When Oregon became the 24th state in the country to pass deceptive telephone listing legislation May 26, a local florist was there to watch her campaign to protect local businesses become law.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed the bill to protect local florists, amending the state's Commercial Law Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Cindy Wurdinger-Kelly, who owns Valley Pacific Floral in Woodborn, Ore., began her effort two years ago when she noticed that her local yellow pages included multiple florists with names similar to her shop's, but didn't include a current address.

With the help of SAF's deceptive telephone-listings resources, Wurdinger-Kelly prepared to testify before for Oregon House and Senate committees. "The materials SAF provided helped shape my statement so that members of the state legislature were able to understand the effects these deceptive listings have on my business and our community," she said.

After reading a prepared statement for the House committee March 20th, she went off-the-cuff for the Senate to emphasize why this bill is important not only to retail florist owners but also to consumers. She told the lawmakers about customers who, thinking they were ordering from Valley Pacific Floral, bought from the similarly-named business in Woodburn and were dissappointed to discover their purchase was not up to the high standards Valley Pacific had set with previous orders.

For more information on the Oregon bill, and other states that have similar laws to combat deceptive telephone listings, check out the Deceptive Telephone Practices page in SAF's online Legislative Resource Center or contact Brian Gamberini at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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