State Appointed Dictators

For the uninitiated, here’s a quick rundown of how Governor Snyder used "emergency managers" to suspended democracy in Michigan.

One of the first bills Snyder signed after coming into office in 2011 was Public Act 4. It was an emergency manager law that gave emergency managers the power to approve budgets, adopt ordinances, remove or replace members of boards and commissions, disincorporate and dissolve municipal governments, cancel contracts, suspend collective bargaining agreements, assume control of pension plans, eliminate positions, terminate employees, and completely suspend the powers and authorities of city councils, mayors, city managers, school boards, and school superintendents. Public Act 4 was signed by Snyder on March 16, 2011, and took effect that same day.

When word got out about Public Act 4, Michigan residents were PISSED OFF. In order to get a referendum on the ballot to repeal this hideous law, 226,339 petition signatures were collected. That was no small feat. Despite the tremendous amount of time, effort, and energy that went into collecting the signatures, the Board of State Canvassers refused to certify them. With extreme determination, residents stood their ground and did not give up. The issue went all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court who subsequently ordered the Board to certify the petitions. On August 8, 2012, the Board of State Canvassers certified the petitions and voted to place the referendum on the November general election ballot.

During the general election of November 6, 2012, Michigan’s electors rejected Public Act 4, thereby REPEALING IT IN ITS ENTIRETY. Yay, success, right? Nope.

Within a month, Snyder used another, already-pending bill as a vehicle for his emergency manager law. Whatever Senate Bill 865 originally contained was gutted, renamed, and amended to be even more authoritarian than the original emergency manager law. On December 12, 2012, the Michigan House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 865, as amended, on a party-line vote. The Michigan Senate passed the legislation the very next day. Governor Snyder signed the bill on December 26, 2012, thereby creating Public Act 436 -the emergency manager law that exists today. And to show just how underhanded Snyder is, he made sure to include a stipulation that this law CANNOT BE REPEALED BY THE PUBLIC.