Michigan budget takes IT from Jocelyn Benson after transparency portal flop

A provision in Michigan’s new budget aims to transfer IT system control away from Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson
GOP lawmakers, who fought to include the budget language, have blasted Benson for the rollout of an issue-plagued transparency portal
Questions remain about whether the provision in the hastily-crafted budget might run afoul of state law

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office appears poised to lose oversight of its own information technology systems under a provision in the $81 billion state budget Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law Tuesday.

House Republicans who pushed for the provision say they want to strip Benson of IT responsibilities because of the flawed rollout of a new transparency portal that replaced prior campaign finance and lobbying disclosure websites.

“Benson has failed miserably with these public websites,” said state Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton who chairs the House budget committee.

While one legal expert is questioning its enforceability, the new budget language requires the secretary of state to “delegate all responsibility for the procurement, development, and maintenance of all information technology services and products” to the Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

The provision didn’t appear in any version of the budget until last week, when officials unveiled and quickly approved a compromise plan brokered by Whitmer and leaders in Michigan’s divided Legislature.

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If implemented, it appears the language could have far-reaching effects: The Department of State also uses IT systems to administer elections, maintain voter records and operate motor vehicle systems, among other things.

It’s unclear, however, how much involvement DTMB currently has in the regular operation of those systems.

Angela Benander, a spokesperson for Benson’s office, told Bridge Michigan her department is reviewing the budget language but declined additional comment. A DTMB spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a Tuesday morning interview with Bridge Michigan, Bollin took credit for the IT provision and argued sensitive data in the Bureau of Elections and Bureau of Motor Vehicles would be “better suited under state jurisdiction than with a rogue elected official.”

Benson, a Detroit Democrat, is seeking her party’s nomination for governor next year. Her second term as Secretary of State runs through the end of 2026. She and House Republicans have had an increasingly strained relationship.

Earlier this year, the House sued Benson over her refusal to provide them with election training materials that she said, if made public, would compromise the security of the state’s election system.

The new budget also requires Michigan’s Auditor General to conduct a “systematic review” of voter rolls that Benson’s office maintains.

Is it legally enforceable?

Whitmer signed the $81 billion budget into law Tuesday, but there remains some significant disagreement whether the IT provision can be legally enforced.

“To me, it sounds like an unconstitutional provision of boilerplate, because it’s purporting to alter the Management and Budget Act,” Steve Liedel, an attorney with deep experience in Michigan government, told Bridge.

The 1984 law Liedel referenced allows DTMB, at its discretion, to give state departments authority to procure services on their own. Restricting that in a budget bill without separately changing the law itself isn’t allowed, argued Liedel, who served as general counsel to former Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

House Speaker Matt Hall disagreed.

The Richland Township Republican said Tuesday that “there’s no reason to believe” the provision is “not enforceable.”

He acknowledged that the governor’s office told him at least “three or four” provisions of the budget are unenforceable, but he did not list them.

Hall credited Bollin for the provision and said “it was pretty much a consensus” that “let’s not put (Benson) in charge of IT anymore.”

“She’s going to have to justify what she’s doing and show us the plan” for future funding, Hall said.

Whitmer’s office declined to comment when asked by Bridge Michigan if it considered that section — or any other in the budget — unenforceable.

Transparency portal woes

Benson’s department had rebranded Michigan’s online portals for searching campaign finance reports, lobbying disclosure and the personal financial disclosures of elected officials as the “Michigan transparency network.”

But more than six months after the system launched, it is still plagued by significant issues that make it harder for the public to access information.

After a tongue-lashing earlier this year from lawmakers in an Oversight Committee hearing, Benson has promised fixes. Her department has been logging updates, but the system continues to lack key features its predecessor provided, including the ability to download campaign finance data en masse.

“Not having access to campaign finance tools for months impedes investigative journalism into the influence of money on politics and makes it easier to hide corruption,” Neil Thanedar, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, a money-in-politics watchdog, told Bridge Michigan in a prior interview.

The system overhaul is being led by Tyler Technologies, a Texas-based firm awarded a $9 million contract for the five-year project.

Tyler Technologies recently notified the state that it would subcontract with programming firm BlueGenAI, in part to “enhance the public search” functions for the program.