Michigan Smoking Ban Follow-up

“I blog therefore I am.”
Would Rene Descarte say that today?

“I came, I blogged, I conquered.”
Would Caesar say that today?

I wonder these things in the context of wondering why I (or anyone else) blogs. There are, I am sure, a myriad of reasons: to make a difference, to make people think, to change someone’s mind, to inform people, to entertain readers.

But no matter what the reason, bloggers want to be read. We know we are being read from various statistics packages that tell us about unique visitors, length of time a visitor spends on the blog, country of the visitor, and more.

But nothing confirms readership more than feedback. I have received more feedback on my entry about the State of Michigan smoking ban than any other subject. I’ve gotten email, phone calls, and many folks have stopped me in the \aut\ BAR to talk about it.

The biggest question is, “What is happening with the ban?”

An excellent question! There had been a lot of activity in Lansing and a lot of media coverage. Suddenly about two weeks ago it all fell silent. News searches turn up nothing and there has been no activity in either the House or Senate. So I went to one of my best Lansing sources, House Representative Rebekah Warren. Our friendship with Rebekah was forged by fire. During the Proposition 2 fight of 2004 Rebekah did more to try and defeat that hate-inspired amendment than any straight person in the State of Michigan.

I called her office this afternoon expecting to get information from a staffer. Lo and behold the afternoon House session had ended early and I had a chance to have a long discussion with Rebekah on the subject. Here’s what I learned:


Details have stalled the bill

If you read news reports this is not news, but here is a recap. The Democratic-controlled House passed a smoking ban that exempted several categories of businesses (casinos, cigar bars, bingo halls, and a few others). The Republican-controlled Senate passed a version with NO exemptions. For a bill to become law both chambers have to pass identical versions. Several democratic house members are worried about passing a ban without an exemption for casinos. The casinos are major employers in their districts, and are lobbying against the ban. As of now the House does not have the votes to pass the bill without the exemptions, and the Senate does not have the votes to pass it with the exemptions. The current status is a stalemate.

In about two weeks the Legislature will recess, and members will go into full election mode. In other words, if a compromise is not reached and passed in the next two weeks it is unlikely that anything will happen again until the end of the year at the earliest.


Behind the scenes negotiations are taking place

House Majority Leader Andy Dillon and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop are talking. They are also being lobbied hard. In fact, Rebekah tells me that of all the issues the House has tackled since she took office no issue has generated as much response from her constituents as the smoking ban. In her case she has received overwhelming support for the ban.


Action you can take

Of course you can always contact your State Representative or Senator, but frankly the power is in the hands of a few right now. The most important are the leaders of the two chambers. Drop these guys a letter, email, or call their office and tell them this is too important to let die over minor differences. Ask them to find a workable compromise and pass the ban.

Andy Dillon
Speaker of the House
District 17
andydillon@house.mi.gov
Ph: 517.373.0857
Room 166 Capitol Building

Senator Mike Bishop
Senate Majority Leader
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing, MI 48909-7536
(517) 373-2417
(517) 373-2694 – FAX
To email him you have to follow this link to the Senate Contact Page: http://www.senate.michigan.gov/ima_form.asp?name=COMMENT12&form_path=c:/webforms/rep

The stumbling blocks in the house are the Detroit area Democrats. If you visit casinos, or like to visit them, let your state representative, or a Detroit state representative know that you would visit, or visit more often if the casinos were smoke-free.


That’s the summary from Representative Rebekah Warren. Drop HER a line at rebekahwarren@house.mi.gov and thank her for being the best friend the gay community has in the State House right now.