The Mackinac Center for Public Policy recently published “Proposal 1 of 2012: The Referendum on Public Act 4,” which addresses Proposal 1 on the Nov. 6, 2012 ballot, also referred to as the “emergency manager” referendum.
The study examines the claim that local control will diminish if Proposal 1 passes and Public Act 4 is nullified. Public Act 4 had provided expanded powers to state-appointed emergency managers of local governments and school districts that are in a state of serious “fiscal stress or “fiscal emergency.” The study determined that the question in Michigan has not been whether state-appointed managers or court-appointed receivers may replace local elected officials in running a local unit of government; they have been able to do so for decades. The only question is whether state government will participate in the effort to avoid local fiscal insolvency and how it will do so.
The Policy Brief was authored by James M. Hohman, assistant director of Fiscal Policy for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
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