Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s administration was more focused on keeping Detroit from running out of cash than addressing its long-term debt as the state’s largest city inched toward bankruptcy earlier this year, state Treasurer Andy Dillon testified last week, the Detroit News reported on Saturday. Dillon told labor union attorneys in a sworn deposition on Thursday that the Snyder administration was aware of the state constitution’s protection of pensions as a contractual commitment, but wanted to let a bankruptcy judge decide if those contracts apply under federal law. But Dillon denied there was a concerted effort to use chapter 9 bankruptcy to slash an estimated $3.5 billion in debt Detroit owes more than 23,000 retirees with vested pension rights.
