LANSING, MI -- Plans for a Detroit Lighting Authority, once thought dead in the Senate, rose from the ashes today, providing residents with an opportunity to hope for better (and brighter) things.

The Michigan Senate today revived and then approved legislation passed by the House nearly six months ago. The main bill won approval in a 25-13 vote following a change that allowed the city to retain more local control.

The revised legislation, which is expected to head back to the House for an up or down vote before hitting the governor's desk, would allow Detroit or any other Michigan municipality that owns a utility company to form a public authority capable of selling bonds to finance projects.

Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Detroit, said the package of bills finally won enough local support after amendments that protected public safety funding and allowed the mayor and city council to appoint the five-member authority.

"Very seldom do you find pieces of legislation that make sense when you read through the whole bill," he said. "If fear has ever been a factor in why we've taken this long to do it, then I think the legislation goes a long way towards assuaging those fears."

Detroit leaders have estimated that approximately 40 percent of the city's 88,000 street lamps are inoperable, so old or damaged that they cannot be fixed with replacement parts.

The authority, if created, would oversee a plan to rightsize the street light system with a goal of maintaining 46,000 functional lamps near population centers, schools and other focus areas. Upfront repair and upgrade costs could run as much as $160 million, which the authority would finance through bonds to be repaid by a portion of the city's utility user's tax.

Rep. Maureen Stapleton, D-Detroit, who introduced the original House legislation in June, today applauded Senate leadership for "putting politics to the side and making sure that we could get something done for the city of Detroit that is absolutely needed.

"We are absolutely happy that the city of Detroit will have yet another vehicle to help get the lights on without having to burden the state with any other financial obligation."

Gov. Rick Snyder had urged the Senate to approve the lighting authority back in June, making good on a promise to support the package as part of an historic consent agreement with the city.

But the legislation stalled after a few Detroit Democrats raised concerns. Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, said in September that he considered the issue "dead."

Speaking to reporters after today's vote, Richardville said recent action on the lighting authority and Senate-approved regional transit authority shows the state is committed to helping improve Detroit.

"If we can get rid of some of the internal politics of the city, we'd be able to make Detroit a great city again," he said. "These are two major steps towards having that happen."

Jonathan Oosting is a reporter for MLive Media Group's statewide news team. Email him at joosting@mlive.com.