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[WedgeX]

In Michigan governor Snyder has signed Michigan Senate Bill 571.

The legislation was the last to pass the Legislature in December and grew from a non-controversial bill that had passed the Senate unanimously at 13 pages, to a totally revamped bill that grew at the last minute to 53 pages and was passed with only Republican votes.

The bill prohibits local officials to publicly discuss ballot proposals or millage issues in the 60 days leading up to an election. It has been blasted by municipal and school district officials as an official state “gag order” and a violation of free speech.

But Snyder disagreed.

The “new prohibitions were not made applicable to any of the other existing exceptions in current law, in particular, those that are not grounded in First Amendment political speech protections,” he wrote in his signing letter.

He also said he didn’t think it applied to policymakers expressing their own views or using a public facility to host debates or town halls on ballot questions.

“These are important exceptions to retain to protect free political speech and also ensure that the electorate has the opportunity to be adequately informed about upcoming ballot proposals,” he wrote.

Local officials, however, held a press conference Tuesday, saying the bill’s language was so vague that they would be at risk of fines of up to $20,000 for publicly discussing ballot proposals.

From the Detroit News:

And helping taxpayers understand how these vital public goods are going to be delivered or paid for is important too. Which is why many people across Michigan are baffled by the Michigan Legislature’s desire to prevent school districts and other public bodies from distributing factual and unbiased information about ballot proposals within 60 days of the election.

Gov. Rick Snyder should stand for more information and transparency, not less, and veto Senate Bill 571, now before him.

Senate Bill 571 would prohibit a public body, or person acting for a public body from using public resources for factual communications referencing local ballot questions by radio, television, mass mailing, or prerecorded telephone message for 60 days prior to an election.

This bill is, in part, the result of a lack of information. The version of the bill approved by the House and Senate never had a single hearing. In the dark of night in the waning hours of the legislative session, SB 571 went from 12 pages long to 53 pages long — and then was approved by a majority of lawmakers before anybody had a chance to testify about the impact of this provision.

Even Republican lawmakers were urging the governor to veto it.

“I’d like him to send it back to us,” said state Rep. Dave Maturen, a freshman Republican from Vicksburg who acknowledges he “didn’t realize all that was in the bill” when he voted last month for it.

..“If it was vetoed, we could go back to work on it and perhaps fix it and get a little more time on it,” said Sen. Dale Zorn, R-Ida. “We have to give the tools to our public officials so that they can provide the information to the voting public. I’m afraid this blackout would hinder that.”

Other Republicans in the Legislature’s majority party are stopping short of calling for a veto, but certainly want a redo.

“This deserves far more debate than what we gave it,” said Rep. Mike McCready, R-Bloomfield Hills. “We didn’t get enough information on it.”

Nonetheless, he signed it. And the republicans passed it.

This joins the list of the great rollback of progressivism that Michigan had once enacted following the establishment of the labor movement including the emergency manager law which allowed the state to take over local, predominantly minority governments, which was repealed by Michigan voters and then made law again by the legislature, the Religious Exemption law allowing adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex partners, attempting to block Syrian refugees from entering Michigan, and a last minute anti-union law among others.

 

[Aaron Strife]

“I’d like him to send it back to us,” said state Rep. Dave Maturen, a freshman Republican from Vicksburg who acknowledges he “didn’t realize all that was in the bill” when he voted last month for it.

Fucking stupid dumbshit tea party assholes.

Can't wait for them to all win re-election! Hooray for gerrymandering!

 

[Escape Goat]

Michigan sounds like an awful place to live. You never know what Snyder is up to next.

 

[Slayven]

Didn't Phoenixdark cosign this dude?

 

[CygnusXS]

Doesn't he have bigger priorities? Like, making up for the fact that his administration literally poisoned the city of Flint?

 

[WedgeX]

Didn't Phoenixdark cosign this dude?

He admitted to voting for him.

Also apparently he got banned?

 

[hey_monkey]

How y'all gonna vote for a bill and then yell JK FORGOT TO READ?

 

[Tesseract]

wow, you can't do that

 

[Kebiinu]

I'm so ignorant to politics, I blacked out halfway through the OP, trying to understand it all.

Is there a version of this for dummies?

 

[Link]

Why evolve your party platform when you can just further rig the system? The Republican way.

 

[Sushi Nao]

"We found that people were just far too informed about our plans to fuck them out of their money"

 

[Karsticles]

How y'all gonna vote for a bill and then yell JK FORGOT TO READ?

Legislators don't read bills, lol. Bills are way too hard for these guys to read. They're filled with esoteric legal jargon. Instead, there's a legal team that reads bills and interprets it for legislators. That legal team puts briefings out for each bill that bring it down to a high school reading level.

Source: I worked in the MI legislature for 4 years.

 

[Faddy]

There is something similar in the UK called Purdah. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purdah_%28pre-election_period%29

 

[Plinko]

Michigan sounds like an awful place to live. You never know what Snyder is up to next.

It never used to be. So glad I got out before the Tea Party took over.

It will be a red state before 2024.

 

[freeofgreed]

Edit: nvm I'll be nice...

 

[WedgeX]

I'm so ignorant to politics, I blacked out halfway through the OP, trying to understand it all.

Is there a version of this for dummies?

Essentially the Michigan GOP passed a law barring all public officials from providing factual information regarding upcoming elections for the two months leading up to any election. Or else they face a $20000 fine. So the facts only informational packets that government agencies or school districts or elected officials send out to inform voters on issues now cannot be sent out.

 

[gdt]

I feel like I'm not understanding what's going on here. Because it sounds like fucking insanity.

 

[gdt]

Essentially the Michigan GOP passed a law barring all public officials from providing factual information regarding upcoming elections for the two months leading up to any election. Or else they face a $20000 fine. So the facts only informational packets that government agencies or school districts or elected officials send out to inform voters on issues now cannot be sent out.

Why. How does this benefit anyone?

 

[WedgeX]

Why. How does this benefit anyone?

I have no idea.

Well, I can guess. Special interests with lots of money now have the ability to saturate the electorate without any public official fact checking.

If anybody wants to find out if the Koch brothers invested some money in this legislation writing that'd probably shed some light.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

Why. How does this benefit anyone?

For when critical thought and information runs against your platform.

 

[Dryk]

I like how both the governor and representative interviewed don't actually know what they passed

 

[PHOENIXZERO]

Ugh, I wish I would've stayed out of Michigan when I had the chance.

 

[Magwik]

Snyder continues on his war path to destroy Michigan >.>

 

[Rebel Leader]

Essentially the Michigan GOP passed a law barring all public officials from providing factual information regarding upcoming elections for the two months leading up to any election. Or else they face a $20000 fine. So the facts only informational packets that government agencies or school districts or elected officials send out to inform voters on issues now cannot be sent out.

I though they were about "Limited government" and not "big government" telling you what to- Oh.


I hate these people

 

[PeskyToaster]

He was supposed to be a tough nerd like us. Wtf Rick

 

[Plinko]

Why. How does this benefit anyone?

Tea Party conservatives in Michigan hate spending any taxpayer money. By not providing facts to the public before the millage, the chances of a millage actually passing plummet. As a result, no taxpayer money is spent.

 

[Cow Mengde]

I can't hear you over the sound of my freedom!!!

 

[WedgeX]

Ah. The people who wanted the bill written are very unsurprising.

Those who want Snyder to sign the bill — notably the Great Lakes Education Project, a school choice group funded by the billionaire GOP donor DeVos family, and the pro-privatization Mackinac Center for Public Policy — say so-called neutral information frequently crosses the line and the intent is to stop taxpayer-funded propaganda.

These organizations have been trying to kill public schools in Michigan for at least the past five years if not longer. Nothing like stopping school officials from providing facts to kill public schools once and for all.