It’s Sunshine Week here in Michigan, an annual tradition where lawmakers and journalists advocate for greater government transparency.
Michigan has consistently ranked as one of the worst states in the country for government transparency — it’s one of only two states in the nation whose legislature and governor’s office are exempt from record requests.
To celebrate Sunshine Week, legislators advanced two bills that would make these offices subject to record requests, a change that advocates say is a step in the right direction.
It’s the culmination of a nearly decade-long effort by Senators Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, and Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield.
“We’ve refined this over the course of the nine years that we’ve worked on this project, and we feel very comfortable that in every route we took, we are achieving the goal of creating an open records law that will allow people to access open records,” Moss said.
The policies would bring Michigan in line with most other states in the nation — but advocates say this isn’t the last word on transparency.
“Today is a giant leap forward in sunshine and transparency and accountability,” Moss said. “But it’s not an end of this journey. It’s really primarily a beginning.”
The bills contains some exemptions for legislators - constituent communications, personal notes and security information.
One exemption includes constituent communications with the governor’s office, which would apply to all Michigan residents unless they’re a registered lobbyist or political appointee.
Progressive lawmakers also marked Sunshine Week with the introduction of the BRITE Act, which would enact a one year ban on legislators going into lobbying after leaving office, increase reporting standards for lobbyist gifts, give the bureau of elections authority to petition for an injunction on suspicious fundraising efforts in real time and force politically-connected nonprofits to disclose their relationships.
“Across the political spectrum, voters care about this — and they want and they deserve to be confident that our decisions as their representatives in Lansing are truly in the public interest,” said Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City.
The open records bills now head to the full senate where they may be voted on in the coming weeks.
Previous attempts to expand the Freedom of Information Act have stalled out at this point, but lawmakers are optimistic this time could be different.
Last year, legislators passed constitutionally required measures to enact annual financial disclosure reports. Those bills faced similar criticisms from lawmakers who said the policies didn’t go far enough.
