Michigan has been ranked 50th out of all 50 states for transparency and accountability.

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** You Can’t Understand Politics Today
Without Access To Public Information.
Donate Now To Help Us Keep Telling The Story.
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Michigan is ranked 50th out of all 50 states for transparency. ([link removed]) Here, at the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, we work to shine light into the darkness.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is one of the tools we use. The law allows members of the public to obtain government documents. So far in 2019, we have filed 19 FOIA requests.

Those requests helped reveal the role a lobbyist played in rewriting environmental cleanup standards. ([link removed]) They showed which political action committees (PACs) and candidates racked up $1.5 million in unpaid campaign finance penalties. ([link removed]) And they disclosed the quick transition the state’s former Senate leader ([link removed]) made from lawmaking to consulting for medical marijuana businesses.

The requests cost money. We made two payments of $47 to obtain a batch of state emails involving the former Senate leader who had begun working as a consultant.

In one email, the former leader stated he had spoken with the chairman of the medical marijuana licensing board — a person the former leader recommended for the position — and the chairman was going to tell another state official to place three businesses on the board’s upcoming agenda. Read more here. ([link removed])

This is an example of the importance of sunlight. It's an example of the importance of the Freedom of Information Act. It's also an example of the importance of the work we do at the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.

You can help us shine more light. You can help us do more Freedom of Information Act requests. Consider giving $47 to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. ([link removed])

As an incentive, donors who give at least $47 this month will receive a signed copy of a book about one of the state's biggest political scandals: The Kwame Sutra. ([link removed])

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Donors who want to give through standard mail can send a contribution to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, 600 West Saint Joseph Street, Suite 3G, Lansing, MI 48933. NOTE: The names of donors who give at least $200 to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network in a year are disclosed on MCFN's "about us" page.

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Michigan Campaign Finance Network
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Lansing, MI 48933
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