Liberty and Custard for All: The Food Truck Freedom Bill Means Less Local Regulation on the Menu
House Bill 2844 (“HB2844”), nicknamed the “Food Truck Freedom Bill” (see HB2844 author Republican House Representative Brooks Landgraf’s Instagram post celebrating HB2844’s imminent successful passage at https://www.instagram.com/p/DKTVWlNMYLf/?hl=en), aims to centralize and streamline regulation of mobile food vendors across Texas by requiring a single, state-issued permit and preempting most local regulation of food truck-related industry. The “one-permit” system is designed to make it easier for these businesses to operate in multiple locations throughout the state, something they’re inherently and uniquely equipped to do.
Passage of Senate Bill 1008 (“SB1008”) solidifies the preemption aspect of HB2844 and elaborates the more specific dos and don’ts that will govern the role of local authorities in both the legislative sphere and enforcement.
As it stands, food truck vendors are subject to as many local regulations as they encounter on their travels, meaning that to operate lawfully, they must obtain permits every time they roll into a new municipality, county, public health district, or any other political subdivision that has promulgated food service safety regulations. And permits mean fees. These two points—food safety and administrative fees—are the central controversial elements that divide supporters of HB2844 and its critics. Notably, the number of public comments in support of HB2844 during public hearing in the House Committee on State Affairs was a whopping 133, while opposition didn’t exceed single digits.
HB2844 was inspired by a model bill drafted by the public interest law firm Institute for Justice (“IJ”). A version of IJ’s bill was also adopted by Oklahoma during its 2025 legislative session. See Okla. HB 1076. IJ also published a study in 2022 asserting that food trucks do not threaten the restaurant industry.
Whatever the economically competitive dynamic between food trucks and their brick-and-mortar counterparts, it’s common sense that they share common ground when it comes to health and safety concerns. To that end, HB2844 requires all food trucks to comply with the Health & Safety Code, but prohibits cities from enforcing any regulations more stringent. SB1008 further limits what local authorities may enact or enforce and whether and how much they can expect to extract fees.
One of the concerns raised in the public hearing before the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services was the lack of personnel resources available from the Texas Department of State Health Services (“TDSHS”) to effectively conduct inspections. HB2844 provides a potential workaround for this issue by welcoming local authorities to enter into collaborative agreements with TDSHS wherein inspections will be conducted by local officials whose employer will be reimbursed by the state for costs.
Without the incentive of collecting the usual permitting fees and cities’ active role in any kind of regulation or enforcement being strangled by the double hands of HB2844 and SB1008, it seems a leap of faith, imagination, or both to think it likely such collaborative agreements will be plentiful with municipalities.
While tensions between cities and the state may simmer, the food trucks are finally free to hit the highway and feed the folks of Texas with fewer worries weighing them down. Yummy and yeehaw!
Please do not rely on this article as legal advice. We can tell you what the law is, but until we know the facts of your given situation, we cannot provide legal guidance. This website is for informational purposes and not for the purposes of providing legal advice.
