Bills propose $195 million payment to Detroit

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Lawmakers introduced legislation late Thursday to use about $195 million from Michigan’s savings account to help shore up bankrupt Detroit’s pension funds and prevent the sale of valuable city-owned art, as long as the state has continued oversight over city finances for decades to come.

The aid would be paid in a lump sum and is meant to join contributions from private foundations and the Detroit Institute of Arts as part of Detroit’s strategy for exiting the largest public bankruptcy in U.S. history. The plan has backing from legislative leaders and Gov. Rick Snyder, but its passage is no sure bet in a bailout-averse, Republican-controlled Legislature.