(Source: MIRS.news, Published 11/02/2023) A financial disclosure package didn’t appear on the House calendar Thursday despite being on it Wednesday due to internal disagreements within the House Democratic caucus about how far to go in demanding state public officials and candidates for those offices disclose their personal finances.
One internal source described the dispute inside the House Democratic caucus over how far to go this way, "It's a mess. It's bad."
The inside word is that several progressives and freshmen within the caucus are pushing back against the Senate package that apparently Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) agreed to go along with.
The alternate package being pushed requires spouses to disclose their assets like the candidates, while the leadership package requires spouses to disclose their occupation and whether he or she is a registered lobbyist.
The alternate package requires public officials to categorize their earnings as either being more than $10,000 or more than $50,000. The leadership package only has the reporting as being above $10,000.
The alternate package includes the candidates and members of the Board of Education, the Michigan State University Board of Trustees, the University of Michigan Regents and the Wayne State University Board of Governors. The leadership package does not.
The alternate package also fines candidates and officeholders $25 a day for a late form and $10,000 for a fraudulent one. The leadership package caps the fines for a late filing at $500 and makes the filing of an inaccurate report a $1,000 civil fine.
Following an overwhelmingly and relatively non-controversial 36-2 vote on the bills in the Senate, the legislation landed with a thud in the House.
Not only is there a handful of progressive D's who are holding out for tougher reporting requirements, including more spousal reporting, but House Republicans aren’t on board either. They crafted a financial disclosure bill early in the term but could never get any movement on it.
On top of that, early in the day, the word was the House would adjourn at 1 p.m. to accommodate some members who needed to travel to attend a conference.
Facing some bad optics and a rapidly shrinking calendar, the Speaker told the members they could not leave.
The last remaining bill package of major significance is legislation that would give the Michigan Public Service Commission the power to site large scale solar development projects as opposed to local governments.
The House is not expected to take attendance or vote on Tuesday, which is the Election Day in various municipal governments, including Warren and Westland, where Rep. Lori Stone (D-Warren) and Rep. Kevin Coleman (D-Westland), respectively, are on the ballot for mayor.
If both are successful, the hope is both can hang around the House until Thursday, Nov. 9, to wrap up any remaining bills before the chamber adjourns sine die. Coleman and Stone would resign and the House would have a split 54-54 partisan mark-up until special elections can be held in late winter 2024.
If only one or neither are successful, the Democrats hold on to the majority in the House. Adjournment may still happen to assure the early primary election happens Feb. 27, but the odds of the Governor calling the first special session since the 1960s go way up.
