Brief Overview

In May of 2002 the Michigan Senate and House of Representatives passed with the required 2/3 majorities, a measure to place a bond proposal before Michigan voters at the 2002 General Election on November 5, 2002. (See vote details.) Michigan law requires a vote of the people to increase state debt. If passed, this proposal would authorize the state to sell up to $1 billion in bonds to pay for reducing combined sewage overflow from municipal sewer systems. Combined systems are those in which sanitary sewers and storm sewers are connected, and can cause problems during heavy rains when sewage from homes flows into waterways via storm sewer runoff.