individual slices, individual cupcakes (1/2 doz and up = whole), and other individual baked goods ever since I began doing cakes 25 years ago. My tax ID only changed once (when they went from using peoples actual SS# to a blind number because of identity theft issues), but I have had my tax permit since 1994, and I have never had to charge tax on my cakes.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%