Final statewide ballot question roster grows to six

Michigan voters on Nov. 6 will decide the fate of a half-dozen statewide ballot questions following a state Supreme Court decision last week to place three additional proposals on the ballot but leave another off.

The six proposals the electorate will face in the general election are as follows:

• Whether Public Act 4 of 2011, the state’s controversial expansion of powers for emergency financial managers, should be repealed;

• Whether the state should require that utilities obtain at least 25 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources;

• Whether Michigan should establish the Michigan Quality Home Care Council, provide certain information to consumers, require training of home care providers, and provide limited collective bargaining rights to home care providers;

• Whether a statewide vote of the people should be necessary before a new international trade crossing with Canada can be built;

• Whether a two-thirds majority approval by the state Legislature or a vote of the people should be required before new or additional taxes are imposed on Michigan residents, or the tax base is expanded; and

• Whether the right to collectively bargain should be enshrined in the state Constitution.

Failing to secure the high court’s approval for going on the general election ballot was a measure that would have, if approved, amended the Michigan Constitution to authorize the establishment of eight new casinos at specific locations in Detroit, Pontiac, Clam Lake Township, DeWitt Township, Clinton Township, Birch Run Township, Grand Rapids, and Romulus.

The state Supreme Court had until Friday, Sept. 7 to issue its opinion on the latter four proposed ballot issues.

After all four of those proposals’ ballot question committees went through somewhat different legal channels to get before the high court, all faced similar scrutiny about meeting a constitutional requirement stating that the portion of the state Constitution to be “altered or abrogated” by a proposed constitutional amendment be republished on the petitions used for voter signature collection.

The state Board of Canvassers last week also put the finishing touches in the legal process for getting the three added proposals placed on the ballot — the collective bargaining constitutional amendment, the international trade crossing constitutional amendment, and the proposed constitutional amendment on tax increases — following release of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Voters will also head to the polls in west Oakland County on Nov. 6 to decide the fate of a series of tax proposals before them in various communities and school districts.