Below is the information I sent to my state senator;
Dear Senator,
Please do not vote to accept house bill 5999 into law.I have been in the fireworks business in Michigan for almost30 years and this bill would put me out of business!
I am in favor of the sale of all federally approved consumer fireworks.This bill in my opinion is not the best way to do this. In its current form thisbill will only let 2 or 3 very large companies run every fireworks store in the state. If the goal as described by the sponsors is to create jobs and raise money for Michigan this bill will not to that.
The parts of the bill that are anti-business are;
18 (d) A CFRSF shall maintain public liability and product 19 liability insurance coverage of not less than $2,000,000.00.
The industry standard for insurance is $1,000,000.00
26 (g) The retail sales area of a CFRSF to which the public may 27 be admitted shall be not less than 3,000 or more than 12,000 square feet.
My fireworks business that I have owned and operated in this state for nearly 30 years is only 1600 square feet. Finding a 3000+ square foot buildingwith the fire suppression this bill requires eliminates 99% of the properties on themarket. The cost of such a building would approach $1,000,000.00 Putting it out of the reach of all but the largest "out of state" importers / dealers.
15 (c) Beginning 1 year after the effective date of this act, a 16 CFRSF shall be equipped with an approved fire suppression system 17 regardless of the size of the CFRSF in compliance with NFPA 1124.
This could cost up to $500,000.00 if not already installed.
To resolve the parts of the bill I do not agree with and to have a morerobust fireworks industry that would hire more people and be far safer I would suggest the following changes to the house bill.
1) Require only $1,000,000.00 in liability insurance. 2) Require fireworks to only be sold in free standing buildings of no more than 3500 square feet. 3) Eliminate the requirement for fire suppression systems.
All these changes would allow the "average" business person to actually participatein the fireworks industry Michigan.
By requiring the sale of fireworks in smaller free standing buildings you will have a safer environmentwith a less fireworks at each location. Allowing many more smaller locations will stimulate the economywith the purchase of more permits and the sale of more building. I believe the NAPA does not requireretailers to have fire suppression equipment if the square footage of the building is less that 6000 sq feet.
These few changes would make the house bill much better. I don't think we need handful of Fireworks Mega Stores, having more stores located in more areas will boost economic activity in moreproviding more chances for employment and development.
I am very familiar with fireworks law in Michigan, as a past president of the Michigan PyrotechnicsAssociation we attempted to have the state laws better defined or changed. My company, Commonwealth Displays, Inc. was involved in a legal action that redefined how the current state law is enforced. My court battlewent all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court where the court declined to hear my case.
Please conceder my request to change the bill, I look forward to any input and I would love to talkwith anyone who wishes to produce a better fireworks bill.
Sincerely;
Steven La Fleur President Commonwealth Displays www.commonwealth.net 734-282-1055 Phone 734-282-9489 Fax