The latest poll from the Michigan Public Policy Survey reflects divided opinions over the state's emergency manager law, the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News have reported.
The MPPS findings, released Monday, found 38 percent of local leaders support the 2011 law, with 30 percent in opposition and 32 percent either neutral or unsure. The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), which conducts the MPPS, received responses from 72 percent of elected or appointed leaders from all 1,856 local governments across Michigan.
"This law really gets at some fundamental feelings about democracy and so even if people don't have a great detailed understanding of the law, I think just tapping into some of these fundamental beliefs is still very interesting," CLOSUP program manager Tom Ivacko told The Michigan Daily.
The feedback also revealed appointed leaders were more likely to favor the law than elected officials. On Nov. 6, Michigan voters will decide whether or not to repeal Public Act 4 of 2011, which provided emergency managers enhanced powers, such as the right to break union contracts.
Ivacko pointed out to Crain's Detroit Business, "that 83 percent of the leaders from the most fiscally distressed communities support the law."
Read the full CLOSUP report on the emergency manager law here.
Michigan Public Policy Survey reflects divide amongst local leaders over the state's emergency manager law
September 27, 2012
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