Michigan Press Association Calls for Transparency in State Government

The Michigan Press Association is promoting government transparency in the State of Michigan because they believe ‘Sunshine is the best disinfectant’ all year long.

For a decade MPA and their allies have tried to pass legislation that would remove exemptions to Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)  currently held by the legislature and governors’ office. During that time versions of bills that would accomplish this seemingly simple task have passed the House and Senate by overwhelming majority votes. Sadly, never in the same session.

This year, the Michigan State Senate has made this issue a priority and SB 1 and SB 2 were the first pieces of legislation to pass through their chamber this year. These bills remove the exemptions and subject both arms of government to FOIA.

Unfortunately, the Sate House is not as inclined to make this a priority. Current Speaker of the House Matt Hall was quoted as saying “don’t hold your breath” when asked by a Capitol press corps reporter when the House would take up the bills.

As it currently stands, Michigan’s Governor and State Legislature are not subject to the state’s open records law which provides transparency to taxpayers. This law is called the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

In fact, Michigan is only one of two states in the country that specifically exempts both the governor and the legislature from the law that requires transparency.

Considering this, MPA took part in a poll conducted by EPIC/MRA last week and had the pollster ask the following question: Would you support or oppose a change to Michigan law that would require Michigan’s Governor and Legislature to be subject to the Freedom of Information Act?

Seventy-six percent of Michiganders STRONGLY supported a change with another 13% supporting. That is a total support ranking of 89%.

As the MPA press release noted:  “In today’s climate getting 89% of our citizens to agree on anything is impressive. We encourage members of the House of Representatives to take note and act accordingly to pass SB 1 and SB 2 quickly.

It seems to the members of MPA there are no good excuses not to, which leaves us with one question: “What have you got to hide?”