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Something stinks in the floral industry, and Sen. Patricia Jones, D-Salt Lake City, aims to fix it.
Jones is sponsoring Senate Bill 30, which would require a retail business to have a local address if it advertises as "local."
The bill targets florists in the Yellow Pages that advertise as local, but are in fact middlemen with a phone line. It works like this: You call the "florist" and order a $75 bouquet for your mom on Mother's Day. The person who took the call then calls a local florist and orders a $50 bouquet, pocketing $25.
"This bill corrects some of these deceptive practices," Jones said on the floor of the Senate on Thursday.
Several senators were worried that such a bill would impact legitimate businesses.
"We're doing virtual kinds of things like that all the time," said Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights. "It seems to pull in lots of folks in lots of situations."
The bill was advanced in the Senate after Jones said she would look into its impact on other businesses. Thursday afternoon she said the Division of Consumer Protection said the bill would only affect retail businesses.
The penalties for lying about locality would be a civil fine and not a criminal charge.
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