displayfireworks1
02-20-2014, 09:42 AM
Please read this copy and paste of a recent story I found. It appears they are trying to legalize the full line of consumer fireworks in Virginia. Who do you think would oppose such a thing. Surely not someone in the fireworks business. This is at least the second time I found TNT Fireworks sending lobbyist to interfere with new fireworks laws. Read this and tell me your impression.
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RICHMOND — A bill allowing the sale of big-bang fireworks in Virginia ran into heated opposition in a House of Delegates subcommittee Tuesday, after having passed smoothly through the state Senate.
The bill had attracted some influential opponents, apparently including big-box stores, in the past month, although only one competitor stepped up to speak against it Tuesday in a General Laws subcommittee.
The panel adopted an amended version of Senate Bill 343 that its sponsor, Sen. Tom Garrett, R-Louisa County, had not seen prior to the meeting.
Garrett, who represents part of Lynchburg, chose not to oppose the change, but he didn’t support it either.
The bill remains alive, Garrett said, but the coalition of support he had from fire chiefs and fire marshals may turn into opposition. The amendment strips out safety-enforcement ability Garrett’s version would have given to state-level fire marshals.
“Do you think the fix was in?” Garrett asked afterward, noting the new version of his bill already was printed and ready to hand out to House subcommittee members.
The bill now faces further review in the full General Laws committee, as well as on the House floor. If it passes there, it would go back to the Senate in what would become a long and rigorous legislative process.
The subcommittee’s chairman, Del. Chris Peace, R-Hanover County, asked opponents of Garrett’s original bill to step forward, but the only comment came from a lobbyist representing a producer of small-scale fireworks for resale by charitable groups such as the Boy Scouts.
“There was a whole lot of activity earlier today and the day before on this legislation,” Peace said. “So I’m somewhat taken aback by others not stepping forward,” he said.
Garrett called on opponents by name during his remarks to the subcommittee.
“It came to my attention today that Wal-Mart was opposed to this bill,” he said, going on to name other behind-the-scene opponents, including Target, Food Lion and other big-box stores, all of which sell sparklers and other non-exploding fireworks.
Nearly all of those stores rely on wholesaler TNT, which Garrett described as a monopoly supplier of what some in the meeting called “safe and sane” fireworks.
TNT Fireworks essentially has the lion’s share of the Virginia fireworks market, Garrett said.
“TNT Fireworks’ business model is to work through big-box retailers,” Garrett said, listing Wal-Mart, Food Lion, Target and Costco.
Garrett said his bill would create mom-and-pop businesses, especially in economically distressed parts of Virginia.
The result could be 800 to 1,000 full-time, year-round, jobs plus nearly 10,000 summer jobs for teen-agers, he said.
He said revenue from safety inspections by fire chiefs and fire marshals could amount to $250,000, with sales taxes capturing revenue many Virginians now dispense to the roughly 20 states that allow sale of what, in the trade, is known as 1.4G fireworks — the kind that fly and explode.
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As you read this you see TNT Fireworks likes keeping this state a "Safe and Sane" state. If Virginia goes full line legal that would be too much competition for them. I keep telling people the real enemy of fireworks is not some imaginary group of fireworks haters. The enemy of fireworks is actually people in the fireworks business and a small group of users of fireworks.
http://www.myonlinemaps.com/images/virginia-map.gif
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If you search political donations and fireworks you find all sort of interesting data. Here is one for TNT Fireworks not the political donations in the corresponding Safe and Sane states.
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http://www.followthemoney.org/database/topcontributor.phtml?u=18765&y=0
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To be fair TNT contributions are average amongst the major fireworks distributors and display companies.
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RICHMOND — A bill allowing the sale of big-bang fireworks in Virginia ran into heated opposition in a House of Delegates subcommittee Tuesday, after having passed smoothly through the state Senate.
The bill had attracted some influential opponents, apparently including big-box stores, in the past month, although only one competitor stepped up to speak against it Tuesday in a General Laws subcommittee.
The panel adopted an amended version of Senate Bill 343 that its sponsor, Sen. Tom Garrett, R-Louisa County, had not seen prior to the meeting.
Garrett, who represents part of Lynchburg, chose not to oppose the change, but he didn’t support it either.
The bill remains alive, Garrett said, but the coalition of support he had from fire chiefs and fire marshals may turn into opposition. The amendment strips out safety-enforcement ability Garrett’s version would have given to state-level fire marshals.
“Do you think the fix was in?” Garrett asked afterward, noting the new version of his bill already was printed and ready to hand out to House subcommittee members.
The bill now faces further review in the full General Laws committee, as well as on the House floor. If it passes there, it would go back to the Senate in what would become a long and rigorous legislative process.
The subcommittee’s chairman, Del. Chris Peace, R-Hanover County, asked opponents of Garrett’s original bill to step forward, but the only comment came from a lobbyist representing a producer of small-scale fireworks for resale by charitable groups such as the Boy Scouts.
“There was a whole lot of activity earlier today and the day before on this legislation,” Peace said. “So I’m somewhat taken aback by others not stepping forward,” he said.
Garrett called on opponents by name during his remarks to the subcommittee.
“It came to my attention today that Wal-Mart was opposed to this bill,” he said, going on to name other behind-the-scene opponents, including Target, Food Lion and other big-box stores, all of which sell sparklers and other non-exploding fireworks.
Nearly all of those stores rely on wholesaler TNT, which Garrett described as a monopoly supplier of what some in the meeting called “safe and sane” fireworks.
TNT Fireworks essentially has the lion’s share of the Virginia fireworks market, Garrett said.
“TNT Fireworks’ business model is to work through big-box retailers,” Garrett said, listing Wal-Mart, Food Lion, Target and Costco.
Garrett said his bill would create mom-and-pop businesses, especially in economically distressed parts of Virginia.
The result could be 800 to 1,000 full-time, year-round, jobs plus nearly 10,000 summer jobs for teen-agers, he said.
He said revenue from safety inspections by fire chiefs and fire marshals could amount to $250,000, with sales taxes capturing revenue many Virginians now dispense to the roughly 20 states that allow sale of what, in the trade, is known as 1.4G fireworks — the kind that fly and explode.
.
.
.
As you read this you see TNT Fireworks likes keeping this state a "Safe and Sane" state. If Virginia goes full line legal that would be too much competition for them. I keep telling people the real enemy of fireworks is not some imaginary group of fireworks haters. The enemy of fireworks is actually people in the fireworks business and a small group of users of fireworks.
http://www.myonlinemaps.com/images/virginia-map.gif
.
If you search political donations and fireworks you find all sort of interesting data. Here is one for TNT Fireworks not the political donations in the corresponding Safe and Sane states.
.
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/topcontributor.phtml?u=18765&y=0
.
To be fair TNT contributions are average amongst the major fireworks distributors and display companies.