Petition drive about Mich. manager law moves ahead

LANSING (AP) -- A petition drive aimed at giving Michigan voters a chance to decide whether the state's tough emergency manager law should be repealed is moving ahead. The Detroit News recently reported that the group Michigan Forward that's organizing the drive has more than 155,000 signatures and needs about 161,000 signatures to get the measure on the November ballot. The group's founder Brandon Jessup says he hopes to gather 200,000 signatures by January, two months before the March deadline. The update comes as state review of Detroit's finances is taking place. The state says the current law could be suspended pending a vote if backers get enough verified signatures. The previous emergency manager law would be in place and an emergency manager still could be appointed for Detroit. Published: Thu, Dec 8, 2011