----- Forwarded Message -----
From: John McMillan <mcmillanj@att.net>
To: Rep. Sheryl Cole 2019 CentralTX <sheryl.cole@house.texas.gov>; State Senator Sarah Eckhardt 2020 <sarah.eckhardt@senate.texas.gov>; Senator Sarah Eckhardt Constituent Assistance <district14.eckhardt@senate.texas.gov>; Senator Sarah Eckhardt Public Policy <andromeda.roberts@senate.texas.gov>; Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick <dan.patrick@ltgov.texas.gov>; Governor's Office of Texas Open Records Administrator <publicrecords@governor.state.tx.us>; Onjewel Smith: Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights <anr@no-smoke.org>; AMA Council on Science and Public Health <csaph@ama-assn.org>; Texas Department of Health and Human Services Ombudsman <contact@hhsc.state.tx.us>; Civil Rights Office Texas Health Human Services Commission <hhscivilrightsoffice@hhsc.state.tx.us>; Ombudsman Texas Dept. of State Health Services <customer.service@dshs.state.tx.us>; Oig Hhs Webmaster <webmaster@oig.hhs.gov>; TWC Ombudsman <ombudsman@twc.state.tx.us>; Bryan D. Snoddy <bryan.snoddy@twc.state.tx.us>; Texas Tribune Editor in Chief Evan Smith <esmith@texastribune.org>; KXAN TV News Investigations <reportit@kxan.com>; KEYE CBS News Austin 2017 <news@cbsaustin.com>; NYT News Tips <nytnews@nytimes.com>; news@dailytexanonline.com <news@dailytexanonline.com>; Miami Herald Letters to Editor <heralded@miamiherald.com>; Houston Chronicle Letters to the Editor <viewpoints@chron.com>; DMN Austin Bureau Reporter Robert Garrett <rtgarrett@dallasnews.com>; WashingtonPostLettersEditor <letters@washpost.com>; news@texasmonthly.com <news@texasmonthly.com>; Austin Chronicle Editors <mail@austinchronicle.com>; Texas Observer Editors <editors@texasobserver.org>; Suzanne M. Abrego <smabrego@seton.org>; Healthjournalism Info <info@healthjournalism.org>; Texas Health Human Services Com Inspector General <oig.generalinquiries@hhsc.state.tx.us>; Texas Public Health Assoc. 2015 <txpha@aol.com>; Tdhca State Tx Info <info@tdhca.state.tx.us>; public.information@texasattorneygeneral.gov <public.information@texasattorneygeneral.gov>; Center for Science In the Public Interest <cspi@cspinet.org>; Debbie Hiott <dhiott@kut.org>; KLRU <info@klru.org>; Hill Country News Editor 2016 <editor@hillcountrynews.com>; Letters To the Editor <letters@express-news.net>; Fort Worth Star-Telegram Newstips <newsroom@star-telegram.com>; press@txdemocrats.org <press@txdemocrats.org>; p139@traviscountydemocrats.org <p139@traviscountydemocrats.org>; Saundra Ragona <ssragona@gmail.com>; Association for Medical Ethics 2021 <info@ethicaldoctor.org>; Travis County Medical Society <mail@tcms.com>; Texas Department of Insurance 2020 <mediarelations@tdi.texas.gov>; Austin Board of Realtors-Govt. Relations <government@abor.com>
Sent: Monday, February 15, 2021, 11:12:01 PM CST
Subject: 2-15-21 plea: Pls Boost percentage of Texans protected from second-hand smoke in public
February 15, 2021
Dear State Rep. Cole and State Senator Eckhardt,
I hope that each of you will be willing to author or sponsor legislation this session of the Texas Legislature that helps to significantly increase the percentage of all workers in Texas who are employed in 100-percent smoking-free and 100-percent vaping-free workplaces in our state.
According to an factual chart compiled by the "Americans for Non-Smokers' Rights" (ANR) nationwide non-profit group, only 44.5 percent of all Texan residents are fully protected from exposure to tobacco smoke at public places through permanent bans that have been imposed on smoking at workplaces, restaurants, and bars in their geographical area. (I myself am not completely sure when that statistic was compiled for ANR. I need to also emphasize that I am paraphrasing here from several factual statements that were offered online by ANR to help clarify the context of state-by-state statistics provided in that ANR chart. I am assuming that this information refers to the geographical area of residence, such as the county or municipality of residence; but I am not completely sure about that. Many Texans work in a county or city other than the county or city where they reside. Please contact ANR for further clarification.)
This means, by definition, that 55.5 percent --- the majority -- of all Texan residents of today are NOT protected from second-hand smoke in public places through permanent bans in those three categories.
I would also like to share with each of you very influential state legislators a very crucial paragraph from the January 2021 "Special Bulletin" signed two-page letter that ANR President and CEO Cynthia Hallett (who has a Master's Degree in Public Health) recently mailed to me:
"We are preparing to defend against additional threats to existing smokefree protections in smokefree Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota; all four states legalized recreational/adult use of marijuana in 2020. Secondhand marijuana smoke and vape from e-devices emit particulate matter, gases, and carcinogens, therefore creating hazardous air pollution. Our smokefree gains will be rolled back if marijuana proponents are successful in pressuring local and state legislators into adopting exemptions for on-site consumption of marijuana in clubs and lounges."
I myself am very proud to be a current dues-paying individual member of that noble nationwide non-profit organization headquartered in Berkeley, California. The mailing address for ANR headquarters: P.O. Box 2941, Berkeley, CA 94702. Their office phone: (510) 841-3032. Their website address: Secondhand Smoke | nonsmokersrights.org .
One of my personal hopes is that some enlightened Texas legislator, such as either of you two highly-esteemed state lawmakers, will sponsor a new bill this session that authorizes apartment complex managers or apartment-complex owners in Texas to officially designate one or more multi-unit buildings at each complex they manage or own as completely smoke-free and vaping-free indoors, and completely smoke-free and vaping-free outdoors for a radius of up to 100 feet or 200 feet away from each such smoke-free and vaping-free multi-unit building.
I hope to hear from each of you very influential state lawmakers in the very near future.
Sincerely and Best Wishes,
John Kevin McMillan, a gainfully-employed, lifelong-tobacco-free and anti-marijuana-minded, anti-vaping-minded, permanently-drinking-alcohol-free, single adult white non-Hispanic 63-year-old male constituent of each of you.
My solo-occupancy efficiency-apartment-unit rental-home address ever since June 21, 2019:
Pebble Creek Apartments (a Belco Equities-affiliated, large gated-community complex), 8805 North Plaza Drive, Building 17, Apt. 2418, Austin, TX 78753.
Home phone: (512) 342-2295. Cell phone: (512) 993-7305.
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John Kevin McMillan
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