âThese reforms represent meaningful, if incremental, steps that will help restore citizensâ faith in our government by increasing transparency and demanding high ethical standards from public servants, Lasinski added. Itâs long past time to stop talking about reform in Lansing and start taking action. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to see that these reforms become law.âÂ
Other proposed reforms, which were developed over two years in consultation with the group Voters Not Politicians, include:
New penalties for illegal gifts
Lobbying disclosures
Financial disclosures for lawmakers and state officers
Closing the ârevolving doorâ for legislators and heads of departments
Docking the pay of wayward lawmakers, curbing the legislative revolving door and new standing ethics committees highlight some of the proposals included in a slate of bipartisan bills unveiled Tuesday.
The measures track with a series of other proposals offered by Republicans and Democrats earlier this year, moves aimed at reversing Michigan s oft-criticized standing as one of the least transparent states in the nation.
“When you get outside of the small Lansing and Capitol community and tell people back home how their state government operates, you really see how bizarre some of our rules are and why so many people are losing their faith in government,” House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell, said in a statement.
April 13, 2021
As state lawmakers have returned back to work in Lansing, the COVID pandemic remains top of mind. State Representative and Speaker Pro Tem Pamela Hornberger, said she hopes news of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine being suspended doesn’t give people vaccine hesitancy.
“I think now with this, hearing this vaccine news is going to be even more difficult,” she says. “You know, you want people to be safe and people were looking at vaccines as a way to hopefully get us out of this and create some immunity faster, but giving me great pause to hear that this morning. It’s not great news.”
Unlock Michigan Petition Drive Unlocked by Michigan SOS
Republican State Representative Pamela Hornberger says there’s finally some progress to report surrounding the Unlock Michigan petition drive. She says it will be just a short time before the State Board of Canvassers decides on the validity of the resulting petition signatures. Lots of conservative leaders throughout the state have been critical of the Secretary of State’s office for its purposeful foot-dragging to certify the citizen-led initiative.
Now that step is over, and presuming the canvassers declare the signatures as valid, the primary issue is set to go to the state legislature. Tomorrow (Friday, April 9, 2021) marks the close of a public challenge period. The issue is whether to eliminate the 1945 Emergency Powers of the Governor Act or place the question on next year’s statewide ballots for voters to decide the result.