Bills that would allow the city of Flint to create an 11-member board tasked exclusively with addressing the Flint water crisis and create a Promise Zone for graduating high school students are now headed to the Senate Floor.

Both bills were introduced by Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, who said it gives the city a tool to use as they move forward in recovery from the water crisis, Ananich said.

"I want to make sure that I give my community as many tools as possible in the short term and the long term," Ananich said.

The first bill, SB 979, would allow local governments, where a drinking water emergency was declared at the state level, to form a recovery and development authority. The authority could levy a tax of up to 0.5 mill, borrow money, issue bonds and accept or apply for loans, grants, contributions or gifts from public and private entities.

A second bill, SB 999, would allow the city to participate in the state's Promise Zone program, which allows local communities to pool resources and use tax increment financing to pay for graduating high school students' college.

Both bills passed unanimously passed out of the state Senate Government Operations Committee and will move to the full Senate for further consideration.

The bill that forms the authority included amendments Wednesday which would cap the duration of the authority at 15 years and include four appointees to the board chosen by the Governor from lists provided by the House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader.

Other board members would include a registered health professional, a civil engineer, an accountant, an education professional and three at-large members, chosen by either the local governing body or the mayor.

The bill as introduced had the state's general fund paying for the authority's organizational costs, which would include a salary for an executive director. But the version moved forward Wednesday put the local government on the hook for those costs instead.

Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, said following the hearing that the change comes in the spirit of local control.

"If they think it's a useful tool, then they need to pay for it," Meekhof said.

Meekhof categorized both bills as a first step in the Legislature's push to assist Flint in recovering from the water crisis.

A joint legislative committee that was tasked with coming up with policy recommendations to move forward from the crisis has not yet released its report. Meekhof said the bills moved to the floor Wednesday are companions to what will eventually come out of that committee.

The Promise Zone bill is the latest in what has been been several unsuccessful legislative attempts to include Flint in the Promise Zone program.

Sen. Goeff Hansen, R-Hart, a longtime proponent of promise zones throughout the state, said including Flint in the state program could have "a great impact" on the city's success moving forward.

Ananich said the move could encourage families who are perhaps on the fence about staying in Flint that their children could get assistance with furthering their education.

"It would be a real strong step in showing that we're here to help and provide some hope to people in the community," he said.

Both SB 979 and SB 0999 could be taken up on the Senate floor as early as October, Meekhof said.