Calling All Florida Home Bakers - Lets Get The Law Changed!

Business By janelwaters Updated 20 Nov 2013 , 3:43pm by LoveMeSomeCake615

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janelwaters Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 5:00pm
post #1 of 238

I have seen this on SEVERAL new threads from other states - so why not us!

I have done a little bit of research so far. You can go to this website to find your legislators - http://www.flsenate.gov/Info_Center/index.cfm?Mode=About%20the%20Legislature&Submenu=1&Tab=info_center&CFID=139450330&CFTOKEN=94530260

I *think* our first step is finding one to sponsor the bill. Does anyone know any legislators that can help us?? If not, I say - lets start a letter writing (email) campaign!

Please let me know your thoughts!!

237 replies
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GayeG Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 5:03pm
post #2 of 238

WooooHoooo

Amen Sista!

Let me see if I can locate a mailing address if we are so inclined to send petitions =)

Ok girls & guys .. here is the addy to our State House in Tallahassee ..
Please write/call and let them know how you feel!!
And as Janelwaters said: Find your local rep and lets get this thing on the books! If Texas can do it so can we!!!!


Tallahassee Office:
410 Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100
(850) 487-5027
Senate VOIP: 5027

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cakedoll Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 5:31pm
post #3 of 238

I'm down for it. I'll start checking into things from this neck of the woods. I have no idea how to go about this, but you have to start somewhere, right?

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linedancer Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 5:46pm
post #4 of 238

I am in too. Don't personally know either on of my reps, but neither of their district offices are far from me, I mean like right down the street..

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janelwaters Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 5:47pm
post #5 of 238

Grass Roots baby!

Ok - I saw on a thread from one of the other states where someone on CC went through a lot of trouble to write up a great template/email/letter to send off and now I can't find it here on CC. I don't remember which state had it posted or member wrote it - any help would be great!!

Texas is currently working on theirs - who was the first state to get it passed? I can't remember!!! I think my 2 year old is causing me to have brain damage! haha

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cats242 Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:03pm
post #6 of 238

Yeah!!! The law needs to be changed...I'm in!

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lesalyric Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:05pm
post #7 of 238

Just an FYI for you guys, a lot of the permits issued for restaurants in Florida are regulated by an entity called DBPR (Division of Business and Professional Regulation.)

Here is a link to the hotels/restaurants division:

http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/hr/index.html

That might also be a place to start.

GOOD LUCK!!! icon_biggrin.gif

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splash2splat Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:05pm
post #8 of 238

So are you trying to legalize in home bakers or what? Good luck I'll be rooting for you!!

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janelwaters Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:09pm
post #9 of 238

Like Maryland and Texas were trying to get the Cottage Food Laws passed, which allows you to bake non-hazardous foods at home.

The other problem in Florida is that there are about 3 different agencies monitoring 3 different kinds of food service - its CRAZY!!

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jewelykaye Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:10pm
post #10 of 238

Janel-

Here's a link the to Texas Cottage Food Law Headquarters website:

http://www.texascottagefoodlaw.com/default.htm

It has the sample letters posted on there plus a bunch of other information.

You might want to PM KelleyM to see how exactly she convinced Rep. Gattis to author the bill for us here in TX.

Also, it will be helpful for your cause if you can get the bill co-authored by other Reps. The more the better.

Another thing is as soon as you get a Rep to agree to author it you guys (in FL) need to start making a strategy for the public hearing. Because once the bill is authored and introduced it will be assigned to a committee (ours was assigned to the Public Health Committee). Soon after it is assigned to a committee it will be scheduled to be heard at a public hearing.

For our hearing we Kelley had multiple cake ladies show up in support wearing either purple or pink shirts. She also had over a 100 letters of testimony from supporters of the bill. Finally she choose 3 people to speak for the bill. These people will have to probably keep it to under 4 minutes.

I would suggest watching the public hearing that our bill went through to prepare yourself. I will see if I can find the link for you. (It's in the texas thread somewhere.) It will prepare you for what to expect to be said against your bill and just how the whole process might go.

Also, I don't know what time frame you are working on because I know that for TX all the bills have to be processed by May 31st. If not, they die on the floor and will not be seen again until 2011.

Good Luck!!!

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pianocat Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:11pm
post #11 of 238

I actually e-mailed Sen. Haridopolos already, and will do whatever I can to get them onboard.

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janelwaters Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:19pm
post #12 of 238

Thank you all so much!! I DID finally find the letter on the Texas Cottage Food Laws site and I PMed Kelley - she is just amazing with what she has been doing for Texas and the bakers there!!

I really have NO idea what type of time frame we are working on or how long this would take etc....

This was something that I have thought about in passing for a long time, but just "spur of the moment" got started on it today, so ANY and ALL info is MORE THAN WELCOME!!!

I really think that I will be spending most of my day on the Texas website - I should be working on some fondant pirates!! haha - oh well!!!

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mcook1670 Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:27pm
post #13 of 238

I'm down too. I just put the deposit on my rental kitchen in Largo. It costs me $35.00 to rent and it's about a 30-40 min drive from where I live in tampa. Not bad, but it would be easier to do it from home! Let me know if there anything I can do

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twindees Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:28pm
post #14 of 238

Oh my goodness, this is GREAT. I am in. We can do this.

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jewelykaye Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:31pm
post #15 of 238

Also, Fl is a ballot initiative state. So if for some reason you aren't able to get the bill passed you could always try the ballot initiative route.

Basically, you have to do a petition and get so many people to sign it and then it gets added to the ballot and I think 60% of the voters have to vote for it and then it becomes law.

I'm not that knowledgeable on this because Texas is not a state that does this.

Here is a website I found that might help:

http://www.ballot.org/pages/florida

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janelwaters Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:32pm
post #16 of 238

GIRL!!! you are AMAZING!! thank you so much!!

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jewelykaye Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:36pm
post #17 of 238

Hey I think every state should have this legal. Why should it be just a couple handfuls of states? If they have it legal and haven't had problems then we all should have it legal? I wish I knew if there was a way to fight for all the states at once.

I know how hard of a battle this is. Ours (Texas) is still going on. It's an aggravating battle. But it's so worth it. I'm more than happy to help any way I can.

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GayeG Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:40pm
post #18 of 238

Wow! All this info is awesome!!! please everyone - lets follow these leads and do whatever we can in our own district too!!

Thanks ya'll for all this great info!!!

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janelwaters Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:41pm
post #19 of 238

I watched that video on the Texas site - what a witch that lady is!! I woulda smacked her! "want a cupcake" - like this is no big deal and it just pi$$ed me off!!!

I totally agree that it should be legal everywhere! as has been well documented (especially on a recent thread that got locked) commercial kitchens are NO more clean or sanitary than your home kitchen!! Frankly, after reading that thread I never want to eat fritos (or any corn products), or pork rinds, or at dominos or red lobster, or chick-fil-a or wendy's ..... ever again!! basically, I'm cooking at home! I know my kitchen is clean and my food is fresh!

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meharding Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 6:59pm
post #20 of 238

I called Jimmy Patronis's office. The aid there told me they are in session now and the session ends in one week. The deadline for new bills is in February so that give us lots of time to get organized. I am going to email him to ask what needs to be done to get the ball rolling.

His aid thought it was a great idea to help folks out in these stressful economic times. She also suggested that we contact the various regulating agencies to find out what is required to run a legal shop right now. Does anyone want to run that down? We could then show how hard it is to turn a profit running out of a commercial kitchen.

So lets all contact our own legislators and report back to this thread. They will be really busy for the next week though.

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Auryn Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 7:08pm
post #21 of 238

This is great.
I am in palm beach county, I will try getting info down here.
I think we definitely need to include the 'economic development' portion of our argument.

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jewelykaye Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 7:09pm
post #22 of 238

Here is the link to the page that has the video feed for our (Texas's) public hearing:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/broadcasts.php?session=81&committeeCode=410

Go to the date 3/24/09
Then click on the 8:09am-8:20am link and they start discussing the bill at 29:50.
Then the feed continues...
Click on the 12:50pm-10:21pm, this starts right back into discussing our bill again.

I really do recommend watching this. First of all it is very entertaining because some on these people were rediculous and second it is really going to give you guys an edge.

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janelwaters Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 7:15pm
post #23 of 238

The biggest cost is getting the commercial kitchen licensed - you have to have an approved commercial kitchen with a hood and grease trap $$ a actual commercial equipment. You cannot put a regular stove in - it has to be something that you would see in a restaurant. The plans for the kitchen have to be approved and then you have to have an inspection and pay all the fees associated with that.

Then you have to get your business license to run the business, which is in itself not too difficult but is a little expensive.

You have to take the SafeStaff class - no big deal and you would still have to if this law gets passed - that is minimal cost with that and makes very good sense.

I can't remember what all you have to do, but basically it took me about 2 hours on the phone calling different agencies to find out what governing body (health department/office of professional services/environmental health) that I would have to be licensed through! It was CRAZY!!!

It basically takes MONTHS and tons of misinformation to get a commercial kitchen set up and there are no government funds or grants to help you out.

Amazing work everyone!! Keep it up!!! I'm sure that we could be ready by February!!

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Brownie1954 Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 7:18pm
post #24 of 238

Hi all....
I wish you the best of luck on this. When I lived there, (Orlando) I wanted to do home-baking, and was told it was not allowed because Florida is considered a transient State (too many people moving in and out all the time by the droves) My girlfriend has lived there for 30 years, and she said she was told the same thing. When I took classes at the Notter School of Pastry Arts three years ago, I asked around with the students in the class that live there, and it was still the same.
I'm not trying to put a wet blanket on this for you. I really hope you can get this off the ground.

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GayeG Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 7:33pm
post #25 of 238
Quote:
Originally Posted by meharding

I called Jimmy Patronis's office. The aid there told me they are in session now and the session ends in one week. The deadline for new bills is in February so that give us lots of time to get organized. I am going to email him to ask what needs to be done to get the ball rolling.

His aid thought it was a great idea to help folks out in these stressful economic times. She also suggested that we contact the various regulating agencies to find out what is required to run a legal shop right now. Does anyone want to run that down? We could then show how hard it is to turn a profit running out of a commercial kitchen.

So lets all contact our own legislators and report back to this thread. They will be really busy for the next week though.




Thanks for making that call! Hopefully you will have more info for us when/if you recieve an email back ..
I tried to call my rep but just got a voice mail but left my # so hopefully will get a call back today ..
I will try later today to find that info on what is required for a bakery now .. I've read it b4 but we'll need that info anyways for janels letter ..

Good work our Fl cake friend!!

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GayeG Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 7:38pm
post #26 of 238
Quote:
Originally Posted by jewelykaye

Here is the link to the page that has the video feed for our (Texas's) public hearing:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/broadcasts.php?session=81&committeeCode=410

Go to the date 3/24/09
Then click on the 8:09am-8:20am link and they start discussing the bill at 29:50.
Then the feed continues...
Click on the 12:50pm-10:21pm, this starts right back into discussing our bill again.

I really do recommend watching this. First of all it is very entertaining because some on these people were rediculous and second it is really going to give you guys an edge.




a wwww - you are like a true diamond shinning in our darkness!!! Thanks soooo much for all this great info!!
Im off to be entertained and informed by your video's!! thumbs_up.gif

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clovely Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 7:39pm
post #27 of 238
Quote:
Originally Posted by jewelykaye

Also, Fl is a ballot initiative state. So if for some reason you aren't able to get the bill passed you could always try the ballot initiative route.

Basically, you have to do a petition and get so many people to sign it and then it gets added to the ballot and I think 60% of the voters have to vote for it and then it becomes law.

I'm not that knowledgeable on this because Texas is not a state that does this.

Here is a website I found that might help:

http://www.ballot.org/pages/florida




I've worked on ballot initiatives before - that's a ridiculous undertaking!! Takes like 5 million signatures on a petition to even get it considered.

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GayeG Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 7:43pm
post #28 of 238

What?!?!?!?!?!? OMG That many????
Hmmmm
Well, back to whinning to my Legislator!!

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sadsmile Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 7:46pm
post #29 of 238

I am going to be watching this for anything I can do! Do you have a link or phone number?(Just saw the links on page 1)THANKS! I can write letter after letter if need be.

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malishka Posted 27 Apr 2009 , 7:51pm
post #30 of 238

i'm in

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