Michigan voters overwhelmingly supported a proposal to ban political spending by state-regulated electric and gas utilities and companies with large government contracts.
The “Money Out of Politics” ballot initiative, also known as Proposal 2, passed with 81.14% of the vote. More than 4.3 million Michiganders voted on the initiative, with 3.5 million voted to pass it.
The initiative was approved in July by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers, and will also ban direct or indirect contributions from “people or organizations” with substantial connections to those entities.
“We’re the ones that make change,” said Christy McGillivray, executive director of Voters Not Politicians and a co-chair of the ballot committee. “Our representatives failed to deliver on holding corrupt pay to play politics accountable, so we said enough. And tonight Michiganders delivered.”
DTE and Consumers Energy will be the two largest state-regulated electric and gas utilities affected by the initiative, though it also applies to all corporations with local and state government contracts of more than $250,000 annually.
It will not prevent the companies from making any political contributions, just ones to candidates for state or local offices within the jurisdiction of their contract. The initiative also expands Michigan’s campaign finance disclosure requirements for political advertising.
In August, the Republican-led Michigan House voted to adopt the same citizen-led Michiganders for Money Out of Politics initiative.
Under Michigan law, the legislature has 40 days to take up and pass a referendum after it is approved by the Board of State Canvassers. If it does not, it then heads to the ballot.
While House Republicans hoped to move forward with it legislatively, the Democrat-led Senate refused to take up the initiative – instead sending it to be placed on the ballot.
The organizers behind the proposal supported Senate Democrats in their decision to allow the initiative to go to the ballot.
“We the people are finally taking back our power here in Michigan,” said Sean McBrearty, co-chair of the ballot committee on election night. “Together, we said ‘enough is enough’ to the deck being stacked against working families and in favor of corporate giants for far too long.”
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy has already filed a federal lawsuit challenging the new campaign finance provisions as unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan on election night.
“The First Amendment guarantees people the freedom to praise and criticize the elected officials who govern us,” said Institute for Free Speech Senior Attorney Brett Nolan, the lead litigator on the case. “But there’s nothing free about a system that requires you to register with the government if you dare speak about those elected officials in public. Proposal 2 is an expansive and dangerous assault on the right and ability of people to hold their government accountable.”
The center argues the provisions threaten free speech and privacy by subjecting everyone to “undue campaign finance regulations.”
The lawsuit, Mackinac Center v. Benson et al., is asking the court to declare the challenged requirements unconstitutional and block their enforcement.
