NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The owner of a New Orleans flower shop is challenging a law that makes Louisiana the only state that requires retail florists to pass a licensing exam.Monique Chauvin and two of her employees at Mitch’s Flowers are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court against state Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain and other members of the state Horticulture Commission.Chauvin, who failed the exam in 2000 but employs a licensed florist for her shop, claims the test is outdated, overly subjective and is administered by florists who have an incentive to flunk would-be competitors.”I think healthy competition is good, and the customers will tell us if we’re good,” she said. “Why should the government be telling me if I’m good or not?”In 2004, the state House of Representatives approved legislation that would have eliminated the licensing requirement for florists, but a Senate panel killed the bill.Chauvin’s lawyers are from the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm that previously was unsuccessful in a challenge of the law.A federal judge dismissed a similar suit filed by the group, ruling in 2005 that state lawmakers have the authority to decide what businesses must be licensed. The institute asked a federal appeals court to review the judge’s ruling, but the court ruled the case was moot because its plaintiffs were scattered by Hurricane Katrina and no longer wanted to be retail florists or couldn’t be found.Tim Keller, a lawyer for the institute, said the group believes the new suit will yield a better outcome for the plaintiffs.”We’re confident because there is no legitimate reason for the government to dictate who can and who cannot arrange flowers,” he said.Thomas Spedale, a licensed florist and former Horticulture Commission member, said the licensing requirement protects consumers.”It allows the consumers to know they are dealing with a professional,” he said.Spedale also rejected the notion that the test’s supporters are trying to stifle competition.”We, as an industry, are always looking for good, talented designers,” he said.Chauvin said her licensed florist is ill and may have to quit, forcing her to hire a replacement, pass the test herself or close the shop.”It would leave me with no license and they could shut me down,” she said.A spokesman for Strain said the commissioner hadn’t seen the suit and couldn’t immediately comment Wednesday.Also named as plaintiffs in the suit are Leslie Massony and Michelle Domingue, who work as unlicensed “floral clerks” for Chauvin, and Debra Hirsch Wood, who has failed the exam but wants to operate a floral-arranging business from her Metairie home.To call attention to their suit, Chauvin, Massony and Wood plan to gather Thursday outside the federal courthouse in New Orleans to arrange and sell flowers, an act they term civil disobedience.The test, which costs $150 to take, is comprised of a one-hour written exam and a four-hour practical exam in which the taker must design four floral arrangements.John Harkins, a New Orleans flower shop owner who has been licensed for 30 years and has been a judge for the state-mandated exams, said the test “doesn’t really judge anything.””The whole thing is absurd,” he said. “It just makes money for the state.”Chauvin’s suit claims the law violates the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights. They are asking a judge to bar the commission from enforcing the licensing requirement.–Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]