MSU Extension hosting statewide forums on ballot proposals

posted on October 12, 2012 12:34pm

CONTACT: Sean Corp
PHONE: 517-432-1555, ext. 222
EMAIL: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

EAST LANSING, Mich.—When Michigan residents go to the polls Nov. 6, they’ll have more to think about than a hotly contested presidential election. Their ballot will include six statewide ballot proposals – more than any other election in the past 30 years. Five of the six proposals involve amending the state constitution.

Michigan State University (MSU) Extension will host nine forums throughout the state on Oct. 22 and Oct. 24 to give voters an unbiased overview of the statewide ballot proposals from policy experts. 

Those attending a forum will see a brief overview of both sides of each ballot proposal before getting an opportunity to discuss the ballot proposals with fellow attendees and ask questions of the policy experts. Those experts, located at MSU, will talk to and take questions from forum attendees via a streaming teleconference. MSU Extension educators will be at each site to help facilitate the discussions.

“The public has seen a lot of information and misinformation about each ballot proposal from ads on TV that are made by special interest groups and politicians, but everyone in Michigan deserves to have all the facts at their disposal so they can make their decision about how to vote,” said MSU Extension public policy specialist Claire Layman, who helped organize the event.

Speakers:

• On Proposal 1 (Emergency Manager Law) and Proposition 5 (Supermajority Vote on Taxes)
  Eric Scorsone – MSU Extension specialist and professor of economics, who is an expert in local government public finance and state fiscal issues.
• On Proposal 2 (Collective Bargaining)
  Peter Berg –Professor in the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations at MSU, who specializes in collective bargaining.
• On Proposal 3 (Renewable Energy Standards)
  Bill Knudson – MSU Product Center’s product marketing economist, who focuses on renewable energy markets.
• On Proposal 6 (Bridge Construction)
  Mark Wyckoff — Senior associate director of the Land Policy Institute, who has extensive experience in urban planning and policy.     

Attendees can also talk and ask questions about Proposal 4 (Home Health Care).

Oct. 22 forums will be held at:

Mott Community College Main Campus, Library (Bldg. 6) Event Center
1401 E. Court St., Flint, MI 48503
6-9 p.m.
Contact: Darren Bagley, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Map: http://www.mcc.edu/maps/3d_main.shtml

Northwestern Michigan College, Great Lakes Campus, Hagerty Center, Room A
715 E. Front St., Traverse City, MI 49686
6:30-9 p.m.
Contact: Ann Chastain, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or Bethany Prykucki,  .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Map: https://www.nmc.edu/resources/hagerty-center/about/directions-and-maps.html

BHK Child Development Center
700 Park Ave., Houghton, MI 49931
6:30-9 p.m.
Contact:  Mike Schira, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or Heather Store, 906-482-3663, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

MSU Extension Office Assembly Rooms
21885 Dunham Road, Entrance E, Clinton Township, MI 48036
6:30-9 p.m.
Contact: Terry Gibb, 586-469-6440, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute
701 W. Cloverdale Road, Hastings, MI 49058
7-9 p.m.
Contact: Julie Pioch, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)