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It's time for a workplace smoking ban–with no exceptions and no butts

On May 26, I voted against a partial workplace smoking ban that exempted casinos, cigar bars, and tobacco specialty stores.

The passage of this bill takes us down the same failed path that the previous House took on this issue last year. We shouldn't be fooled into thinking we can send the Senate anything less than a comprehensive smoking ban, which is what that chamber passed last year.

I cast my vote on the behalf of the hundreds of thousands of citizens of this state who want to see a comprehensive smoking ban, but who lack the organization and funding of the powerful special interests. It is for that reason that I voted no on this bill. I am committed to ensuring that all of Michigan's workers and families are protected from secondhand tobacco smoke, including casino employees.

According to the American Lung Association, secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and up to 69,600 heart disease deaths in adult non-smokers in the United States each year. For every eight deaths attributed to cigarette smoking in the United States, a ninth death is added that is attributable to inhaling secondhand smoke.

The measure passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 73 to 31. The legislation now goes to the Senate where a similar bill failed last year.

Hanstein Elementary School Visits Capitol

One of the best parts of my job is being able to greet students from my district as they visit the Capitol as part of their studies in Michigan history. If I am able, I take them to House chamber floor or introduce the school group during House session. Students from most of the schools in the Grosse Pointes have had an opportunity to visit our historic state Capitol, as has one Harper Woods school. However, I noticed a sad trend–no group from any of the Detroit Public Schools in my district had visited the state Capitol (and I have five elementary schools in the Detroit portion of my district).

Whatever the reason, very few students from Detroit experience this very enriching opportunity. In fact, when I checked the Capitol Tour Service, only 38 school groups from Detroit are scheduled to visit the Capitol this year, fewer than 1 percent of the more that 4,000 schools that will visit Lansing.

My staff and I contacted several of the Detroit elementary schools in the 1st District, and with the help of the Capitol Tour Service and the generosity of the Grosse Pointe Democrats, we were able to provide a tour and lunch for students from Hanstein Elementary School on May 20. The students were ecstatic to visit the Capitol and were able to visit the House floor.

I am continuing to work with the Detroit branch of the NAACP, my Detroit colleagues and the Detroit Public Schools to help find a way to allow more Detroit students to have this enriching experience.

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