'Put Bankruptcy on the Ballot!'

Activists in financially beleaguered Scranton, Pa., are petitioning for a ballot initiativethat would let residents decide if the city should file for bankruptcy. It’s a first-of-its-kind petition and reflects the ongoing frustrations of a city that's been "fiscally distressed" for two decades.

Scranton is one of Pennsylvania’s Act 47 cities, which designates it as fiscally distressed and opens it up to aid and other resources from the state. The designation also means that the city must comply with certain fiscal requirements, such as developing a recovery plan.

But Act 47 has had its problems, the biggest being that it doesn’t seem to provide enough oversight.