Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on March 25, 2010

Click here to view bill details.

Has there ever been a human activity that the democrats did not want to regulate or tax?

 BAD FOR BUSINESS - BAD FOR MICHIGAN, another anti business democratic move to hinder Michigans recovery and chase more existing business over the border where they can be competitve. Watch these dem's at work. Spartan Electronic - 100 years in Jackson, Michigan, just recently moves to Illinois - Michigan dem's make business enivorment unfriendly and uncompetitive. Whirlpool - Benton Harbor, Michigan - Building new manufacturing plants in Mexico, Michigan dem's continue to push companies out of Michigan. Now that most of the big ones are gone, it time to start on the small businesses that are left. Small fireworks companies will be forced to pay up or get out. Elections are right around the corner, elect employers not employees to make laws that will keep whats left in Michigan.

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This bill will devastate many of us already struggling small business', I have been selling fireworks ( fountains and sparklers) for almost 10 years. However my building does not meet the new proposed requirements, I have buildings on both sides of me plus apartments up above, I am only 20 feet from the street, a fire suppression system would cost me about 30k to install. The bill makes no mention of Grandfathering stores like mine in. So how will I survive, even if they let me sell what I sell now, all that will happen is some guy will open up down the street, sell the good stuff (that the bill proposes to make legal,) and they will practically give away the fountains and sparklers, forcing people like me out of business.

 

Any Representatives or Senators that read this I urge you to take a better look at the bill. I would also say you may want to take a look at who was really behind it, the rumblings are that a certain wholesaler with the wherewithal to open up multiple stores here in Michigan, is behind this bill, knowing that he will put many of us smaller guys out of business.

 

 

Thank You

 

Rocky

If it becomes law, this bill probably will "devastate" only the people on Indian reservations in Michigan who sell fireworks, by giving them some competition.  It will expand retail opportunities for non-reservation people.

 You are misinformed on who now sells fireworks. There are many dealers that sell 1.4 fireworks to people who can obtain a permit from their townships. Most of these also sell 1.3 or shoot displays for local villiages and cities here in Michigan. It will cost them $5K for the license and $5K for the storage. This will be passed on to your cites and villiages.

Yes, I am for residents to be able to shoot fireworks legally. But, all this bill is a monopolization of the firework trade in this state. Plain and simple.

 

Pyrohobie, you left out some additional cost to do business in Michigan. What about the $5000.00 per each vehicle that transports fireworks. If you have 10 crews working the 4th in 10 different cities, that is another $50,000, maybe those bleeding hearts will step up and post the 5K for the transportation cost for each vehicle. Oh, what about the increase minimums for insurance. This is like buying a used car with all the sales pitches that I have heard so far from those supporting this bill in Lansing. The worst part is, they can't even balance a CHECKBOOK! How did your representative vote on this bill?

 My rep was 1 out of 5 democrats that voted against this bill- see 10-15 minutes of your time can do something  if they are willing to listen. I know there was a lot more than what I put into this. The whole bill besides Michigan residents having the right to shoot isn't worth the paper it was written on.

 

 

I am not in favor of this bill because I am not in favor of personal fireworks. They are noisy, dangerous, and childish. Fireworks should be left to the professionals. The revision of the regulations I would like to see is to make all personal fireworks not only illegal to buy, but illegal to possess.

 The fireworks bill will only hurt the state of michigan revenue.  All small stores will not be allowed to sell existing legal fireworks and the state will lose all sales tax and income tax.  There are 90 small stores in jackson alone that sell fireworks and pay sales and income tax.  More people will be buying their fireworks out of state then before.  Injuries will rise as the state hasn't trained a staff to admininistrate a change in law.  If the state wants more money it should find something they can change that won't hurt the state and the people in it.  This bill looks like some representative got a big pay off from a fireworks company to put all small salespeople out of business and create big money for one or two compaies.     

Having had at three friends who suffered mightily from playing with fireworks -- one lost both hands, one lost a thumb and the third lost his life -- I see fireworks as well capable of producing mayhem.  I view the various licensing provisions in this bill as appropriate to regulating such an obvious hazard to the public.

 I have written to my legislators for two years regarding this matter.  I agree that consumer fireworks are childish, dangerous, and certainly not in the best interest of the citizens of the great state of Michigan.  In my area, we have approximately 30 professional shows around the 4th of July; if you have travelled the state, you know that even the smallest towns either have their own shows or are close to one that does.  In addition, if you read further into HB5999, the House admits it has no idea how much revenue this law would create; it is also ironic that the funds are to go to "fire safety'.   If this matter concerns you as much as it concerns me, please contact your state senator and Governor Granholm.

 one lost both hands, one lost a thumb and the third lost his life -These not 1.4 consumers fireworks and is against federal laws. If your going to state facts give us how much time your friends spend in jail by altering 1.4 fireworks to 1.3 or higher

 I have been a professional for 32 years-have shot over 100 displays, There is nothing wrong with someone wanting to do a backyard display and now they have to go to Indiana to buy such fireworks and are still breaking the law by doing something other state residents already have. I am against this bill becaus eof the monopoly part of it.

pyrohobie:

 one lost both hands, one lost a thumb and the third lost his life -These not 1.4 consumers fireworks and is against federal laws. If your going to state facts give us how much time your friends spend in jail by altering 1.4 fireworks to 1.3 or higher

Be careful with your accusations, pyrohobie.  The incidents actually happened, the injuries and death were very real, and the statement was a general one about the hazards of fireworks, which are very real. 

What this bill really is about is regulating the sale of fireworks, or, more accurately, sellers of fireworks.  Nobody could credibly deny that concentrated batches of fireworks (as found in a retail or wholesale operation) constitute a public safety threat.  I believe the licensing provisions proposed in this legislation are reasonable in light of that.

 

FreeSpeaker:

pyrohobie:

 one lost both hands, one lost a thumb and the third lost his life -These not 1.4 consumers fireworks and is against federal laws. If your going to state facts give us how much time your friends spend in jail by altering 1.4 fireworks to 1.3 or higher

Be careful with your accusations, pyrohobie.  The incidents actually happened, the injuries and death were very real, and the statement was a general one about the hazards of fireworks, which are very real. 

What this bill really is about is regulating the sale of fireworks, or, more accurately, sellers of fireworks.  Nobody could credibly deny that concentrated batches of fireworks (as found in a retail or wholesale operation) constitute a public safety threat.  I believe the licensing provisions proposed in this legislation are reasonable in light of that.

 

 

 Accusations-please advise where and when this happen-If it was that big of a issue, there should be a lot of press!!!

 

Yes- I have known 2 people who are no longer on this earth- 1 lost a hand and a half-2 got prison terms, But what I failed to say is that these were federal illegal fireworks-not consumers fireworks.

 

 

Hang on there friend, if this bill passes it will mean that many stores that have been selling the Michigan legal stuff for years, will NOT be able to sell anything anymore, and for some of us that means a substantial amount of income loss, now tell me how does that help the economy?

You do realize that if you look up the CDC for cause of injury and death, that Fireworks are not even in the top 100. In fact if you take the amount of individual fireworks that are lit off every year in the forth of July week, and apply those same numbers to kids riding bikes, that while there may be 1- 3 actual fireworks deaths, and over 1200 reported injuries, if the same number were applied to bycyles, there would be over 1000 deaths and 10000 injuries, NOW do you let you kids ride bikes? Also any child that is injured, by a firework, my first question is "WHERE WERE THE PARENTS"

 Also lets not for get that more people are killed on Skate Boards, swimming pools, and roller blades.

 

And in the same fouth of July week, lets not forget how many people will die from drinking and driving.

 

This bill I beleave was presented by a large Firework distributor who knows that if passed he will be one of the few with the money to operate, becasue he will have sucessfully eleminated his competion, just my opinion.

How about not disturbing the peace for the week before and after the Fourth? Enough with this stupid idea.

Before we condemn the celebration of your Independence, let's not forget that we have young people dying oversea's so you can enjoy the freedom's that we seem to be losing everyday. Your attitude about fireworks is very self centered for what ever reason. Maybe you have no ancestery that died in the fight for freedoms that we once had in America. Fireworks were here long before any of us that are here today. Do your home work before you condemn anyone displaying fireworks. You may be infringing upons someones religous beliefs. But then in America, we would not want to "shove" our beliefs down some elses thoart, would we? For the record, fireworks that leave the ground and go "BANG" are legal in Michigan to buy, sell, possess, store, transport and whatever else you would like to do with them. The catch is very simple. You just need to get a local permit. It not hard or unrealistic. The big problem in Michigan, is that those people that you trust so much with your life and future, have failed again to tell you that. So if you want to address and real issue, tell the people that you are paying the big bucks to run your life, to tell it like it is. If you would like to have a small family fireworks display, "GET A PERMIT". Oh, guess what, you can also buy those same fireworks that leave the ground and go bang, right here in Michigan from Michigan fireworks dealers that live and do business as well as pay taxes here.

You seem to have your holidays confused. Memorial Day is to remember and show our gratitude for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. The Fourth of July is to celebrate our independence from the British with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, actually signed on July the 2nd, but I won't quibble over a day or two. There are no religious beliefs that apply to the Fourth of July. Maybe you were educated in Texas, a state known for historical revisioning. If so, I will excuse your ignorance in regards to the meaning of the Fourth.

I have nothing at all against fireworks, and support those who use them legally and safely. I do not support those who use them days , and even weeks before and after the Fourth, at all hours of the day and night. What, may I ask, are they celebrating?

 

games7522:

Fireworks were here long before any of us that are here today. Do your home work before you condemn anyone displaying fireworks.

Now, just what is that supposed to mean? 

Lots of stuff "was here" long before any of us alive today came into the world.  But that doesn't necessarily mean it's safe, wholesome or should stand exempted from reasonable regulation.

Common sense tells all but fools that concentrated collections of explosive materials -- of the sort found in wholesale and retail fireworks sales, storage and transport operations -- poses a potential threat to public health and safety.  That invokes the Michigan legislature's (state) constitutional obligation to regulate the tafficking in fireworks, which is exactly what this bill proposes to do.  Given the potential for mayhem that might occur, the permitting and licensing requirements seem realistic and reasonable to me.

 This is simply another plot by the Democratic party to raise taxes. Any fees, licenses or taxes placed on any business becomes a cost of doing business. They must, simply, add that cost to their products. The final consumer (you & I) are the only taxpayers. It will, undoubtably, add another bureaucratic department to Michigan government which taxpayers will be expected to pay for. It will have exactly zero effect on the safe use of fireworks.

edgrubb:

 This is simply another plot by the Democratic party to raise taxes. Any fees, licenses or taxes placed on any business becomes a cost of doing business. They must, simply, add that cost to their products. The final consumer (you & I) are the only taxpayers. It will, undoubtably, add another bureaucratic department to Michigan government which taxpayers will be expected to pay for. It will have exactly zero effect on the safe use of fireworks.

You are right, of course, that this bill (should it become law) will not make fireworks themselves inherently safer.  And it is true that consumers of fireworks will cover the increased cost of doing business such regulations impose on fireworks purveyors.

But there's the thing.  In one way or another taxpayers will cover the public cost of mayhem that fireworks can and sometimes do create. It is fitting -- in conservative (Republican?) thought -- that those who create the potential for public cost by trafficking in items like fireworks should bear the burden of that cost.  So even on an economic basis there is a good argument for strong regulation of commercial trafficking in fireworks, as provided in this bill.

 

Consumer grade (1.4g) fireworks when used as directed on label pose little threat to safety. Most accidents occur when people try to make their own fireworks because of the dissatisfaction they receive from Michigan's "legal fireworks". If people alter fireworks to try to "improve" them and they get hurt then they did it to themselves. Most times it's not the fireworks fault it's the idiot lighting the fuse.

 So what would remain legal, snakes and sparklers? Lame! I'm so embarrassed by all the skirts in Lansing and all citizens who agree. When did Michigan become such a pansy state? Oh yah, November '02.

bigson:

Consumer grade (1.4g) fireworks when used as directed on label pose little threat to safety. Most accidents occur when people try to make their own fireworks because of the dissatisfaction they receive from Michigan's "legal fireworks". If people alter fireworks to try to "improve" them and they get hurt then they did it to themselves. Most times it's not the fireworks fault it's the idiot lighting the fuse.

In reading this bill I see little (or nothing) in respect to regulating fireworks once they are in the hands of the ultimate (individual) consumer.  Except, of course, the bill would expand the variety of fireworks legally availble to the individual consumer.  That hardly makes it a restriction on "freedom" as some opponents of the bill like to characterize the legislation.  In fact, it expands "freedom" for the individual consumer.

What this bill recognizes is that concentrated lots of fireworks, as amassed in wholesale and retail outlets, storage and transportation operations, do constitute a special hazard to public health and safety.  Thus, close regulation of those facilities and activities, as provided for and funded by the proposed permit and permit fee structures makes good sense as a matter of public policy.  Those who stand to profit from the hazard they create should pay for regulating and protecting the public from it (witness the current oil spill crises in the Gulf of Mexico for a national example).

 

 

A LIBERTARIAN PERSPECTIVE;

This is admittedly plagerized, but it does give a perspective to those who wish life was the way it used to be.

No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us, WE ARE AWESOME! There is a 50-year window that if you happened to be born in, consider yourself lucky. That window is from 1925-1975. This is to all the kids who survived the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. First, we survived being born to mothers who drank and/or smoked while they were pregnant. After that trauma we slept in cribs with lead based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles or locks on cabinent doors. We NEVER wore helmets when we rode our bicycles. As infants and children we never had car seats, booster seats, or wore seat-belts. Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a hot summer day was always a special treat. We drank water out of the garden hose, never a bottle. We shared one bottle of pop with four friends and no one ever died from this. We ate twinkies, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid with real white sugar and we weren't overweight. Why? Because we were always playing outside! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us at any given time of the day, and we were okay. We would spend hours building go-carts out of wooden crates and ride them down the hill. After running into the bushes a few times, we figured out how to stop. We did not have Play Stations, X-boxes, or Nintendo's. There weren't 150 channels on cable. No DVD's, DVR's, cell phones, laptops or internet chatrooms. WE HAD FRIENDS! And we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, maybe broke a bone, and there were never any lawsuits for these accidents. If we were bad, we would get spankings. No one would ever call child services for this. Back them it was called disipline. We got BB guns on our 10th birthday. And although mom said it would happen, no one I know ever actually shot their eye out. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to try harder next time. And in the meantime learn to deal with the disappointment. Imagine that! the idea of a parent bailing us out of jail if we broke the law was unheard of. Back then, they actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned to deal with it all. So, if you were born between 1925-1975, CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. While you are at it, tell your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?

What does the "libertarian perspective" have to do with this bill?  If anything, this legislation proposes to inrease individual liberty by enlarging the variety of fireworks legally available to Michigan residents. 

By the way, I grew up in the 1950s and came of age in the 1960s.  Had lots of personal freedom, and was allowed by good and responsible parents to enjoy a lot of wholesome activities at and away from home.  I also was encouraged to do things like read and think, and take real responsibility for (including steps to protect) my own well-being as I went about my daily activities.  Somehow, I never had any desire to run through the house with scissors in my hand..

Civilization is estimated to be about 6000 years old. To attribute 50 years of that time to be the best, when a man's lifespan is only about 75 years, is ridiculous, and pointless to this discussion. Laws and regulations are what keep us civilized.

Free Speaker you sound good on paper, but there is a reality here. First of all "we claim we fight for freedom" that is the pitch we preach around the world. Freedom, you claim to know so much about. Have you lost any family members or friends in this "Fight for Freedom" campaign? Freedom, is freedom where the government steps in a imposes heavy fee's upon existing businesses and forces thousands of people out of work? Free Speaker, is that your kind of freedom? If you need a little more help on freedom in America or even Michigan, maybe you should read the United States Constitution word for word and not in between the lines. Your knowledge about fireworks is very lame at best. Try researching something before you take shots publicily at others who have researched in detail the issues at stake here. Yes, the 4th of July in about Independence and from your knowledge base, is shows that you have little or no knowledge about fireworks, many people died trying to get "your"  Independence that you so are freely willing to surrender. For more knowledge about fireworks, try going to China where they were invented well before there was any "Independence Day" in America. I can say this from experience, which clearly you have known. Fireworks were in fact invented as a religious tool, has nothing to due with why we shoot them off, but again this is America, we twist and tax the hell out of everything. We do that so those who don't want to work for a living don't have to. So before you blow your own horn, maybe you should come out of the closet with knowledge instead of your own personal beliefs that are far from realistic. Maybe the state should look at your business and add a few more heavy fee's on it, sounds good to all of us, and obviously you are willing to just give in. Legalize fireworks in Michigan? Only a idiot with no common sense would even consider this current bill. Oh, by the way, I'm not from Texas, but I love working there. How's the employment picture in Michigan?

 In Response:

We need to remember that not all of our men and women who have fought for our country are able to handle fireworks displays very well.  After being subjected to a neighbor's ongoing 3 night demonstration of commercial grade fireworks, my husband's nightmares flared up.  He was in the special forces and served in Black Hawk Down in Somalia, the ground war in Kuaitt, Iraq both times, Afghanistan, in Panama, Eastern Europe and Grenada.  He usually does really well, but after that ongoing display, his post traumatic stress flared up and he was not himself for at least three months - this basically means that I keep the kids away from him, give him his space and let him try to regain control of himself again.  That three night display ruined our lives for three months.  I think that vets with PTSD should be able to have bans on fireworks displays within 1/2 mile of their residence.  Also, people applying for permits should have to inform their neighbors of the time, durration, etc.  Tonight the bottle rockets started up and I could see my husband start to tense up.  The 4th is only 3 days away, and I really don't know what to do - we can't leave town because we have livestock to take care of - and the animals really don't do well with the racket either.

What is this holiday about?  One's rights should never infringe on the rights of another.

And, we should respect our vets.  Most vets have too much pride to let people know just how much they are affected by the explosions.

spouse of a vet:

We need to remember that not all of our men and women who have fought for our country are able to handle fireworks displays very well. ...

How did this become a veterans issue? 

This bill is about regulation of commerce (trade) in fireworks to serve the interest of public health and safety.

Mrs. Spouse, I understand the need for the military. I also understand job hazards. Unfortunately when your husband chose to collect a pay check for his or your benefit, he was well aware of what he could be getting himself into. Unfortunately, this money is coming out of my pocket into your pockets. Maybe you and him should seek medical help for his situation that he is or was being paid for. I love all the bleeding hearts crying about ain't if aweful that I was being paid for my services, now look at me. I am sure in peace time he was not drafted! The military has benefits in place for people who suffer from trauma for there own chosen actions. If you don't believe in "WARS", do not join the military. Avoid it at all cost, including leaving America. That is one of your chosen rights. I am sure he was paid for his services, maybe you can collect names of all the vets and start a class action suit against the UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. Good luck!