A bipartisan group of lawmakers says state-appointed emergency managers have too much power invested in one person. Recently proposed legislation would replace that system with emergency management boards.
State Representative James Lower (R-Greenville) says the Flint water crisis revealed problems with giving one person so much authority.
“The powers that the emergency manager has are invested in the emergency manager him or herself. So, under this update, they are invested in the team or the committee, however you want to phrase it," Lower said. "So, there would have to be agreement with members of the team before a decision could be made or go forward.”
Lower says he expects work on the bills to move quickly.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has also called for scrapping the current emergency manager law.
