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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Michigan Proposal 1: Voters reject measure, repeal controversial emergency manager law
By Jonathan Oosting | joosting@mlive.com
on November 07, 2012 at 6:30 AM, updated November 07, 2012 at 12:08 PM
Supporters of a repeal of Public Act 4 wait outside The Michigan Court of Appeals who was hearing oral arguments challenging the validity of petitions to repeal Public Act 4, the state's emergency manager law on Thursday May 17, 2012. AP Photo | Detroit Free Press
LANSING, MI -- Michigan's so-called emergency manager law, designed to help local units of government survive financial crises, did not survive a statewide referendum.
Public Act 4 of 2011 has been repealed by a vote of the people, pending certification of last night's election results.
With 93 percent of precincts reporting as of 5:46 a.m., Proposal 1 had 2,182,504 "no" votes and 1,983,228 "yes" votes. The 52-48 percent margin compelled the Associated Press and other news organization to declare the measure dead.
Proposal 1 appeared to be in good standing last night in the early hours after the polls closed, but late returns from Wayne County flipped the totals and toppled the law.
The measure proved be the closest on the statewide ballot, and its defeat marked the lone political loss for Gov. Rick Snyder, who last week crossed the state urging voters to say "Yes on 1, no on the rest."
Instead, voters said "no" to all six statewide proposals, rejecting measures that inspired heavy spending by local and outside interests and led to a blitz of television advertisements.
PA 4, an updated an emboldened iteration of a previous law, provided a state-appointed emergency manager with broad powers to resolve fiscal crises in struggling municipalities and school districts.
Snyder signed the bill into law and championed it as a means for earlier intervention and quicker resolution to such crises. But critics argued that the law went too far by allowing emergency managers to usurp local control and break union contracts.
"We fully expect it to go down," Greg Bowens, spokesman of the Stand Up For Democracy Coalition, said around 1 a.m. as results continued to roll in.
"But however the numbers come out, one thing is for certain: The governor and the right-wing elements in the state legislature have been put on notice that they cannot just run roughshod over our democracy."
Stand Up, funded by almost exclusively by AFSCME Council 25 and other union groups, organized a statewide volunteer network and collected more than 200,000 signatures for the referendum.
But the proposal was nearly kept of the ballot due to an irregularity in font size used on petition headers. The Supreme Court ultimately paved the way for a vote when it ordered the Board of Canvassers to certify the petitions.
The state temporarily suspended PA 4 pending the outcome of last night's election, prompting Attorney General Bill Schuette to opine that Public Act 72 of 1990 was back on the books, allowing emergency managers to continue working with the limited powers afforded by the previous law.
Schuette also opined that PA 72 would be permanently reinstated if PA 4 was repealed, but a recent lawsuit filed on behalf of several municipal leaders challenges that assertion, and plaintiffs hope to move forward in the wake of the election
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Snyder acknowledged last week that he would consider pushing the legislature for a new emergency manager law if PA 4 was repealed. "Otherwise, some communities could be looking at bankruptcy," he said.
The governor, along with state Treasurer Andy Dillon, are expected to host reporters for a round-table discussion later this morning.
Individuals appointed by the state currently oversee the cities of Allen Park, Benton Harbor, Ecorse, Flint and Pontiac, along with public school districts in Detroit, Muskegon Heights and Highland Park.
DPS manager Roy Roberts wrote Snyder a letter last week indicating that he may resign if PA 4 was overturned. "In the absence of legislation empowering a single entity with the authority to operate the district, continued progress will be virtually impossible," Roberts wrote.
Three cities -- Detroit, Inkster and River Rouge -- are operating under consent agreements that extend some emergency powers to local officials.
Jonathan Oosting is a reporter for MLive Media Group's statewide news team. Email him at joosting@mlive.com. |
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Wed Nov 07, 2012 2:26 pm |
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theboyzmom
F L I N T O I D
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| I say stop giving the leeches the money from the state coffers then. You ran the City into the ground and think you know how to fix it - then do! |
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Wed Nov 07, 2012 9:08 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Reference the Michigan Municipal League documents. Cities throughout the state gave concessions regarding taxes, etc, and the state in return made specific promises regarding levels of revenue sharing. In order to balance the state coffers, the state has reneged on those promises and cut revenue sharing to the cities below those levels promised.
Detroit threatened to sue because the lost revenue would have significantly impacted their deficit. |
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Thu Nov 08, 2012 12:08 am |
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JCARPENTER
F L I N T O I D
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| HELP ME OUT HERE. WE VOTED THE CITY TAKE OVER BOSS ED KURTZ OUT AFTER HE MOVED THE PREVIOUSLY OVER PAID TAKE OVER BOSS MIKE BROWN ,INTO A POSITION THAT DIDNT EXIST AT THE TIME AS CITY MANAGER, AT A SALARY THAT WAS $40,000 MORE THAN THE PREVIOUS OVER PAID CITY MANAGER. NOW WE STILL HAVE TAKE OVER BOSS ED KURTZ ACTING LIKE WE NEVER HAD AN ELECTION AND OVER PAID MIKE BROWN SOAKING UP OUR TAX DOLLARS AT A SALARY THAT WAS NEVER PAID TO ANY CITY MANAGER. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? |
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Thu Nov 08, 2012 10:56 am |
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