(Source: MIRS.news, Published 02/22/2024) Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City) Thursday announced the introduction of a two-bill package prohibiting regulated electric or natural gas utilities and their affiliated political action committees (PACs) from making donations to dark money vehicles like 501(c)4s or 527s.
In response, both DTE and Consumers Energy issued statements saying their campaign giving is called participation in the legislative process.
In the library of the Central United Methodist Church, Wegela was joined by members of the “Taking Back Our Power Coalition” (TBOP) to unveil his legislation.
When asked if he’s concerned that even just his appearance at the press conference could cause a sudden influx of campaign dollars to a 2024 primary competitor, Wegela said the thought certainly crossed his mind, “but I think if you've been following anything that my office has done in Lansing, we haven't made decisions based on, ‘What is the establishment going to do to get us out of office?’
“We make them based on conscience and what we believe to be right,” he said.
This latest conscience-based legislation out of Wegela’s office is his HB 5520 and HB 5521.
HB 5521 prohibits electric or natural gas utilities regulated by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), which includes both DTE and Consumers Energy, from making donations or contributions to either 501(c)4 political nonprofits or 527 PACs.
Under the bill, this includes any organizations controlled or directed by candidates for state office, elected state officials, former elected state officials or appointed state officials, along with state and local party committees.
The legislation also bans contributions to organizations that employ or give board seats to candidates, state officials or former elected state officials and their affiliates.
HB 5520 prohibits 501(c)4 and 527 organizations affiliated with state-regulated facilities from also making the same political contributions.
For utilities contributing directly, the fine for a violation is between five and 10 times the amount of the contribution, and for utilities violating HB 5521, the penalty is a civil fine up to 10 times the amount of the contribution collected by the Attorney General.
Wegela said he introduced the legislation because it’s become clear that Michigan’s utilities would rather invest millions of dollars to influence elected officials, rather than improving their services, resulting in poor service and frequent outages for Michiganders.
“We all know what is happening in this space, but why does it continue to happen year after year after year?” Wegela asked. “It's because it is much cheaper for these corporations to spend money buying influence in the political process than it is for them to improve the quality of their services.”
Each year, he said utilities like DTE and Consumers pour thousands of dollars into legislators' pockets, “almost daring a legislator to enact regulations that would improve services but cut into their corporate profits.”
Legislators, in turn, hand directives to the MPSC, which oversees utilities, Wegela said.
“DTE only needed to spend a few million dollars to buy the political influence to net them billions in profits,” Wegela said, referencing DTE’s reported $1.4 billion in earnings in 2023.
“Now, while that's a great year for their profits, we know all too well it's a disaster for the communities that rely on their services,” he said. “And that's the money that we know about.”
Wegela said he’s hopeful that banning their political contributions altogether will force utilities to spend their money on improving their services.
He was joined by Rep. Emily E. Dievendorf (D-Lansing) and Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) in support.
Irwin said, “Just like the acrid smoke from their power plants is getting into the lungs of our residents, just like those poisonous fumes are poisoning people's bodies, the money that flows through Lansing, the money that comes directly from ratepayers and goes right into the political process through these regulated monopolies has poisoned the political process,” he said, “and has made it difficult for people like me to successfully fight for clean air and clean water and the protection of our environment.”
When asked about any free speech concerns, Wegela acknowledged DTE and Consumers will be strongly opposed to the bills, but referenced similar legislation in around 15 other states that has been held up in court.
DTE has not yet taken a formal position on the legislation, said Peter Ternes, DTE communications manager, because the bills have not yet gone through the legislative process.
But in a statement, he said, “DTE’s political giving is transparent and within all campaign finance limits.
“Like most other organizations, DTE participates in the electoral process. In our case, to advocate to provide safe, reliable, affordable, and clean energy for the three million plus customers and businesses that we serve every day.”
Consumers Energy Director of External Relations Katie Carey also issued a statement in response.
“We’re a Michigan company, and we're all in on Michigan's prosperity. We strive to conduct our business in a transparent way, including our participation in the legislative and political process,” Carey said. “Contributions to elected officials can come from one of two places - either shareholder profits, or voluntary contributions made by our employees to the Employees for Better Government (EBG) PAC - and never customer dollars.
“The EBG PAC is nonprofit, nonpartisan and governed by an employee-run steering committee that is independent of the Corporation’s officers and Board,” she said. “Participation in the PAC is voluntary and gives employees a voice in the political process, and all PAC contributions are publicly disclosed on the Secretary of State’s website.”
Wegela said he was hopeful the bills would be referred to the House Ethics and Oversight Committee. Both bills in the package were referred to the House Government Operations Committee, a potentially ominous sign of their movement, or lack thereof.
“I think all of you have been around in Lansing long enough to know that this is going to be an uphill battle,” he said. “These corporations are nice to both sides of the aisle. But for us, we're going to keep advocating because the people of Michigan want these bills.”
Wegela was also asked about the potential for a ballot initiative or petition drive in a case where legislative leadership stops the progress of his bill package.
He said the group’s focus right now is on the legislature but didn’t take that option off the table for the future.
“That might end up being an end goal at some point,” Wegela said.
In the meantime, advocacy efforts started with a Dearborn event tonight, where the TBOP coalition was joined by U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and California U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna for a community rally.
The full coalition includes member groups Clean Water Action, Community Change Action, Detroit Action, Emergent Justice, the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Michigan People's Campaign, MOSES Action and Voters Not Politicians.
