East Central Reporter

Illinois kids can now run lemonade stands without municipal permits but it's "embarrassing" that it took a new law to make that happen, one of the legislation's co-sponsors said in a social media post last week.

State Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) co-sponsored Senate Bill 119.

"This bill, which ensures children under 16 can run a lemonade stand without a permit or license, is a very tiny step in the right direction," Plummer said in a July 13 Facebook post. "Frankly, it's pretty embarrassing that we even need to pass a law like this but that's where we are in Illinois."

Plummer said he's "glad" the bill is now law but he says the reasons behind the bill represents how difficult it is for any commercial operation, large or small, do to business in Illinois.

"As a co-sponsor of SB 119, commonly referred to as Hayli's Law, I am glad Governor J.B. Pritzker signed it into law. Illinois is tremendously hostile to business and often fails to follow common sense policies, squashing potential for opportunity, growth, and prosperity for many Illinoisans.  

While it's now legally safe for Haylie Martenez and other kids to run lemonade stands in Illinois, Plummer said in his Facebook post that more needs to be done to make Illinois more business friendly.

"Illinois government needs to tear down the failed public policies created over the last 20 years that have created the barriers to investment, business growth, and quality jobs that have had such a terrible impact on our state, communities, and families," Plummer said. "Now we need to go after the big items - outrageous taxation, uncompetitive workers comp rates, a toxic tort environment, and burdensome regulations - that make Illinois uncompetitive with other states, especially our neighbors."

Pritzker signed Hayli’s Law on July 9 following its unanimous passage in the Illinois House and Senate. Under Hayli’s law, children 16 and younger may operate a lemonade stand without a permit or license.

The new law has its origins in 2017 when then-11-year-old Hayli Martenez, with the help of her mother, Ivy, sold lemonade  from her sidewalk "Haylibug Lemonade" stand in Kankakee for 50 cents a cup to raise money for her college fund.

"As we kept doing it, I got to see everybody smile when they tasted my lemonade," Haylie Martenez said in Illinois Policy Institute's coverage of the situation in 2019. "It was just … wow. They were lining up to get my lemonade."

Ivy Martenez was unemployed at the time and had fallen so far behind on the family's water and sewer bills that the services to their home had been shut off. Hayli Martenez used bottled water for the lemonade at her stand.

County and city code officials ordered the stand shut down. This had the effect of attracting widespread attention.

Haylie Martenez ultimately reopened her Kankakee lemonade stand after supporters paid her family's huge water and sewer bills. She has since testified before a state Senate committee, continued to operate her lemonade stand, acted as DJ during an event at the 9th District Police Station last summer and has branched out into other opportunities.

"Driving on East Court Street in Kankakee, you probably have seen a young girl smiling and waving at cars going by — and selling lemonade," Haylie Martenez said in a Facebook post last month. "What you probably don’t know is the same young girl and her mother also have a museum and art gallery inside their historic home."