The Michigan House voted Thursday to create a waiting period for lawmakers to become lobbyists after leaving office.
Under the bills, lawmakers, statewide elected officials, and department heads would have to wait at least two years after their term to become a lobbyist.
Representative Jerry Neyer (R-Shepherd) is a package co-sponsor.
“We should not be turning our attention away from the priorities that our constituents have handed us here to be either laying up our next job or going to lobby for something in other states or in Washington,” Neyer said during a floor speech Thursday.
The bills are part of an ethics and transparency plan supported by Republican House leadership.
Some Democrats say the bills are a step in the right direction but argue the chamber should also take up bills to expand the state’s open records laws as well.
Representative Phil Skaggs (D-East Grand Rapids) voted against the bills. He said he agrees that lawmakers shouldn’t be auditioning for their next job while still in office.
But Skaggs said he didn’t see that as an overwhelming issue. He said some lobbying gigs are for good causes.
“We have in our minds that it's for people who, are for coal or oil or whatever it is that we don't like. But organizations and citizens that want to have a voice in the arcane Byzantine workings of the legislature sometimes need a guide. And I'm not sure that those guides are something that's so dirty that we can't touch it,” Skaggs said.
Skaggs said a better policy would involve tightening rules around gifts to lawmakers from lobbyists.
The pipeline from the legislature to lobbying corps is something both Democrats and Republicans have participated in.
Representative Mark Tisdel (R-Rochester Hills) also co-sponsored the bills voted on Thursday. He said he understands that most of the time, it hasn’t been an issue. But it still creates an image problem that needs to be addressed.
“It's that opportunity to create a tool to protect the reputations and credibility of those currently serving against the perception that we're just here to take care of ourselves and not focused on really what's needed back home,” Tisdel said.
The bills now head to the state Senate for that chamber’s consideration.
