A coalition of groups concerned about corporate influence in Lansing hopes to give Michigan voters the chance to stop big, for-profit utilities and major corporations with state contracts from filling politicians’ campaign accounts with cash.

A new ballot initiative launched Monday, June 30 seeks to ban political contributions from companies with government contracts over $250,000 and regulated monopoly utilities like DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, while instituting new disclosures around so-called “dark money” flowing to candidates and policy priorities through secretive nonprofits.

“This isn’t just another policy tweak. It’s a line in the sand. We want to stop corporations from buying off our democracy,” said Sean McBrearty, Michigan state director for Clean Water Action, a member of the coalition, during a Monday call with reporters.