LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Rick Snyder made the unique admission to Congress that Michigan’s emergency manager system failed in Flint.

But Republicans say state residents shouldn’t expect to see the end of the 2012 law, which empowers intervention in deficit-ridden communities by usurping control from locally elected officials.

Snyder and GOP legislative leaders say the law is necessary and generally works.

The law has been criticized as an undemocratic measure that disproportionately affects majority-black areas. An emergency manager ran Flint at the time its water source was switched and became contaminated with lead due to state regulatory mistakes.

The law’s biggest success story is Detroit, where an emergency manager filed for bankruptcy in 2013 and the city emerged on firmer footing in 2014.