All six Michigan ballot proposals were rejected Nov. 6.
Eastern Michigan University student Kyle Morford said he was glad to see this outcome.
“I believe there is absolutely no need to amend the Constitution when you can make laws that if they don’t work out, are easy to amend,” he said.
Proposal 1 would have allowed an emergency manager to take over local governments if they were to be found in financial trouble.
It was proposed to help Detroit, as well as many other failing local government’s financial systems. The supporters of this proposal are now looking into a middle ground approach to these problems.
Proposal 2 would have allowed collective bargaining to be a constitutional right.
“Teachers are the foundation of society,” EMU student Shani Markham said. “Without them where would we be? For teachers to not get their constitutional right to collectively bargain, that’s just horrible.”
The supporters of this proposal are waiting to see what Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who said he supports collective bargaining, is going to do next.
Proposal 3 would have forced electric companies to acquire 25 percent of their energy from green energy sources.
Backers of Proposal 3 have recently had a conference to discuss the next steps for renewable energy.
“Michigan Energy Michigan Jobs, the bipartisan coalition supporting Proposal 3, will continue to fight for more renewable energy in Michigan, saying the campaign is just the beginning and not the end of efforts to make Michigan a leader in the clean energy economy,” a press release from the conference said.
“Proposal 3 should have been voted for even if it would have increased our bills. It’s like paying extra for vegetarian, it’s healthier in the long run,” said EMU junior Adam Kuk, who is a double major in psychology and women’s and gender studies.
EMU graduate Adam Walters said he was glad to see Proposals 2 and 3 fail.
“At face-value I would vote for [Proposal 2 and Proposal 3] but when you look closer at Proposal 3, we’re already going green on our own and don’t need to rush the process,” Walters said.
Proposal 4 would have allowed in-home care workers to collectively bargain.
The proposal was strongly endorsed by the Service Employees International Union, who are now currently looking at their options to see how they can help patients in the future.
Proposal 5 would have required a 2/3 majority vote on every tax revision proposed.
There were many government groups opposed to this proposal, including Snyder and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.
This proposal was funded and supported by billionaire Manuel Moroun.
Proposal 6 would have forced voters to vote before any international bridges were built.
This proposal was also fully funded and supported by Moroun. He currently owns the Detroit International Bridge Company, which owns the Ambassador Bridge between Canada and Michigan.
“It’s good that it was voted down because now we can build the bridge,” Kuk said. “Canada is actually paying for all of it; we’re just paying for tolls. It also creates competition between the publically owned bridge and privately owned bridge to keep prices down.”
