Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, a first-term Democrat in a tough re-election campaign against Republican businessman Bruce Rauner, traveled to the town of Troy, IL, near St. Louis on Tuesday to sign the so-called “cupcake bill” in the kitchen of 12-year-old baker Chloe Stirling. His signature made Stirling’s home baking business legal once again. It had been shut down by the Madison County Health Department before state lawmakers got involved with a legislative solution.
Even before Quinn caught up with the baker, he bought two cups of lemonade from her little sister Sophie’s lemonade stand, set up in the driveway. The governor signed the cottage food bill before the girls’ friends and neighbors who had gathered for the historic occasion. The young baker said she was happy that she and others making cupcakes and other treats at home won’t be getting into trouble like she did. Quinn signed House Bill 5354 over the objections of public health authorities throughout the state, including Madison County. Health officials shut down the home bakery in January, and a local newspaper story gained statewide attention. State Sen. Bill Haine (D-Alton) said the bill “grew from an upsurge” of people asking: “What is it with government that this girl cannot make a cupcake and sell it?” The new law exempts home bakeries with monthly sales of less than $1,000 from state and local regulation as long as people are told that the products are homemade. Since 2010, about a dozen states have passed bills to ease regulation on cottage foods. Often the measures have been promoted as economic development initiatives.
