Mayor Duggan: 'We're On Our Way' After MI House Approves Detroit Bankruptcy Funds

DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is breathing a sigh of relief after passage of the Michigan House bill that helps settle the city's bankruptcy.

Mayor Duggan could barely contain his enthusiasm once he got word of the passage of the bill, as he answered questions Thursday during a news conference about the Public Lighting Authority. Duggan says the difference was that he and city council together supported the bill.

"It helps when the council president is sitting next to me testifying, and all the city council members are in the row behind. I think that confused Lansing. But when there's that kind of unanimity in the leadership of the local level, it makes it a whole lot easier for Republicans and Democrats to come together," says Duggan.

Duggan was most pleased with the governance component of the bill, which he says will allow the city to come from under state control after meeting certain benchmarks following bankruptcy. Some of those benchmarks include, paying the bills and balancing the budget for three years -- that means no deficit.

"Now if you run a deficit in the future, the control board kicks back in and that's fair. As long as we're managing our affairs, we ought to be entitled to self-determination. If we don't manage them responsibly, then you get a different result. We didn't have any problem with that," says Duggan.

Related: Michigan House Approves Bills Sending State Money To Detroit