LANSING – Legislation aimed at getting a regional authority for Detroit’s Cobo Center back on track, in hopes of keeping the North American International Auto Show in the city, was reported from the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee Tuesday, even as a proposal to allow the city to lease the center to a regional authority began to get discussion.

The panel reported substitutes to SB 585 , SB 586 , SB 587 and SB 588 on 3-1 votes, with Sen. Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit) opposing the bills. Under the package, if the Detroit City Council disapproves the authority by July 1 then the state could take action to expand the Rock Financial Center in Novi so it could accommodate the show.

The full Senate is scheduled to act on the package Wednesday.

And Governor Jennifer Granholm, Lt. Governor John Cherry and newly-elected Detroit Mayor Dave Bing met on Tuesday to discuss Cobo Center and what could be done to keep the auto show in Detroit.

Officials with the auto show, considered one of the most important in the world, have said unless changes and expansions to Cobo or another Michigan facility are made, then the show will likely leave the state for Chicago, Los Angeles or another major American city.

Keeping the auto show in the state is considered critical since the annual event can generate as much as $500 million in economic activity in Michigan.

But Clarke unsuccessfully attempted to amend the package to include a provision that would allow Cobo to be leased to a regional authority for a 30-year period.

The same concept was included in SB 609 , introduced Tuesday. The proposal is seen as a possible way of getting around a rejection of the ownership transfer. The measure would, however, also require the Detroit City Council to approve a lease option. If a lease is approved, then a $20 million payment would be due at the time the lease took effect.

Committee chair Sen. Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) said he knew the issue was being discussed and negotiated, but he felt the negotiations would be helped by keeping the package of bills moving through the legislative process.

The issue is expected to be a major topic of discussion during this week’s annual Mackinac Island meeting sponsored by the Detroit Regional Chamber. Bing has said his top agenda item during the meeting will be to win an agreement on Cobo.

On the last day of the 2007-08 session, the Legislature approved a proposal to transfer ownsership of Cobo to a regional authority that would have included members from the state, Detroit and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. The regional authority would have overseen the renovation and expansion of the center.

But the city council rejected the proposal in February. Then-Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. vetoed the council’s resolution, but the veto was thrown out by the Court of Appeals.

Last week, the co-chair of the NAIAS committee, Douglass Fox, said the future of the auto show was with the Legislature.

Allen said his priority is to keep the show in Detroit, but that it is critical to keep the show in southeast Michigan.

Clarke criticized the provisions in the package that would allow for the Novi center to be expanded. Saying the area lacks the hotels and economic base of downtown Detroit, Clarke said for the auto show to maintain its world class brand it had to stay in Detroit.

While he backed a regional approach for the center, he warned that the package of bills would likely hurt any ability to win approval for the agreement in the council.

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