Michigan to Vote on Emergency-Manager Law

[bemildred]

Source: WSJ

Michigan voters will get to decide the fate of a law that gives the governor broad powers to appoint emergency managers to fix financially troubled cities after the state Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for the ballot initiative.

The court's decision on the 2011 law clears the way for a pitched battle between labor and business groups over how much power the governor should have to restructure local-government finances and rework public-employee contracts. Once election officials formally approve the question for the ballot, the emergency-manager law, strongly backed by Michigan's Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, will be suspended until the Nov. 6 vote.

Labor-backed group "Stand Up for Democracy" had sought the referendum, arguing it gave the governor too much power.

A business-backed group challenged the ballot measure, saying petitions used to gather signatures to get the initiative on the ballot had been printed in the wrong size type. The state Supreme Court decision hinged in part on the interpretation of a legal requirement that referendum petitions be printed in "14 point" type.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443866404577567261639698538.html

[Pab Sungenis]

1. Doesn't this put the law on hold until the election?

In other words, doesn't this decision mean that the "emergency managers" have to stop what they're doing immediately?

[Archae]

2. Yes.

"[T]he emergency-manager law, strongly backed by Michigan's Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, will be suspended until the Nov. 6 vote."

[Pab Sungenis]

8. Hopefully those town's elected officials

can start undoing some of the damage these managers have done.

[FiveGoodMen]

3. Hope this goes better than Wisconsin...

[jpbollma]

4. This is a good thing!

I live in the state, I am okay with consent agreements to get a city back on track, but this management/dictator law has got to go!

[HankyDub]

5. this is a great thing

this law disenfranchises citizens by rendering their local governments impotent.

A bonus is that it should also drive up turnout for the Nov. 6th election.

[whathehell]

6. Yes, Rachel talks about this sometimes.,

and I believe she's the only one I HAVE heard speak of it.

She recently won an award from the NAACP for covering

Benton Harbor and other issues affecting mainly African Americans.

I'm sure she was proud and I was proud OF her.

She's the Best!

[FiveGoodMen]

7. It certainly is!

IF it wins.

"Michigan voters will get to decide the fate..."

[SoapBox]

9. Indeed, ** IF **

My sister and brother-in-law live in MI.

She does what he says...and he's an idiot.

He's always been an idiot but it got even worse when they got themselves some religion, joining some little church.

The church has had more "schisms" and temporary hate-speakers than are countable...gee, maybe that is why
they can never get any new members...ya think.

He blames all the ills of the world on, ready, will you be surprised? Everybody that is NOT white.

And I'm sure that he loves this "emergency manager" thing if it makes life for those NOT white, miserable.

[Xedniw]

10. The Emergency manager law is about taking away democracy

That is why it must be stopped. It is unAmerican.

[lindysalsagal]

11. Fingers crossed. I hope someone has the money to get the word out on this.

Glad to see michigan is fighting back. I was wondering why they hadn't.

[susanna]

12. They have been, but TPTB (backers of the EFM laws)

took the citizen's petitions to court for supposedly using the wrong font size. Today the Supreme Court noted that was ridiculous (my words, but you get the gist). So now the measure will appear on the November ballot.

[lindysalsagal]

15. Amen!

[bemildred]

13. High court's decision to put emergency manager repeal on ballot touches off power struggle

LANSING -- The imminent suspension of Michigan's controversial emergency manager law touched off a flurry of bold and contradictory claims Friday about the status of cities and schools already operating under financial emergencies, including the state's two largest, the City of Detroit and its public school system.

Some opponents of the law -- victorious in court Friday when the Supreme Court ordered a referendum on the law be placed on the November ballot -- said state-appointed emergency managers should pack their bags and leave.

Detroit school board President LaMar Lemmons II said he expects the Detroit board, virtually powerless under the emergency manager law, to cancel emergency manager Roy Roberts' plan to downsize the district as soon as a state elections panel meets to certify the referendum on Public Act 4. The meeting is expected early next week.

Officials in the administrations of Gov. Rick Snyder and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, among others, said an emergency manager law in place before changes were made in 2011 will go back into effect and allow cities and schools with emergency managers -- or consent agreements aimed at avoiding the appointment of one -- to proceed more or less as they have.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120804/NEWS06/308040118/High-court-s-decision-put-emergency-manager-repeal-ballot-touches-off-power-struggle

[CK_John]

14. WI 2.0. nt