How would you like to get a haircut, a new cell phone, and delicious tacos at the same event? With the passage of HB 408 — a bill we teamed up with Representative Robert Spendlove to pass this session — that scenario now has the freedom to become a reality.
HB 408 takes the successes we’ve had with prior food truck legislation and expands it to include other types of mobile businesses that function similarly, but sell a good or service instead of food. To achieve this, HB 408 adds a definition for “Enclosed Mobile Businesses” to state code and enables entrepreneurs who wish to operate such businesses the certainty that if they get a permit and pass any required inspections, they can operate throughout Utah without the cost and hassle of redundant processes.
The following enclosed mobile businesses are specifically cited in the legislation:
Mobile Barber Shops
Mobile Bicycle Shops
Mobile Beauty Shop (makeup, nails, eyelashes, and waxing)
Mobile Cell Phone & Computer Shop
Mobile Shoe Shop
Mobile Pet Grooming
Mobile Media Archival & Transfer
Mobile Sewing and Tailoring
Mobile Small Engine Repair
Mobile Tool Shop
These mobile business owners would no longer have to deal with a number of headaches. For example:
- Once an enclosed mobile business has received their business license and any necessary inspections from one jurisdiction, they do not have to obtain new licenses for every city they wish to operate in.
- Licensing fees would be restricted to no more than the actual cost of processing the license.
We applaud the members of the House Business and Labor Committee and the Senate Business and Labor Committee for considering and unanimously recommending the bill. We further applaud the House of Representatives and Senate for passing the bill without a single no vote.
Local Government Policy Analyst
Lee is the Local Government Policy Analyst at Libertas Institute. He has had a lifelong passion for research, writing, entrepreneurship, local government, and building relationships with people from all walks of life.