PHOENIX — Stung by a veto last year, a lawmaker has introduced a new version of his proposal to expand the kinds of home-cooked foods that can be sold legally to the public.
But it remains unclear whether the tweaks to “the tamale bill’’ will be enough to get Gov. Katie Hobbs’ approval to legalize the common practice of peddling foods on street corners and in parking lots.
“My staff has been in conversations on this bill,’’ Hobbs told Capitol Media Services. But the governor, who shocked members of her own Democratic Party with her 2023 veto, said she has not seen the new language.
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Travis Grantham of Gilbert, said he hasn’t talked with Hobbs, but that the alterations are designed to overcome her objections.
But what he won’t change is a prohibition on home inspections, announced or otherwise, he said.
“My plan has never been, nor is it now, to allow inspectors to go into people’s homes,’’ Grantham said. “That’s just a non-starter.’’
Now he’s waiting for feedback from Hobbs on everything else in his new House Bill 2042.
“We’ll see what kind of conversation is sparked,” he said.
The issue has indeed created sparks.
Food-borne illness concerns
Arizona law already allows the sale of what are known as “cottage’’ foods, primarily baked goods. Grantham’s 2023 bill sought to expand the list to include certain other cooked foods, including tamales, tortillas, burgers and more, that could be considered hazardous if not properly prepared and maintained.
The measure initially proved wildly popular among lawmakers, clearing the state House on a 45-11 margin, and with the Senate giving its OK with just four dissenting votes.
The proposal included some requirements, including that anyone doing home cooking for sale would have to complete food handler classes and maintain active certification. It also would have required the seller to register with the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Disclosure on the food label would also have been mandated, including the name and registration number of the food preparer and a statement saying, “This product was produced in a home kitchen that may process common food allergens and is not subject to public health inspection.’’
Hobbs was unconvinced.
“It fails to establish sufficient minimum standards for inspection or certification of home-based business, and could limit the ability to ADHS to investigate food-borne disease outbreaks,’’ the governor wrote in her veto.
“That is offensive”
But she drew particular ire over her comment that the law would open the door to items being cooked in home kitchens with “rodent or insect infestation.’’
“That is offensive,’’ Rep. Alma Hernandez, D-Tucson, a supporter of the measure, said at the time. “And I would be glad to put up my nana’s kitchen or my mom’s kitchen up against anyone else.’’
Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, whose mother and grandmother are Mexican immigrants, took it a step farther.
“Not only was the veto outrageous, but to continue to push racist tropes of homes riddled with insect infestation or rodent infestation, it will just not be tolerated in the year 2023,’’ Shope said.
But an override failed when several Democrats who supported the original measure voted to leave Hobbs’ veto intact.
Changes in the new version
In the new version, Grantham said, “We accounted for a definition of a ‘home kitchen,’ ‘’ something missing from last year’s bill.
It also includes language to deal with situations, he said, in which someone who is developmentally disabled is working in a home kitchen by requiring there be someone there with a state-issued food handler card.
And to address Hobbs’ concerns about the health department’s authority to have some oversight, Grantham said it gives the agency “sharper teeth to be able to revoke a license or to fine somebody if they break a rule associated with having a food handler’s permit.’’
But that leaves the inspections issue.
On one hand, Hobbs has told Capitol Media Services she isn’t seeking to allow health officials to make unannounced inspections. But she has remained mum on whether inspectors should have the authority to check out the kitchen at least once before cooking and production can start.
Grantham contends there’s no legitimate purpose for such prior approval of kitchens.
“They can’t be set up the way those inspectors are going to want them set up,’’ he said. “People’s homes don’t have industrial sinks and massive sewer pipes and fire suppression systems,’’ the kinds of things inspectors want in a commercial kitchen. “That will do nothing but put home kitchens out of business.’’
He said he sees something nefarious in the whole idea of home inspections.
“The only reason those inspectors would want to go into somebody’s home kitchen is to tell them why they can’t make food and sell it,’’ Grantham said. “That’s not what we’re interested in doing to people.’’
HB 2042 has other provisions to set some limits on the foods that can be made for sale out of home kitchens and how they can be marketed.
For example, any product that contains dairy or meat would have to be sold and delivered in person. And if the product is potentially hazardous or requires time or temperature controls, it would have to be maintained at those temperatures during delivery, could not be transported more than once, and could not be in transit for more than two hours.
The foods also could not include marijuana.
And on the enforcement side, there’s language that says nothing in the bill precludes the health department from investigating any food-borne illness.
The measure has not yet been assigned to a legislative committee for a hearing.
Tamales for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Andi and Sam spend the day eating tamale sandwiches, pies and more.
