LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Republicans voted Tuesday to make it a crime for government agencies to require the disclosure of nonprofits' donors and other information, a move decried by critics as shielding political "dark money" but defended by supporters as protecting people's right to freedom of association.
A GOP-led House panel approved the lame-duck bill along party lines Tuesday, setting the stage for a House vote later in the day weeks after the legislation cleared the Senate.
The sponsor, Republican Sen. Mike Shirkey of Clarklake, said his measure "protects the entire breadth of nonprofits to ensure that public entities don't with nefarious or otherwise objectives demand the disclosure" of donors.
The bill is seen by some as a pre-emptive strike against the incoming Democratic secretary of state and attorney general, who will succeed term-limited Republicans. Politically active nonprofits that spend big on elections and ballot initiatives already do not have to disclose the sources of their funding to the IRS. The legislation would prohibit governments in Michigan from making such information public or even collecting it in the first place — unless there is a warrant or a request as part of litigation.
"Why would we want to enshrine into law here in the state of Michigan the ability to not provide transparency surrounding individuals who are allowed to put unlimited amount of money into our political process?" said Democratic Rep. Abdullah Hammoud of Dearborn.
Another opponent — Craig Mauger, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, a watchdog group — said the bill would block any future attempts in Michigan to follow the lead of some states and require more transparency in political spending.
"This bill criminalizes future efforts by a secretary of state, an attorney general, a governor, a local government that's empowered by its voters to do anything about the anonymous money in our politics," he said, saying experts know of no other states with such a broad law against nonprofit disclosure.
The vote came in a lame-duck session when the Republican-led Legislature is considering several measures to dilute the power of incoming Democrats.
One bill would strip campaign-finance oversight from Democratic Secretary of State-elect Jocelyn Benson. Another bill would let the full Legislature or individual chambers automatically intervene in lawsuits, a power that until now has been reserved for the state attorney general. An additional measure would make it harder to launch ballot drives, following voter approval of three Democratic-backed proposals last month. And a bill very close to Snyder's desk would hamper the ability of Democratic Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer's administration to set environmental and other regulations that are stricter than federal rules.
Some within the GOP are speaking out against some of the legislation. Bill Rustem, a former top aide to Snyder who led a 1976 ballot drive for Michigan's 10-cent bottle deposit law, issued an open letter with a Democrat on Tuesday urging Snyder to veto the bill that would cap the number of petition signatures that could from a single congressional district at 15 percent.
"The need to keep this direct democratic option within reach of our citizens is as great as ever, especially given the loss of confidence in government's ability to solve problems in recent years," they wrote, later stating: "By vetoing the legislative to weaken the initiative process should it reach your desk, you would strike a blow for government 'by the people' in Michigan."
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