The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics coalition includes Clean Water Action, Climate Cabinet, Detroit Action, Hip Hop Caucus Action Fund, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Michigan United Action, MOSES Action, and Voters Not Politicians.
The campaign to get money out of Michigan politics actually began in late 2021 when the Defend Black Voters coalition formed to urge the biggest donors in the state to stop supporting politicians who were advancing voter suppression legislation. We appealed to corporate leaders directly at shareholder meetings and the Mackinac Policy Conference. We also reached out to their biggest clients, state universities, and county commissions.
Defend Black Voters banner, June 2, 2022 | Laina G. Stebbins
The nature of the problem crystallized in 2022 when we pressed the Michigan Public Service Commission to hold a public hearing on DTE Energy’s request for another rate increase.
The people spoke out powerfully and the increase was reduced nearly 90% but within a couple of months, DTE Energy made another request and got what they were denied the first time.
For any change to be sustainable, the influence these corporations have over their regulators will need to be legislated.
The Defend Black Voters Coalition, July 27, 2022 | Ken Coleman
The following year, we created the Taking Back Our Power campaign.
Our champions in the legislature introduced bills to prevent regulated monopolies and corporations that had contracts with the state.
Dozens of other legislators from both sides of the aisle signed a pledge to support these bills if they ever came up for a vote. Sadly, the entities the legislation targeted were among the most charitable donors to political campaigns of both parties, including Michigan House Speaker, Joe Tate.
As a result, the Taking Back Our Power package of bills was never even brought to the Michigan House floor for consideration.
Fortunately, in the state of Michigan, voters are armed with the power of direct democracy. As citizens of this state, we have the constitutional right to initiate legislation as an indirectly initiated state statute. In other words, we can pass a law to get money out of Michigan politics that the Michigan politicians were unable to pass
First, we need to collect 356,958 valid signatures within 180 days.
Sign up to volunteer and circulate the petition!
Once we collect enough signatures, our proposal is sent to the state legislature. Legislators have 40 session days to adopt the initiative into law. If they fail, either by taking no action or by rejecting the initiative, the initiative is put on the ballot for voters to decide.
Our polling has consistently shown over 80% of Michigan voters, including 90% of Democrats, 84% of independents, and 66% of Republicans, support these policies.
Michiganders across the political spectrum want to reduce corporate influence in Michigan politics, making it a unifying issue for voters statewide.
Join the fight to get Money Out of Politics! If we wait for politicians to act on this issue, we’ll be waiting forever. That’s why we’re taking this fight directly to the people, but we need your support.
Michigan’s government should work for people, not powerful corporations or special interests. But regulated monopoly utilities and big government contractors use political contributions to drown out the voices of everyday Michiganders on issues that matter to us. Campaign ads purchased by dark money groups that hide their funders from the public can sway public opinion anonymously. Big money in Michigan politics means special interests win over voters.
Michiganders For Money Out Of Politics would:
Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP) is a grassroots non-paristan campaign working to get big money out of our state elections. The MMOP coalition includes: Clean Water Action, Climate Cabinet, Detroit Action, Hip Hop Caucus Action Fund, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Michigan United Action, MOSES Action, and Voters Not Politicians.
The ban would include the principal employees of the affected utilities and large contractors, the board members of these entities, and the immediate families of these same people. They would be banned from making direct contributions to the candidates and officeholders who regulate them, and the parties and committees who contribute directly to those campaigns.
They would not have a contract with the State unless they forgo their right to make contributions. For corporations that have contracts with the state and/or local governments in excess of $250,000 annually, the policy would ban them from contributing to candidates for state office, political parties, or other candidate or party affiliated entities. These contributions would be banned from when negotiations for the contract commence or the request for proposal is released until 18 months after the contract ends.
The average line worker (for example) would not have their contributions limits changed in any way. The following people count as an employee/affiliate for the purposes of this policy change:
Under this policy, there would be no legal amount they could contribute.
The policy explicitly excludes collective bargaining agreements from the section of the policy that bans corporations that have a contract with the state valued at $250,000 or more from political giving. You can read the language yourself in section 30B. Additionally, the grants that unions receive from the state could be impacted, so those are also excluded quite explicitly, which you can read in section 30B (9)(A). Unions and individual union members will not be impacted by the policy changes in the petition. We have been working closely with Labor to make sure they understand that they will not be impacted.
We do not foresee any expenses to implement these changes. However, the opposition will likely try to say that it will cost taxpayers money. There is no evidence of that.
This is difficult to answer accurately. In part due to the number of candidates, PACs, and political parties that have existed over the years; but more so because of the massive amount of money coming into our politics and the lack of disclosure laws here in Michigan. There are thousands of corporations who make political contributions in Michigan alone. Here is a chart that outlines the sum total of just the oil and gas contributions.
If you’re interested in learning more about a specific legislator and how much corporate money they have received over the years, you can take a look at campaign finance records here.
We need to collect 600,000 total signatures and have a final total of 356,958 valid signatures collected within a 180 time frame. Right now, that 180 days ends on February 25th, 2026.
Yes. This is a rolling 180 day window with a final deadline to submit by May 27th, 2026.
There is very little left unclear or up for determination in the policy. There is one section that pertains to the Secretary of State implementing processes to administer this, but that’s it. Since it just changes the rules about contributions, there’s very little to actually implement, leaving it mostly Legislature-proof.