Insider Intelligence

Members of the House Republican Caucus introduced legislation they believe will make Michigan government more transparent to residents. The twelve-bill package would extend state open records laws to include the executive office and the legislature, require key staff officials to disclose their finances, makes changes to conflict of interest requirements, and prohibits lawmakers and other […]

This week, both the House and Senate moved legislation expanding open records laws to include the legislature and executive office. Michigan is one of a few states that exempts them from these types of laws. This is the latest effort to include the legislature and executive office in open records laws, attempts in prior legislative […]

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced her legislative agenda, named “From Worst to First,” which aims to increase government transparency. Michigan regularly ranks in the bottom nationwide in terms of transparency laws. Specific items within the agenda include: Expanding the Freedom of Information Act to apply to the governor and legislature Require personal financial disclosures […]

This week, a bipartisan plan was introduced that would place the legislature and executive office under open records laws. Specifically, it would create the Legislative Open Records Act, which is similar to FOIA laws, and would make certain documents and communications within legislative offices subject to FOIA requests. The governor and lieutenant governor would be […]

The House agreed that Michigan government should be more transparent, passing a proposal this week that would expand open records laws. Under the plan, the governor and lieutenant governor would be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The legislature would be subject to similar standards under a newly created Legislative Open Records Act. The […]

The legislature and governor would be subjected to similar transparency laws as found in the Freedom of Information Act under legislation reported by the House Government Operations Committee. The proposal would end the current exemptions granted to the legislature, governor, and lieutenant governor, with the hopes of increasing transparency. The new act, which would be […]

How can Michigan become a leader in transparency and accountability and restore the public’s trust in government? This week, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson shared her ideas on how Michigan could accomplish those goals. Her plan includes working with the legislature toward full disclosure of all money in politics through revising reporting requirements and closing […]

This week, Representative Gary Glenn (R-Midland) introduced legislation making reforms to Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws. Under the bill as introduced, state departments would be required to fulfill FOIA requests within sixty-days of the initial requests. His measure is in response to a public statement issued by Attorney General Bill Schuette in December […]