Bill Would Loosen Regulations on Home-Based Businesses

(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa House has passed a bill that would nullify many city and county ordinances that critics say prevent Iowans from having successful home-based businesses. Representative Skyler Wheeler of Orange City, a Republican, says local governments impose costly restrictions on home businesses through a “patchwork of outmoded zoning, licensing and permitting requirements.” Representative Chuck Isenhart, a Democrat from Dubuque, says a lot of folks liked working from home during the pandemic — and though the concepts are worth discussing, the bill may go too far. A section of the bill would allow home-based baking businesses to earn up to 50-thousand dollars a year — the cap today is 35-thousand dollars — and make it legal to sell jams, jellies and syrups made in a home kitchen. State regulators would have authority to inspect food prep businesses in a home.