While lobbyists' overall spending on food for state officials is less than half of what it was last year, the expensive meals that require disclosure are only down slightly.
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posted on 09/16/2020
New disclosures reveal how the shutdown dropped donations to legislators. But people didn’t stop giving to candidates. Special interests did.
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posted on 07/31/2020
A statewide advertising campaign that promotes Enbridge’s oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac uses the image of a government scientist who found that 700 miles of Great Lakes shoreline would be at risk if the line ruptures. The agency the scientist works for says it didn't give permission for Enbridge to use the image in the ad campaign.
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posted on 09/30/2019
Some Michigan lawmakers have been headlining fundraisers where donors are specifically asked to make “corporate contributions only," according to invitations obtained by MCFN. It's a request that could help ensure the sources of money and the groups collecting it remain secret.
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posted on 09/24/2019
So far in 2019, a small group of influential state lawmakers has been consuming larger than normal amounts of free food and drink purchased by lobbyists. Those lobbyists spent more than $4,000 on meals and beverages for three individual lawmakers over the first seven months of 2019, according to new disclosures.
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posted on 09/11/2019
This is a list of how much money lobbyists and organizations reported spending on food and drink purchases for individual state officeholders from Jan. 1, 2019, through July 31, 2019. The numbers are based on disclosures filed with the Michigan Secretary of State by the lobbyists and organizations.
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posted on 09/11/2019
A company that owns a controversial oil pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac was one of the sponsors of a recent gathering of county officeholders from across Michigan. At the event, the officeholders voted to take a policy position in favor of the pipeline, a pipeline Michigan's attorney general is trying to shut down.
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posted on 09/06/2019
Lobbyist spending in Michigan is on a record pace in 2019. Lobbyists reported spending $23.2 million over the first seven months of 2019, a 6-percent increase over the previous high for the same period in past years, according to disclosures. The spending came as a new class of lawmakers took office and the Legislature overhauled the state's auto insurance system.
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posted on 09/05/2019
This spreadsheet lists the 200 groups that have reported spending the most on lobbying in Michigan over the first seven months of 2019. The numbers are based on disclosures filed with the Michigan Secretary of State. The disclosures were due on Sept. 3, 2019.
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posted on 09/05/2019
A majority of Michigan's 83 counties have sued drug distributors and manufacturers over their alleged role in the opioid epidemic. However, one of the companies named in the suits registered to lobby in Michigan this year and could soon score a victory in the Legislature.
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posted on 09/04/2019
Before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer decided to end the state's medical marijuana licensing board, an email from a former Senate majority leader referencing a conversation with the board's chair gained the attention of state officials. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network learned of the situation through multiple Freedom of Information Act requests.
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posted on 06/05/2019
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce publicly weighed in on 28 bills or bill packages during the 2018 lame-duck session. The Legislature agreed with the Chamber on 24 of them. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network and Detroit Free Press columnist Nancy Kaffer partnered to examine the group's influence.
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posted on 05/30/2019
In a single year, a self-described “lawyer-lobbyist” went from working on behalf of a company accused of poisoning groundwater to writing a law that could weaken Michigan’s standards for pollution cleanup. Citing attorney-client privilege, the lawyer won't disclose who paid him to work on the new law.
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posted on 05/29/2019
In the early 1980s, dozens of interest groups rose up to fight new regulations for lobbyists in Michigan. The fight led to a court ruling that came down 36 years ago this month. The ruling protected the main provisions in the state's lobby law, the framework of which is still in place today.
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posted on 05/03/2019
Elected state officeholders who served in 2018 disclosed having at least 774 fundraisers during the year, according to an analysis of hundreds of campaign finance disclosures. The most popular places to raise money were all within walking distance of the Capitol, and the wide majority of the most popular days for fundraisers were days the Legislature was also in session.
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posted on 04/25/2019
As lobbyists for the casino industry increased their spending in Lansing, state lawmakers considered significant changes to Michigan's gaming laws. In the last four months alone, there have late-night votes on a bill to ease regulations covering casinos, vetoes by the governor and undisclosed trips to New Orleans for a gaming conference.
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posted on 04/04/2019
Registered lobbyists disclosed buying at least $1,000 in food and drink for 27 different state lawmakers in 2018, according to an analysis of new disclosures. Among the four lawmakers who received the most free food and drink were the incoming speaker of the House and the incoming chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.
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posted on 02/28/2019
This spreadsheet lists the lobbyist-funded food and drink totals for each public officeholder included in Michigan lobbyist disclosures. The numbers are the totals that were disclosed for 2018 and are based on disclosures filed with the secretary of state by registered lobbyists.
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posted on 02/28/2019
As state lawmakers sent nearly 400 bills to then-Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk in the closing weeks of the year, lobbyists upped their efforts in Lansing to influence policy decisions, helping to make 2018 a record year for lobbyist spending, according to state disclosures. Overall, lobbyists reported spending $40.3 million in 2018.
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posted on 02/27/2019
This document lists the top 200 groups and firms that reported spending the most on lobbying Michigan state government during 2018. The numbers are based on filings with the Michigan secretary of state. Overall, lobbyists reported spending $40.3 million in 2018.
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posted on 02/27/2019
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s transition organization voluntarily released a list of inauguration sponsors. The list included 182 groups or individuals who fell into sponsorship categories ranging from $100,000 to $1,000. Some of the groups on the list previously supported Whitmer’s opponent in the election, and many of them will be working with state government on upcoming policy decisions.
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posted on 02/11/2019
Before Republican lawmakers introduced bills in September to support picking a future president through the national popular vote, many of them attended seminars about the topic in vacation spots, like Hawaii and Puerto Rico. More than 20 lawmakers participated in the conferences with some receiving free air travel and hotel stays.
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posted on 10/01/2018
According to new data submitted to the Secretary of State, lobbyists reported spending $21.6 million to influence state government over the first seven months of 2018. It’s a total that falls just shy of the record pace for lobbyist spending set last year when lobbyists disclosed spending $21.8 million over the first seven months.
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posted on 09/21/2018
State lobbyists reported spending $428,533 on food and drink purchases over the first seven months of 2018. While it's impossible to track which officeholders individually benefited from all of those free meals, disclosures show that at least 16 state lawmakers received more than $1,000 in free food and beverages.
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posted on 09/18/2018
Two times each year, groups that want to influence state government through lobbying have to file reports on their spending. But according to lobbying contracts obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, state law has allowed many groups to disclose only a portion of the amount they're paying lobbying firms.
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posted on 09/04/2018
As a deadline looms for Gov. Snyder to decide the future of a pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac, he has touted efforts to weigh the issue independently. But his administration has given Enbridge avenues to influence the debate. The Michigan Campaign Finance Network and Bridge Magazine have examined thousands of internal documents, investigating potential conflicts of interest in the state's handling of Line 5.
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posted on 07/11/2018
A little over a year after the Michigan Senate moved its offices into a new building, there are days when senators are just an elevator ride away from private parties offering free food and drink, according to invitations they’ve received.
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posted on 05/25/2018
Because of large blind spots in Michigan law, state officeholders can go on trips funded by interest groups and easily avoid public detection. Multiple sources say trips funded by groups may happen more often than you would expect, and the same blind spots that exist in Michigan don't exist in some neighboring states or at the federal level.
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posted on 04/30/2018
Michigan lawmakers and other state officials reported having 601 fundraisers during 2017, a significant increase compared with previous years, according to a review of campaign finance disclosures. Nearly half of the events took place in downtown Lansing within walking distance of the Capitol on days the Legislature was in session.
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posted on 03/26/2018
Lobbyists reported spending $821,640 purchasing food and drink in 2017. According to new disclosures, 30 different lawmakers benefited from at least $1,000 in free food and drink last year. Three of them crossed the $3,000 mark.
Lobbyists’ food bill for 2017 is the second highest they have posted for a single year, losing out only to 2015.
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posted on 03/02/2018
Lobbyists disclosed spending $39.4 million trying to influence state government in 2017. It’s the second highest total Michigan lobbyists have reported spending in a single year, according to state filings. The record spending total came one year ago in 2016 when lobbyists reported spending $39.9 million.
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posted on 03/02/2018
Lawmakers say lobbyists not only write proposed amendments to add to existing bills but they also present draft language that the lobbyists ask lawmakers to formally introduce as their own bills. But lawmakers also say the general involvement of lobbyists and interest groups makes for better legislation.
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posted on 01/18/2018
Michigan lobbyists reported spending $540,598 on food and drink purchases for public officeholders over the first seven months of 2017, according to new state disclosures. That total is the second highest ever posted for the first seven months of a year and isn't far from the record. Some state officeholders, including high-ranking lawmakers, have received a larger portion of the free food and drink from lobbyists than others.
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posted on 09/18/2017
Lobbyists reported spending a record amount trying to influence Michigan officeholders in 2016. Over the first seven months of 2017, they matched their record pace. From Jan. 1, 2017, through July 31, 2017, lobbyists reported spending a total of $21.8 million in Michigan, about the same total that they spent over the first seven months of 2016, $21.7 million.
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posted on 09/11/2017
As its chairman pushed for tax breaks to help spur a 52-story development in downtown Detroit, mortgage company Quicken Loans increased its efforts to develop relationships with Lansing lawmakers. According to new disclosures, Quicken Loans spent more on lobbying state government in the first seven months of 2017 — $159,475 — than it had spent in an entire year previously.
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posted on 09/11/2017
Registered lobbyists have been frequent political donors in Michigan over the years, according to a new analysis of campaign finance disclosures. Since the start of 2012, five-and-a-half years ago, Michigan’s more than 1,300 registered lobbyists made $3.7 million in personal political contributions at the state level.
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posted on 07/18/2017
If you’re a state lawmaker looking for a free meal, this week may be one of the premier weeks for you, according to the statistics. You’ll just have to head north.
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posted on 05/30/2017
Lawmakers leaving the Michigan Legislature would have to wait two years before becoming lobbyists under bills being prepped by a Democrat and a Republican in the state House.
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posted on 04/11/2017
State lawmakers who served in the Legislature last year self-reported having 414 campaign fundraisers in 2016, according to MCFN’s review of hundreds of campaign finance disclosures. About 46 percent of the events, 192 fundraisers, took place in Lansing on days either the House or the Senate was scheduled to be in session.
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posted on 03/27/2017
Michigan lobbyists reported spending $690,681 on food and drink purchases in 2016 with 25 different state legislators identified as recipients of more than $1,000 in free meals each, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network’s (MCFN) review of new disclosures filed with the state.
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posted on 03/08/2017
Last year saw more spending on lobbying than any year before, according to new filings with the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office. Lobbyists in Michigan reported spending $39.99 million in 2016. It continues a general upward trend for spending to influence lawmakers. The previous high came just one year before in 2015 when lobbyists reported $38.66 million in spending.
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posted on 03/03/2017
A fund tied to the husband of the House Insurance Committee’s new chairwoman received $80,000 last fall from a group that lobbies on behalf of insurance companies. The account then paid most of the money to a business a legislative staffer had filed paperwork to help form.
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posted on 02/02/2017
Unlike Michigan, more than 30 states already have “cooling-off” measures in place, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Facing term limits, 38 lawmakers departed the Michigan House at the end of 2016. If recent history is any indication, several will become lobbyists, and those who do will most likely make the jump within the next six months.
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posted on 01/17/2017
An investigation by Bridge Magazine and the Michigan Campaign Finance Network (MCFN) found numerous examples of bills authored or supported by legislators that, at least on the surface, offered the potential of a benefit to the lawmakers, their businesses or their families. Meanwhile, lawmakers are recusing themselves from voting less frequently than before.
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posted on 10/27/2016
As Tesla continues its fight to sell electric vehicles directly to buyers in Michigan, it’s challenging one of the state’s most powerful interest groups: the Michigan Automobile Dealers Association. Auto dealers have given more than $1 million to current state officeholders and their caucuses.
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posted on 10/05/2016
Since the start of 2015, individuals with interests in medical marijuana have contributed nearly $50,000 to seven key lawmakers working on the bills as they moved through the Legislature. But donors disagree on whether money influenced the outcome.
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posted on 09/30/2016
For lobbyists, 2016 is shaping up to be one heck of a year. Over the first seven months of 2016, lobbyists reported $21.7 million in spending, according to disclosures filed at the end of August. That total, $21.7 million, is a record for the first seven months of a year.
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posted on 09/21/2016
The House Health Policy chair, the House Judiciary chair and a Democrat from the Upper Peninsula have consumed the most lobbyist-purchased food and drink over the first seven months of 2016, according to new disclosures.
Report...
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posted on 09/21/2016
As Tesla Motors Inc. continues its fight to sell cars in Michigan, the company has increased its focus on another form of travel: lobbyist-paid trips for state lawmakers.
So far in 2016, Tesla has paid for travel and lodgi...
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posted on 09/21/2016
Without having to disclose its donors, a nonprofit organization that’s tried to influence state lawmakers’ debate over energy policy spent $7.4 million in 2015, according to its newest tax filing. The money paid for phone calls, mail campaigns and hundreds of television ads. The group is called Citizens for Michigan's Energy Future, which has connections to the state's largest electric utilities and has promoted bills that the utilities support. Read more by following the link below.
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posted on 08/18/2016
