I’ve found that politicians will occasionally ignore polls and pursue a policy that may be politically unpopular. Polls, after all, are not always reliable.<\/p>\n
But when voters speak their minds at the ballot box, and enact a new law by popular demand via a referendum, politicians and lawmakers generally respect the electorate’s wishes.<\/p>\n
Generally, but not always.<\/p>\n
Thanks to an article brought to my attention by Carpetbagger friend Chief Osceola, Montana’s legislature and governor have decided to reverse a voter-approved ban on indoor smoking. Like Osceola, I’m fairly intolerant when it comes to smoking and the tobacco companies, and as a result, I find this usurpation of popular will fairly shocking.<\/p>\n
Last June, voters in Helena, Montanta, approved an indoor smoking ban<\/a> by nearly a two-to-one margin. The ban was halted, however, when a lawsuit was filed in December. Helena was not the only area in Montana to pass such a ban; the citizens of Missoula also approved strict smoking restrictions.<\/p>\n With the lawsuit blocking enforcement, Montana lawmakers, under intense lobbying pressure, decided it was a good time to pass a new statewide law undoing the indoor smoking bans approved by voters. As the measure started sailing through the legislature, Montana’s Republican Governor Judy Martz announced she’d sign it into law.<\/p>\n Sadly, the governor’s announcement came less than two weeks after two Montana doctors had announced a study indicating public health was improving thanks to the smoking ban.<\/p>\n Doctors Richard Sargent and Robert Shepard presented a report at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology explaining that during enforcement of the indoor smoking ban, “hospital admissions for heart attacks in the Helena area dropped from seven a month to about three.” As the Montana AP reported<\/a>, the doctors’ data “also showed a possible spike back to normal levels after the city stopped enforcing the ban.”<\/p>\n Montana politicians have effectively concluded that saving lives and respecting popular will are less important than “property rights.”<\/p>\n Gov. Martz, by the way, seems to realize that the move may be unpopular. The voters who elected her, after all, are the same ones who supported the smoking ban.<\/p>\n As the AP noted, Martz was asked about how the reversal might affect public health. She said broad support in the legislature led her to announce her support for the change.<\/p>\n “If there’s any argument at all it’s with the people that vote on it,” Martz said. “It’s not with me.”<\/p>\n That’s a great way to pass the buck, Governor. I’d love the ban were it not for those rascals in the legislature! It’s not like I, as a state’s chief executive, have the ability to veto legislation I don’t like or anything!<\/p>\n