Michigan Bar Owners Bounce Lawmakers to Protest Smoking Ban

From Fox News.com - Some days, politicians could use a drink. But lawmakers in Michigan may soon find it harder to get one. Hundreds of bar owners in the Great Lakes State plan to deprive lawmakers of their hospitality by banning them from their establishments in protest of the state's smoking ban. A new group, Protect Private Property Rights in Michigan, claims it has more than 500 bar owners statewide pledging to blacklist almost every lawmaker. The idea is to persuade the Legislature to at least revisit the ban, which went into effect last year. "We're going to have to remind Lansing that our bars are in fact private property, so therefore they are now persona non grata as of Sept. 1," said Stephen Mace, director of the group and a bar worker himself. How effective the ban is could depend on how much Michigan's lawmakers cherish their local watering holes. Mace said the primary goal is to get a discussion started again in the capital -- he said many of the Republican candidates who swept into office last November were opposed to the ban but haven't done much to address it since their swearing-in. "The bar owners and workers felt they were being ignored by the new Legislature," Mace said. Mace said businesses and the government have lost millions of dollars as a result of the smoking ban, which applied to most businesses across the state when it went into effect on May 1, 2010. Mace claimed that "in excess of 100" small bars closed down in the first year as a result of the ban. According to the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, overall sales at bars and restaurants were down about 20 percent between May and July of last year after holding steady in the months before the ban. Sales of alcohol, food and lotto tickets all fell -- the drop-off in revenue was more pronounced among smaller establishments. Read more

Michigan Bar Owners Bounce Lawmakers to Protest Smoking Ban