Two Florida lawmakers want to strengthen franchise protections for small business owners.
Senator Jack Latvala (R-Clearwater) and Representative Jason Brodeur (R-Sanford) announced the filing of the “Protect Florida Small Business Act” Tuesday. It places limits on why franchisors can revoke franchisee contracts.
Brodeur says the bill is aimed to protect families who have invested everything into their business from the arbitrariness of corporate powers above them.
“We need to make sure that that family that invests their life savings, that very frequently has their spouse and their children working there, that over many years has contributed to their community and their civic organizations, cannot have all of that work yanked away from them at the last minute without any kind of recourse,” Brodeur said.
Latvala says 40,000 small businesses which employ an estimated 400,000 Floridians would be affected, though existing contracts are left in place. It falls in line, he says, with the Legislature’s goal of strengthening Florida’s economy by promoting business investment. 24 other states already offer varying levels of franchise protection.