Back in 2012, Indiana became the second state after Michigan to pass an emergency manager law that allows the state to take control from locally, democratically elected leaders and put it into the hands of an appointed bureaucrat. The law covers any “distressed political subdivision” which, like in Michigan, includes municipalities or school districts. Furthermore, Indiana’s Emergency Managers have the […]

One of the reasons I have written about Emergency Management in Michigan ad nauseum is because I contend that we are the testing ground for this anti-democratic move in state governments, the “beta testers”, if you will. With the evidence now in and showing it to be a colossal failure, other states are still moving forward with it. Indiana was […]

Look out, Indiana! It’s coming right for you! After having been beta tested in Michigan, the Emergency Manager model of “saving” “failing” municipalities from their own corruption, malfeasance, and ineptitude – or as is more often the case, the implosion of their manufacturing base and disinvestment – is being rolled out in the states of Indiana and New Jersey. In […]

Back in 2012, I first wrote about the exporting of Michigan’s Emergency Financial Manager system to Indiana, the first instance of this happening and something I had been warning the country about in my own small way for two years. It was eventually signed into law later that year. This week we learn that the first use of the Emergency […]

This isn’t about religion. It’s about faith in humankind. I’m not a religious person. I’m spiritual — Buddhist-inspired — but not religious. But I have faith. I have faith that people are better than what we are seeing in those who would use religion as a license to discriminate. Laws like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) passed in Indiana […]

In the spring of 2011 when I first began sounding the alarm bells at Eclectablog about the undemocratic Emergency Manager legislation that was quickly passed by the newly-elected, Republican-controlled state legislature, I warned that this was not a “Michigan only” problem. I have said repeatedly that Michigan is only the beta testing ground for an agenda and a way of […]

Oh, this is rich Last week a judge in Indiana ruled that the state’s so-called “right to work” law is unconstitutional. According to federal law, unions must cover everyone at a workplace but Indiana law prohibits delivery of services “without just compensation”. Since Indiana’s right to work law allows workers to benefit from union collective bargaining but does NOT require […]

They love them some school accountability … until they don’t [CC photo by albertogp123 | Flickr] A couple of weeks ago, the Associated Press broke the story of an Indiana charter school run by a big Republican donor having its state-assigned grade, basically a measure of the quality of the school’s education, from a “C” to and “A” after he […]

There goes another one, just like the other one… As I wrote about in January, the Indiana Senate decisively passed an Emergency Manager bill similar to but different than Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law. The vote was 48-1. Last Friday, the Indiana House passed the Emergency Manager bill unanimously, 96-0. Local governments and school corporations in financial distress could ask a […]

Look out, Indiana! It’s comin’ right for ya! A couple of weeks ago, I told you about Indiana’s slide toward an Emergency Manager law of their own. I have been wondering how long it would take for a state other than Michigan to pursue an Emergency Manager law. The wait is over. This week, a Republican-sponsored bill allowing the imposition […]

Collective Bargaining Contracts Vulnerable I have been wondering how long it would take for a state other than Michigan to pursue an Emergency Manager law. The wait is over. This week, a Republican-sponsored bill allowing the imposition of an Emergency Manager on a “distressed political subdivision” (i.e., a municipality or school district) passed out of committee and goes on to […]