Real transparency reforms needed in Michigan

Rich Robinson of Network partner Michigan Campaign Finance Network wrote in Bridge Michigan that the current Secretary of State’s initiative to increase transparency do not go far enough, and only address past problems, not some of the issues going on right now. Robinson provides a list of reforms that the Secretary of State could undertake, and uses the outside forces that stopped a bridge between Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, Canada, as an example of problems that need to be addressed now.

To start off, Robinson notes, political committees should be required to report every quarter instead of twice a year; spending on ads that include the name or image of a candidate months in advance of an election should have to be reported; and lobbying expenditures, including ads, should have to be disclosed, without exception.

Officeholders now face a dilemma, Robinson says, because citizens want transparency and accountability while interest groups do not. In order for democracy to prevail, Robinson says to close, is for engaged citizens to push and change the process.