Bar owners may turn tables on Michigan lawmakers

LANSING (AP) -- Bar and restaurant owners upset about Michigan's workplace smoking ban have a ban of their own in the works. An organization called Protect Private Property Rights in Michigan said Tuesday that roughly 500 bars statewide plan to ban state lawmakers from their premises. The ban would start Sept. 1. The lawmaker ban is a way for critics to draw attention to what they say are the harmful effects of the smoking ban. Some bars say they have lost business because of the ban. Others say the ban is unfair because decisions about whether to allow smoking should be left to property owners. The Legislature-approved smoking ban took effect in May 2010. Critics of the ban want lawmakers to revisit the issue. "This subject needs to be opened up in Lansing again, it needs to be discussed again," said Steve Mace, executive director of the property rights group. In an effort to highlight what they consider the hypocrisy of Michigan's smoking ban -- which exempts gambling floors of Detroit casinos -- business owners said the lawmaker ban also would have exemptions. It would not cover the Republican or Democratic leaders in the House or Senate. Ari Adler, a spokesman for House Republican Speaker Jase Bolger, said the lawmaker ban is an interesting tactic but not one that's likely to spark legal change. Published: Thu, Aug 25, 2011