Louisiana bill advances to rid testing for florist licenses

Shannon Heckt
·2 min read

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Following multiple lawsuits, the Louisiana Legislature is looking at repealing the required license test for florists in order for them to sell flowers.

Louisiana is the only state that requires florists to pass a test to get their license to do their business. To get one of the three licenses to sell flowers, people have to pass a test that quizzes them on flower design, handling flowers and several other topics. In the subsequent years, they only have to pay the fee.

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State Rep. Mike Bayham, R-Chalmette, said flowers don’t pose a safety or health risk so he believes there doesn’t need to be a test.

“The current system we have right now with the testing and the licensing and the annual licensing is a barrier to entry into the marketplace,” Bayham said.

His bill repeals the test and makes all of the licenses combine into one permit process. Florists would just have to pay the annual fee that will stay the same as the current cost.

A grocer gave an example of how he can’t sell vases of a dozen roses in his store without a licensed florist on site. Another woman filed a lawsuit through the Pelican Institute after she couldn’t pass the test multiple times. She got into flower arranging after the death of her daughter and was discouraged by the “rigorous” testing.

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“Being the only state in the U.S. to license florists is not something that we should be proud of. We should be embarrassed of that,” said Sarah Harbison, general counsel for the Pelican Institute.

A number of amendments were proposed in committee to remove the limitations of where businesses could operate and how many vending machines they could have. The bill was advanced to the full House for more debate after amendments were added.

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