Democrats in the state House have introduced bills they say could rein in the influence of corporations on politicians in Lansing.
HB 5975 would ban companies that have, or are seeking, state government contracts, from making contributions to campaigns or political parties. (Companion bill HB 5976 would bar state agencies from authorizing such contracts.)
Democratic State Representative Jason Morgan of Ann Arbor said legislators in Michigan too often do what is in the best interest of corporations and not voters. He said that has held up legislation that would help citizens when it comes to health care reform, prescription drug price reductions, auto insurance reform, and other issues.
"These are folks who are operating under some of the poorest campaign finance and ethics laws in the country. Behavior that would be shocking in other states is just the way it is in Michigan politics," he said. "We need to fix the system to ensure that legislators can work appropriately with these companies who do provide jobs and services in our state. But they have to do so in a way that is a level playing field with the actual people that we represent."
The state's largest business lobby group, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, said it has not yet taken a position on the bills.
The legislation is intended to be part of a package that includes two bills that were previously introduced, HB 5520 and HB 5521, which would ban regulated monopolies such as DTE Energy and Consumers Energy from making political donations.
(DTE Energy and Consumers Energy are among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.)
In comments to Michigan Advance, DTE Energy defended its political giving as transparent and within campaign finance limits, and said it participates in the electoral process to advocate for safe, reliable and clean energy for Michiganders.
In the same article, a spokeswoman for Consumers Energy said the company’s political contributions come from shareholder dollars or from voluntary contributions employees choose to make as part of the company’s PAC, and not from ratepayers.
