Managers law headed for Michigan ballot

The Michigan Supreme Court held Friday the question of whether to repeal the state's hotly contested emergency managers law should be on the ballot in November. The emergency managers law gives the state authority to dissolve local governments and school boards and invalidate labor contracts in case of financial distress. In a 4-3 vote Friday, the state's high court rejected the contention that petitions to bring the matter to a referendum were invalid because they had used a too-small font size, the Detroit Free Press reported. Elections officials had determined this spring there were enough petition signatures -- 203,238, or 40,000 more than necessary -- to put repeal on the ballot, but a group associated with state Republicans argued the petitions were out of compliance with state law because of the font size. The Board of State Canvassers considered the question in April but a 2-2 vote along party lines kept the issue off the Nov. 6 ballot, the Lansing State Journal reported at the time. Petition organizers challenged that outcome in court and the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled the petitions were "substantially compliant" with state law and ordered the question to be place on the ballot. Supreme Court Justice Mary Beth Kelly, a Republican nominee to the court, wrote in the majority opinion Friday that the petitions submitted by emergency managers law challengers were in full compliance with the requirement on font size, but struck down an appeals court ruling that "substantial compliance" with such requirements would be enough to make otherwise valid petitions acceptable. The Friday decision means the law -- enacted in 2011 after Republican Rick Snyder was elected governor and the GOP won control of the state Legislature -- will be suspended until voters decide the issue.