Today, Michigan Forward along with members of the labor, faith based and civic community held a press conference to denounce the analysis behind the Detroit bankruptcy filing. Demos, a public policy think tank, released a report today that attributes Detroit’s financial crisis to significant cuts in revenue and bad Wall Street deals, not workers’ pensions, played the largest role in the City’s financial woes. Detroit like many of America’s largest cities, are still reeling from the Great Recession of 2008 and are still struggling to find an economic foothold.
“Governor Rick Snyder has failed to create an urban agenda in his three years C.E.O of this state, “ said Brandon A. Jessup, Chairman of Michigan Forward. “Over 1 million Michigan residents are under dictatorship. Kevyn Orr is the latest rendition of takeover plunging Detroit into bankruptcy, ignoring Michigan law by illegally selling Detroit utilities without public consent. Michigan’s Emergency Manager law must be repealed and replaced with progressive policy that supports transparency and accountability in local government and secures local revenue through job creation and tax collection. Governor Snyder has no interest in turning around the many municipalities sinking under his drastic cuts to revenue sharing and legislative failure to secure revenue. If Detroit goes into bankruptcy it’s his fault, on his watch, it’s not a victory for Detroit.”
To view the DEMOS report “The Detroit Bankruptcy” by Wallace C. Turberville, Senior Fellow visit http://www.demos.org/. DEMOS is a public policy organization working for an America where we all have an equal say in our democracy and an equal chance in our economy.
“This report shows that Detroit’s bankruptcy was caused by declining revenues and bad Wall Street deals,” said Saqib Bhatti, fellow at the Nathan Cummings Foundation. “That means the city can’t cut its way to financial health. To get Detroit back on its feet, we need to bring in new revenue and we need to get the city out of the toxic financial deals that have already drained hundreds of millions out of the city treasury.”
Michigan Forward led in coalition with labor, civic and faith organizations from across the state successfully led the effort to repeal Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law in 2012. The organization is a non-profit, non-partisan organization for progressive, forward thinking public policy alternatives and initiatives.
