LANSING – The House has concurred in the Senate version of the Detroit Lighting Authority with a number of Detroit lawmakers opposing the package, putting the measure on Governor Rick Snyder’s desk.
Rep. Maureen Stapleton chastised her colleagues for opposing the measure, arguing it was needed to improve Detroit.
“The good news is that the Municipal Public Lighting Authority Act is done and the people of Detroit are one step closer to having lights on in their neighborhood,” Ms. Stapleton said. “However, I am extremely disappointed in my Democratic colleagues for putting politics before the people’s interest today. In a failed attempt to prevent right-to-work legislation, House Democrats spitefully stuck to an agenda orchestrated by labor that pressured Democrats not to support legislation to allow Detroit to create a public lighting authority. It is unfortunate Democratic representatives flip-flopped from previously supporting bipartisan legislation that will get the lights back on throughout Detroit to improve safety for all visitors and residents. I commend and thank my Republican colleagues for standing up for Detroit!”
Among the Detroit delegation, Rep. Lisa Howze, Rep. Shanelle Jackson, Rep. Maureen Stapleton and Rep. Alberta Tinsley-Talabi supported it, while Rep. Fred Durhal Jr., Rep. David Nathan, Rep. John Olumba, Rep. Harvey Santana, Rep. Thomas Stallworth III and Rep. Rashida Tlaib opposed it. Rep. Jimmy Womack did not vote.
The chamber approved HB 5688 , which creates the authority, on a 60-49 vote, allowing the bill to go to the governor. HB 5705 , which allows the city’s utility tax to pay for the authority’s operations, was approved 61-48 and also goes to the governor.
SB 970 , which continues the city’s income tax at its current 2.4 percent to pay off the bonds issued to start the authority, passed 59-50. The bill returns to the Senate for concurrence. The bill would drop the city’s income tax, which is half that rate for non-residents, to 2.2 percent once the bonds are paid off. Without the bill, the city’s income tax would have had to drop because of its population loss.
The bill also dedicates 0.2 percent of the resident tax (0.1 percent non-resident) to police services.
The House Judiciary Committee reported SB 970 earlier in the day with little discussion and with little support from Democrats. Rep. Bob Constan (D-Dearborn Heights) joined Republicans in support.
Detroit’s public lighting system is in shambles with widespread street lighting outages along major thoroughfares. Additionally, its Public Lighting Department provides electricity to many government buildings in the city through an aging grid and power plant that has resulted in embarrassing outages.
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