By Nicholas Pigeon

Michigan Campaign Finance Network

Lansing (October 25th, 2023) - In the 2022 midterm elections, with a 2-to-1 ratio, Michigan voters advanced Proposal (Prop) 1 to require annual public financial disclosure reports from public officials and amend term limits to a total of 12 years in the legislature. Passage of legislation is required to make annual financial disclosure a law; otherwise, any Michigan voter can sue the legislature starting December 31st, 2023.

In the latter part of session yesterday, Senators Moss and Singh referred two bills to the Senate Oversight Committee that would implement Proposal 1. Both bills host a bipartisan coalition of sponsors.

Michigan Campaign Finance Networks' Executive Director Nicholas Pigeon offered testimony during this morning's regular committee hearing comparing Michigan's prospective law to the rest of the country's laws.

In his letter to the Senate Oversight Committee, Director Pigeon highlighted a few features of SB 613 and 614, including how only half of other laws extend financial disclosure requirements to candidates, not just sitting public officials.

Pigeon also identified that the $1,000 threshold for reporting sources of earned and unearned income is in line with most other states, but it is unclear if candidates and public officials will have to state the dollar amount received during the reporting period in either an explicit number or in a categorical range (ex. $1,000-$5,000, etc.) Most other states have such a requirement.

Pigeon also reiterated Secretary Benson's concern that the spousal disclosure requirement in the prospective law is weaker in comparison to other states. The law includes an exception for items that "represents the exclusive financial interest and responsibility of the spouse of the candidate for office about which the candidate for office does not have control."

As previously reported by MCFN, SB 613 maintains the disclosure requirement of gifts and travel payments and reimbursements "received and reported by a lobbyist or lobbyist agent under state law." This does not require the disclosure of any new information and avoids the disclosure of the majority of paid-for travel in Lansing directly paid out by 501(c)(4) accounts. The public has no way of knowing how much is spent on travel for Michigan’s public officials on fact-finding missions since 501(c)(4)’s only have to disclose a unitemized total of the amount spent on travel in their Form 990.

Lastly, Pigeon said that the $1,000 penalty for knowingly filing an inaccurate report is lower than most other states.

READ: MCFN's Letter to Senate Oversight Committee

WATCH: MCFN Director Nicholas Pigeon Testifies During Senate Oversight Committee Hearing 10-25-23