Sen. Randy Richardville
Update: Tuesday, 5:10 p.m. -- The full state Senate approved legislation that will send $195 million to Detroit to help ease the pain of pension cuts, the Detroit News reported.
“It makes pensioners as whole as possible and protects the Detroit Institute of Arts from having its artwork seized and sold off,” state Sen. Tupac Hunter, D-Detroit, said on the Senate floorm, according to Detroit News.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan issued a statement:
Today’s vote by the Senate to approve $195 million in financial aid for the city of Detroit will help us honor the contract we made with our city retirees.
We all owe a debt of gratitude to Senate Republican Leader Randy Richardville and Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer for their leadership on this issue. The kind of bi-partisan support we are seeing in Lansing right now is a clear sign of a new beginning for the city of Detroit.
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Earlier in the day:
A vote that only months ago seemed highly problematic sailed through a state Senate committee on Tuesday.
WXYZ reports that a Senate committee voted unanimously 5-0 to approve nine bills that would help Detroit's bankruptcy and send $195 million to the city to help soften cuts to 2,300 retirees. The vote would also save the Detroit Institute of Art paintings from being sold off.
The vote now goes before the full Senate. That vote could happen this afternoon.
At the same time, the committee left out a bill that would have prevented the DIA from renewing the millage that provides operating funds from Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties, WXYZ reported.
The Detroit Free Press reports that Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe), who is on the committee, said there was no interest in passing the DIA millage bill.
“There was no support for that on this committee,” Richardville said, according to the Freep. “That was difficult for me. It’s an important asset for the city of Detroit and state of Michigan. It was strange that the Legislature would be telling the city that we’re not going to let local governments make their own decisions, or have a vote of their own people.”
