Greenleaf Floral Protection Measure
Passes House
HARRISBURG – Last week the House of
Representatives unanimously approved Senate Bill 198, a
measure sponsored by Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf
(R-Montgomery/Bucks) aimed at preventing unscrupulous floral
businesses from masquerading as local Pennsylvania florists,
which misleads consumers and financially harms our local
florists.
The impetus behind Senate Bill 198 stemmed
from a visit that Senator Greenleaf had with several retail
florists back in 1998 who brought to his attention a concern
with an unfair trade practice within the floral industry –
deceptive phone listings. The florists shared with Sen.
Greenleaf that unethical business operators were using
fictitious telephone listings to deceive consumers into
thinking that they were doing business with a particular
local Pennsylvania florist, when in fact, they were not.
"A consumer will often select a florist
based on the name of the business, expecting the name of the
establishment to truthfully reflect the location of the
florist, "Greenleaf said. "Due to misleading names that are
similar, a consumer may not realize which florist he is
dealing with, which can make it difficult for consumers to
seek redress and may lead to legitimate local florists
having their reputations harmed, even though they had no
part of a transaction."
The legislation makes it unlawful and a
deceptive business practice for a floral vendor to
misrepresent its geographic location by listing a fictitious
or assumed name in a local telephone directory. It gives a
person, whether a consumer or local florist, a "private
cause of action" to petition the court to enjoin this unfair
business practice. The court may impose a civil fine of up
to $500 per day until the vendor complies with the
injunction. The measure does provide immunity for the
publisher of the telephone directory or newspaper that
carries the telephone number or advertisement.
"This bill ensures that a phone listing is
clear so that a consumer who wishes to support their local
retail flower shop can trust that they are doing so,"
Greenleaf said. "In addition to providing consumer
protection, SB 198 helps to protect our small businesses,
which represent the backbone of our economy."
According to recent information (February
2005) from the Pennsylvania State Data Center, there are
1,117 florists in Pennsylvania, the 5th largest number in
the nation and these businesses employ almost 6,000 people.
There are 200 cut flower farms in PA, 29 of which are in
Lancaster County.
Passage of this bill would result in
Pennsylvania joining numerous states that have enacted laws
banning this type of deceptive business practice. The
Pennsylvania Floral Industry Association fully supports this
measure. "The passage of this legislation will prevent
these unscrupulous business operators from literally
stealing business from our local florists and misleading our
consumers." said Greenleaf. The bill now goes to Governor
Rendell for his approval.
CONTACT:
ERIC PAULEY
(717) 787-6599
