EDITORIAL: Protests a sign the governor, legislature overstepped democratic boundaries with new law
Gov. Rick Snyder has signed into law an egregious statute that undermines the rights of Michigan’s citizens — something rightfully demonstrated by thousands who protested the move this week.
On Wednesday, Snyder signed into law House Bill 4214, which will allow himself and state financial authorities to declare a city, township or other type of local government to be in a financial emergency.
Voters loudly protested Snyder’s decision Wednesday as about 5,000 people filled the halls and lobbies of the Michigan State Capitol. They also protested his budget proposal and the anti-union bill.
The protesters reportedly spoke against what they fear is an attack on the middle class and fundamental democratic rights.
The language of the law has, without question, stolen power from the people of Michigan to hold the people who govern them accountable, and yet it offers no concrete definitions for what a financial emergency means.
At a time when the newly-elected legislature and Snyder should be 100-percent transparent with their decisions, they succeeded in passing a law with vague language that could be misconstrued to serve selfish political ambition in the future.
If and when the governor and his bureaucrats decide what constitutes a financial emergency, the law mandates an emergency manager must be chosen to clean up shop in the allegedly stricken region.
The emergency manager — who ultimately would not be elected by the constituents of the district in which they would exercise their power — would be solely responsible for the financial condition of that municipality.
Intensifying the unconstitutional nature of the law is the right for the executive branch to choose government officials, private citizens or even corporations to be emergency managers. No barriers exist to prevent Snyder from appointing his confidants from business networks as emergency managers to manipulate a city’s finances for profit.
Should the emergency manager fail, it will be the citizens and tax dollars that will feel the loss, not the companies who were given free reign to manage governmental affairs with no responsibility to constituent concerns.
Clearly Snyder’s business background has tainted his view of how democracy in the U.S. works and who has the power to control the government — the people — not for-profit corporations.
Should Snyder continue to make legislative decisions without fully understanding their implications to the rights of Michigan citizens, he will surely face more vocal and prevalent opposition in the future.
