LANSING -- The Michigan Supreme Court says a referendum on the state's emergency manager law will appear on the November ballot.

Republican Justice Mary Beth Kelly provided the crucial vote for Friday's decision, joining three Democratic judges.

The court was asked to decide a technical issue: Did the petitions use to gather signatures have the correct type size?

But its decision means voters will decide whether to keep or kill a law that sends powerful emergency managers into distressed communities and school districts to fix their finances.

The decision is also a major victory for unions, which represent many workers who have been laid off or whose pay has been slashed by emergency managers. It's a significant loss for Republicans, especially Gov. Rick Snyder, who signed the law.

Snyder voiced his disappointment with the decision, saying: "While I fully support the right of all citizens to express their views, suspension of the Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act may adversely affect Michigan communities and school districts mired in financial emergencies. It promise to make eventual solutions to those emergencies more painful."

Snyder went on to say one of that act's primary goals is to identify financial emergencies before they become full-blown crises. The Governor says suspending the law limits the state's ability to assist in the early stages of emergencies and eliminates the possibility that they are handled as "quickly and efficiently as possible."

He also said that the act is "critical" because of the state's responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens, "regardless of the city in which they live or the school district they attend."