Michigan Senate votes to subject lawmakers and governor to public records disclosure law
Lansing — The Michigan State Senate voted Wednesday to subject the Legislature and the governor’s office to the state’s public records law, a significant vote for the upper house, where similar proposals have been blocked for years.
If the bills pass the House of Representatives and are signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, they would end Michigan’s status as one of only two states in the U.S. where lawmakers and governors are exempt from the requirement to release public records.
By a vote of 36 to 2, senators voted to subject themselves, House members, the governor and her staff to the Freedom of Information Act, which allows access to records created by public agencies, with some exceptions.
“I cannot stress enough how important this bill is to changing the institutions in Lansing and building trust between us and the constituents we serve,” said State Senator Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield).
Moss co-sponsored the bill with Republican Senator Ed McBroom of Vulcan. The two have been working on the bill for years, ever since they were both members of the House of Representatives.
Similar bills have successfully passed the House of Representatives in recent years, but have been repeatedly blocked by Senate leadership. In November 2022, Democrats gained control of the Senate for the first time in 40 years.
If the new Freedom of Information Act law were to become law, it would still provide the governor and legislators with generous loopholes not available to other state agencies or local elected officials. Among those exceptions are communications between legislators or the governor’s office and voters. For the governor, under the law, any email with any resident of the state, except for governor appointees or lobbyists, would be exempt from the legislation.
McBroom acknowledged Wednesday that the bill’s requirements are “fairly limited.” He summarized the new duties as requiring disclosure of who visits lawmakers’ offices and disclosure of communications with state agencies and lobbyists.
But McBroom said he was proud of the bill and said the bills offer an opportunity to “provide more clarity and transparency” about how the executive and legislative branches work.
“This is an opportunity for us to make a big contribution to transparency in Michigan,” McBroom said.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt unsuccessfully proposed an amendment to ensure that the appointment of the FOIA coordinator, who works with the legislature, is bipartisan. Although the amendment failed, Nesbitt supported the bill.
“This package has been a long time coming,” Nesbitt wrote on social media on Wednesday. “While no law is perfect, this bill does what is necessary to shed light on the issue. We are one step closer to providing Michigan citizens with the government transparency they deserve.”
Republican Senators Jonathan Lindsey of Allen and Jon Bumstead of North Muskegon cast the two no votes. Neither senator explained their vote on the Senate floor on Wednesday evening.
The bill comes nearly a decade after the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity ranked Michigan the worst state in the U.S. for its corruption prevention systems in 2015.
In addition, several public figures, including two former speakers of the House of Representatives, have been charged with crimes or accused of corruption over the past year.
Former House Speaker Rick Johnson pleaded guilty in April to taking bribes while chairing the state’s medical marijuana licensing committee. And in April, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed 13 criminal charges against former House Speaker Lee Chatfield for allegedly misusing nonprofit funds. In addition, Nessel is investigating the circumstances of two grants sponsored by former House Speaker Jason Wentworth in 2022.
Problems like this might have been avoided if a better culture of transparency had been fostered in Lansing and if the bill had not been repeatedly rejected in the Senate, Moss said.
“These scandals happened in the dark because they could happen in the dark,” Moss said.
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