The governor and legislature would be subject to public records requests, under bills approved by the state House today.
“When you exempt the governor and you exempt the state legislature from the Freedom of Information Act, it’s not true transparency,” said state Rep. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, a bill sponsor. “So this is a victory for citizens of the state of Michigan and journalists alike to learn a little more about how their government works.”
Michigan has ranked dead last in national transparency law rankings. It is one of only two states that does not subject the governor or legislature to freedom of information laws.
Speaker of the House Tom Leonard, R-DeWitt, says he is proud of how the vote went.
“The fact that we passed ten bills and there was not one no vote show how committee this House of Representatives is to creating more transparency here in state government,” he said
Similar bipartisan legislation was recently introduced in the state Senate. That’s after Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-Olive Twp., expressed reluctance to put the House bills up for a vote.
