New EM legislation offers 4 'cyanide capsules,' Democrat says - My29 WFTC Minneapolis-St. Paul

By Tim Skubick
Fox 2 News

LANSING, Mich. (WJBK) -- Michigan voters said no to the state's emergency manager law in November, but that is not stopping the governor and Republican lawmakers from pushing through a redo that they say will restore local control of the process.

The people at home have to be asking the question, "Didn't we decide this in November?  We said no to the EM, so how come the Republicans and the governor want a redo?"  Well, they think that cities and school districts are still going over the financial cliff and they need state support.  However, they have modified their plan.

"Have you restored democracy?" I asked Republican Rep. Al Pscholka.

"I think we have," he answered.

"He has a perverted sense of what democracy is," countered Rep. Harvey Santana, a Democrat.

It seems these days in the fractured town of Lansing the Republicans and Democrats can't agree on much of anything, including how to save the cities and the schools from going over their own financial cliff.

Instead of unilaterally sending someone in to run the cities under Public Act 4, which the voters rejected, the governor has proposed giving local officials four options -- vote for an emergency manager, go to arbitration, sign a consent agreement or go into Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

"What he's done is he's given four different types of cyanide capsules they can swallow," Santana said.

However, the Republican sponsor said this will save those schools and cities.

"And also helps take care of the issue," Pscholka said.

"Will it save cities and schools?" I asked.

"I think it will," he responded.

The governor agrees, but Senator Bert Johnson, a Democrat, contends this is a slap in the face of the voters that rejected the EM law.  As for the governor's pledge to save the cities?

"The governor's said a lot over the last week.  No one across the country believes him, not the least of which is the residents of the State of Michigan.  He's been laughed off of TV shows nationally, and he's making a mockery of this state," he remarked.

"This reflects listening to the voters because what we did was put in a procedure where basically the local community selects what path they want to go on," said Gov. Rick Snyder.