Michigan lawmakers act on earmark, public record transparency reforms

• Michigan lawmakers move to increase government transparency
• House adopts rules requiring lawmakers to publicly sponsor budget earmarks before they are voted on
• Senate approves plan that would subject governor, Legislature to public records requests

LANSING — Michigan lawmakers signed off on significant government reforms Wednesday, adopting new transparency rules for pet project funding and advancing a plan to allow more public records requests. 

A plan to amend the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by opening up both the Legislature and governor’s office to public records requests passed Michigan’s Democratic-controlled Senate in a 33-2 vote.

The Republican-led House, meanwhile, unanimously adopted new rules to shed light on which lawmakers sponsor budget earmarks — otherwise known as pet projects or “pork barrel spending" — prior to any votes. 

The moves followed calls from both parties to increase ethics and transparency in Michigan government, though the ultimate fate of the public records legislation remains up in the air. It now advances to the House, where new Speaker Matt Hall has said the proposal is not a top priority of his. 

While prior versions of the transparency bills have stalled in the past, including last year, Republican Sen. Ed McBroom of Waucedah Township and Democratic Sen. Jeremy Moss of Southfield said they’re confident their legislation can make it to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk this term.

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Moss noted a Republican-controlled House and a Democratic-controlled Senate separately approved earlier versions of the legislation, meaning this year’s return to divided government “might just be the perfect dynamic that we have to have in place in order to get this done.”

Senate signs off on FOIA… again

Michigan is one of two states that fully exempts both the governor and lawmakers from public records laws that apply to other government officials — a fact lawmakers have tried, but failed, to change in the last decade-plus.

The Senate plan would expand FOIA, which would allow citizens to request emails and other records from the governor and lawmakers. 

Moss, the Southfield Democrat, called the reintroduced bills the “strongest version of this legislation yet.” 

McBroom, the Waucedah Township Republican, meanwhile acknowledged that while the package may not be perfect, it “is a significant accomplishment, not some mealy-mouthed, barely there legislation.”

The legislation would allow the public to request records from the governor or Legislature by 2027 at the earliest — after Whitmer and some lawmakers are term-limited out of office — which sponsors maintain is purely coincidental.

The bills also propose several exemptions or unique rules for lawmakers and the governor: 

• Constituent communications with non-lobbyists would be exempt from disclosure, which some contend is a loophole for the governor’s office, since all Michiganders are considered constituents. Lawmakers would not have to disclose talks with constituents who are part of a special interest group or are powerful business leaders
• Lawmakers would not have to disclose internal investigation records, caucus counsel records, personal cell phone numbers and records related to ongoing civil actions until those matters are settled 
• Gubernatorial records regarding decisions to remove or suspend public officials or judges from office would not need to be made public unless or until that official has been suspended or removed from their position.
• The House and Senate would appoint a public records coordinator, who would be responsible for processing information requests and denials

Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, R-Coldwater, proposed an amendment to further expand FOIA to the state’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. The amendment failed, but Moss said he was open to further discussion as the legislation advances.

House revises earmark process

The Michigan House, as first proposed by Hall earlier this month, is changing its rules to shine more light on the appropriations earmark process, which Democrats and Republicans alike have used in recent years to add billions of dollars in "enhancement grants" for pet projects in their districts. 

Some have proven controversial, including a $25 million earmark for a Clare health complex that was added by former House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell, and currently remains under investigation by Attorney General Dana Nessel. 

Democratic majorities in 2023 began requiring lawmakers to disclose which earmarks they sponsored — but not until months after they were voted on and approved.

Under the new House rules, adopted unanimously on Wednesday, lawmakers would need to submit funding requests to the House Business Office at least 14 days before any votes, and those requests would need to be posted ahead of the budget deadline — by May 1 of this year, or by April 1 in future years.

Lawmakers sponsoring an earmark would have to explain how it would provide a “public benefit” and name the organization receiving the grant.

The goal is to ensure the public knows the proposed budget earmark “is going to provide a benefit” to taxpayers, said sponsoring Rep. Ann Bollin, a Brighton Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee.

Also part of the resolution adopted Wednesday:

• Nonprofit spending: If requesting money for a nonprofit, a lawmaker will need to show the organization has been operating in Michigan for at least 36 months, had a physical office in the state for the previous year, list that organization’s leaders and prove its nonprofit status.
• No personal ties: Lawmakers will need to provide a written statement that neither they, their staff, or an immediate family member has any direct or indirect ties to the spending in question.
• Online access: The House will develop a webpage to publish the lawmaker earmark statements. The requests would remain online for at least two weeks before a budget or bill containing earmarked funds passes through the chamber. 

Hall, the new GOP House Speaker, has touted the earmark transparency push but said supporters should not get their “hopes up” for final passage of the public records legislation approved by the Senate.

"You're not going to see fast action on the FOIA stuff from me in the House,” he said earlier this month. “You're just not.”

Asked if House Republicans and Senate Democrats could find common ground on the separate transparency proposals, Bollin called them “two separate issues.”

“I’m really not in a position to say what the future is of the FOIA bills,” she said.