Lansing — A ballot proposal campaign that aims to ban some of Michigan’s largest corporations from spending money on state politics submitted on Wednesday more than 562,000 petition signatures to the Secretary of State’s office.
The filing might set off a high-stakes battle in Michigan, entangling powerful utilities, like DTE Energy, and insurance heavyweights, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, while potentially testing the legal ability of the public to put limits on the political influence of big businesses.
If approved by voters in November, the initiative from Michiganders for Money Out of Politics would amend state campaign finance law to prohibit contributions from monopoly utilities and companies with state government contracts worth more than $250,000.
It would also attempt to shine light on cash from secret sources — or so-called dark money. Under current law, only groups that run ads expressly telling people how to vote have to report their donors. Michiganders for Money Out of Politics would expand the disclosure requirements to ads that clearly identify candidates.
“Voters in Michigan will get to vote this November to ban the corrupt campaign donations flowing from regulated utilities, like DTE and Consumers, and corporations with contracts with the state of Michigan, like Blue Cross Blue Shield,” said Christy McGillivray, co-chairwoman of the steering committee for Michiganders for Money Out of Politics. “These are the same companies who are not checked when they raise our utility bills, when they raise our health care premiums, because they are the ones funding the politicians who are supposed to be representing us.”
Michiganders for Money Out of Politics needs 356,958 of its petition signatures to be deemed valid by the Secretary of State’s Office to advance its initiative to the Legislature, which would then have the chance to accept or reject the proposal.
If the Legislature rejected it, it would go on the November ballot for voters to decide. Lawmakers could also put an alternative and competing measure on the ballot.
Dozens of supporters of Michiganders for Money Out Politics gathered outside the Secretary of State’s downtown Lansing office on Wednesday to celebrate the petitions they collected.
Some of them held mops, referring to the group’s acronym MMOP, and others carried signs with messages like “our democracy is not for sale.”
Sean McBrearty,co-chairman of the steering committee for Michiganders for Money Out of Politics, called on the Legislature to put the proposal on the ballot.
“Anything less, like cynically passing this initiative in an attempt to ultimately undermine it, is nothing less than a slap in the face to the voters who will be deciding all of your fates in November,” McBrearty said.
The petition submission came as many of Michigan’s political and business leaders were on Mackinac Island for the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual Mackinac Policy Conference.
At that event this week, Garrick Rochow, CEO of Consumers Energy, ripped the ballot proposal campaign, calling the initiative an effort to “disarm” Michigan companies from “participating in the process.”
He was also critical of the ballot campaign’s out-of-state funders.
“Why are California billionaires footing the bill? Because they want to influence elections,” Rochow told The Detroit News.
Michiganders for Money Out of Politics has reported raising about $2.6 million. The group received $900,000 from the Massachusetts-based progressive nonprofit organization All Hands on Deck Network and $645,000 from the California-based Tides Foundation, which finances thousands of social justice causes, according to its website.
Asked about the contributors Wednesday, McBrearty said his effort was playing by the rules of the political system that is set up in Michigan.
“Frankly, we’ll take money from the devil himself to get DTE to stop raising our rates and then spending the money to buy the politicians, so they can keep raising our rates,” McBrearty said.
The initiative would also ban entities and people connected to utilities and large government contractors from giving to political campaigns in Michigan.
Detroit-based DTE’s Michigan PAC spent $264,900 in 2024. A nonprofit organization connected to DTE that handed out contributions to groups tied to officeholders spent $3.5 million in 2024.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Bid to reshape how cash flows in Michigan politics submits petitions
Reporting by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
