Lansing — Michigan’s political leaders benefited from a surge in lobbyist spending on trips last year, going to such places as New Orleans and tropical islands, while those same legislators produced a record low number of new laws.
A Detroit News analysis of lobbyists’ expense reports and lawmakers’ personal financial disclosures documented at least 24 members of the Legislature — an average of about one in every six — had airfare or hotel stays paid for by businesses or nonprofit organizations in 2025.
Groups registered to lobby in Michigan said they spent $27,845 on state lawmakers’ travel and lodging last year, the highest annual total since 2008, according to their reports.
State Rep. Dylan Wegela, D-Garden City, who didn’t go on a lobbyist-backed trip in 2025, noted that lobbyists’ increased payments occurred despite lawmakers already being able the use their government-funded office allotments for attending educational conferences.
Wegela said he would support strict limits on lobbyist spending to block what he views as unfair influence and to ensure lawmakers are focused on representing their working-class constituents.
“We should not allow lawmakers to have their meals paid for or their trips paid for,” Wegela said.
But other lawmakers and advocacy groups defended the spending on the trips, saying the events provided an opportunity for legislators to meet with industry leaders and learn about policy reforms being pushed in other states.
“An intelligent person learns from others,” said Rep. Tom Kunse, R-Clare, who attended a seminar in New Orleans put on by a nonprofit group focused on criminal justice reform.
Likewise, Sen. Mark Huizenga, R-Walker, said he had been asked to speak at a conference for the Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association in Turks and Caicos. Another attendee said the event took place at The Ritz-Carlton hotel in the Turks and Caicos. The hotel’s website promises a “harmonious blend of natural beauty and luxury resort amenities epitomizes the breathtaking beauty of this iconic destination.”
The alcohol industry group paid for Huizenga’s hotel stay, costing about $1,518, during the event in February 2025, but Huizenga said he paid for his airfare.
Spencer Nevins, president of the beer and wine association, said his organization represents about 43 licensed Michigan wholesalers that are heavily regulated.
“We invite lawmakers from both parties to attend our events, whether in Michigan or locations such as Turks and Caicos,” Nevins said. “The purpose is for wholesalers to hear from lawmakers who take an active role in regulating the industry and for wholesalers to educate lawmakers about the industry.”
Liquor control bills followed alcohol industry conference
The Turks and Caicos conference appeared to be the most expensive one lawmakers attended last year — and the priciest in more than a decade.
State Reps. Joseph Aragona, R-Clinton Township, and Will Snyder, D-Muskegon, also went. The beer and wine association reported spending $4,574 on Aragona’s trip and $3,541 on Snyder’s trip.
The $4,574 that benefited Aragona would represent about 77% of his pre-tax monthly pay as a member of the House, where representatives earn $71,685 each year.
Also, it was the third-most expensive individual travel and lodging expense in the Secretary of State’s historical tracking. It was less only than two payments of $5,648 by a lobbyist in 2013 benefiting then-Sens. Randy Richardville and Mike Kowall, both Republicans. It wasn’t clear where they went.
Approached by a reporter outside the Capitol, Aragona noted that he’s chairman of the House Regulatory Reform Committee.
“There were actually businesses down there from Macomb County,” Aragona said.
“They wanted to pick my brain,” Aragona continued. “I was down there for about 48 hours. I was on a panel.”
Asked if he stayed at The Ritz-Carlton, Aragona replied, “I don’t know where the hell I stayed. It was over a year ago.”
Aragona has introduced or co-sponsored a series of bills related to the alcohol industry since the conference, including one that would prohibit the Michigan Liquor Control Commission from considering a past violation that is more than two years old when making a decision on approving or suspending a license.
In December, he was the primary sponsor for a measure to allow packaged mixed drinks to contain up to 21% alcohol by volume. The current limit is 13.5%
Snyder said he stayed at The Ritz-Carlton for the conference, and there were a couple of panels during the event on legislative issues.
“I was invited,” Snyder said. He added, “I think they invite a member from each caucus traditionally.”
Trips to New Orleans
Ten lawmakers reported taking trips to events organized by the Texas-based nonprofit Action Now Initiative, which is backed by former hedge fund manager John Arnold and works on topics like criminal justice reform.
Kunse said many of the Michigan lawmakers attended a September 2025 Action Now Initiative conference in New Orleans on criminal justice reform that attracted dozens of legislators from around the country.
Others who received lodging payments from Action Now Initiative for the same weekend in September, according to lobbying disclosures, were Reps. Kara Hope, D-Holt; Bryan Posthumus, R-Rockford; Amos O’Neal, D-Saginaw; Angela Rigas, R-Caledonia; Jimmie Wilson, D-Ypsilanti; and Sens. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, and Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit.
In their own personal financial disclosures, Sen. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, and Tonya Myers Phillips, D-Detroit, reported going on Action Now Initiative trips.
A lobbyist for the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association reported spending $669 on a golf outing and hotel stay for Rep. Bill Schuette, R-Midland, in June 2025, and a group called Inseparable Action Inc., a mental health advocacy organization, reported spending $1,101 on expenses for Rep. Carrie Rheingans, D-Ann Arbor, to attend a policy summit in New Orleans.
Rheingans said the summit in Louisiana allowed her to compare notes with lawmakers from other states.
In addition, the building materials company Amrize reported paying a combined $440 for hotel stays for four lawmakers in November 2025. They were Huizenga and Reps. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, Sarah Lightner, R-Springport, and Mike Mueller, R-Linden.
Cavitt said the trip was focused on visiting a quarry Amrize has in Alpena. The company is currently pursuing a permit for a project from the state, Cavitt said.
“It brings all of my colleagues here to see what kinds of industry we have here in Northeast Michigan,” Cavitt said of the trip.
Also, the Michigan Railroads Association reported spending $1,993 for Rep. Pat Outman, R-Six Lakes, and $1,993 for Rep. Tullio Liberati, D-Allen Park, to participate in a summer meeting in July 2025.
Holes in reporting requirements
Under Michigan’s lobby disclosure requirements, groups and businesses have to report their payments for travel and lodging only if they spend $1,025 or more on an individual lawmaker in a year.
So it’s possible that lawmakers could get hotel stays or airfare funded by companies or advocacy organizations that fall under that threshold.
Likewise, groups that aren’t registered to lobby, including nonprofit fundraising accounts tied to legislators, can pay for legislators’ trips, while taking money from corporations, unions and interest groups, without having to report anything under the lobby law.
For 2024, Building a Better Economy, a nonprofit tied to House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, reported spending $11,499 on travel and $52,768 on conferences, conventions and meetings. The group’s 2025 filing likely won’t be released until the fall.
Hall, House Appropriations Chairwoman Ann Bollin, R-Brighton, and Rep. Ken Borton, R-Gaylord, were among a group of lawmakers who attended an American Legislative Exchange Council conference in Texas in December.
Borton told The Detroit News he paid his own way and drove himself to the conference. A spokesman for Hall and Bollin didn’t respond to questions about who paid for their trips.
Lawmakers have to file their own personal financial disclosures, but when it comes to travel payments they benefit from, under the law, they only have to report what the registered lobbyists have to report.
Rep. Jaime Greene, R-Richmond, previously announced that she went on an official visit to Israel in 2025. She didn’t list the trip on her disclosure. And she didn’t respond to a request about who paid for the venture.
Some lawmakers went further than the minimum requirements.
For instance, state Rep. Brenda Carter, D-Pontiac, reported getting lodging for a Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association conference and lodging for the Michigan Association of Health Plans conference in July 2025.
Carter is on the House’s insurance and health policy committees. Neither the beer and wine group or the health insurance industry group disclosed any payments for lodging for Carter.
House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton, reported on his disclosure getting an unspecified amount of “travel payments” for the Consumer Technology Association, which puts on an annual electronics show in Las Vegas.
In addition, Sen. Joe Bellino, R-Monroe, reported receiving travel payments through the National Retailers Foundation to a conference in New York in January 2025.
“I tried to do the right thing,” Bellino said of the public disclosure.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan lawmakers got more trips, as legislating slowed to crawl
Reporting by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Craig Mauger, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
