A national group says the experience in Flint suggests Michigan should make changes to its emergency manager law.
The Pew Charitable Trusts has been studying how 20 states intervene when local governments are in financial trouble.
“Sometimes emergency managers may be part of a distressed community’s opportunity to reset their finances,” says Mary Murphy, a manager on the Pew’s state and local fiscal health team, “But they’re not always the right solution to every problem … and Flint certainly calls attention to the latter.”
Murphy says Michigan may want to change the law to make it more of a partnership between the state and local government.
A task force appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder is also recommending changes to the EM law.