House Passes MMOP, Senate Leader Refuses To Take It Up

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/25/02026) The House passed the Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP) initiative to prevent utilities and high-dollar state contractors from contributing to campaigns with a 77-26 vote, though it likely will remain stalled in the Legislature as Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said she wouldn't take it up for a vote.

Unless Brinks changes her mind, which is unlikely, the measure will be placed on the November ballot unless judicial action takes it off due to signature concerns.

Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City) said he voted against it not because he doesn't believe corporate money should be banned, but because he wants voters to get the chance to vote on this. He also said he didn't want Lansing “messing with it,” and that when Michiganders get a chance to vote for this they will ban corporate money in politics.

“I think that people should look critically at what happened today; that was not necessarily a vote to get corporate money out of politics, but it was a vote to subvert the will of Michigan voters,” Wegela said.

Rep. James DeSana (R-Carleton) echoed the same sentiments and came with Wegela to speak with reporters about his no vote. He was notably the only Republican to vote against.

Rep. Stephen Wooden (D-Grand Rapids), who voted yes along with other Democrats, also spoke to reporters afterward. He said that since Brinks released a statement making it clear that they would not take up the vote, it was clear to them that it was nothing more than “political theater set out by the House Republicans.”

“I refuse to spring their trap,” Wooden said, “Moreover, because we know that even though this motion failing would ultimately lead to go to voters, a no vote is a vote to reject a proposal that would get corporate money out of our politics. And I am not going to allow the House Republicans to use their ironically millions of dollars of corporate money to confuse voters on what a no vote meant.”

In her statement, Brinks said, "MMOP has successfully gathered more than half a million signatures and the message from Michiganders is clear: They want to see this on the ballot in November. Senate Democrats already agree that there is too much dark money in politics and we are eager to hear what voters have to say on this issue. In that spirit, we will not be subverting the will of the voters by taking it up legislatively."

In his press conference after the session, Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) said Brinks would be in the “extreme minority” if she didn't put the initiative up for a vote, especially as he noted that House Democrats voted for it.

“Hopefully, when Winnie Brinks sees that, she comes forward and votes for it,” Hall said. “They (Democrats) certainly agree with me that we should act on it. We shouldn't leave it up to chance. They don't buy Winnie Brinks' argument that this was designed to go on the ballot and that it's somehow circumventing the will of the voters.”

He said that if she doesn't, then perhaps Secretary of State and Democratic gubernatorial candidate “Jocelyn Benson is telling her not to do it.”

“By the way, they ask me, does Winnie run the Senate or does Jocelyn Benson run the Senate? And I think we'll find out because if this doesn't go out for a vote, then we know Jocelyn Benson runs it,” Hall said.

Meanwhile, Maura Cowley, Campaign Manager for MMOP, said in a statement that, “Speaker Hall should be ashamed of himself.”

“Don’t be fooled – what we saw from Hall today was nothing more than political gamesmanship," Cowley said. "He never had any intention of getting money out of politics. If he did, he wouldn’t have let common-sense, bipartisan policies to root out corruption in politics sit in committee time and time again."

The House also passed a handful of other bills today, including legislation changing landlord-tenant and rental laws and barring certain insurance “price optimization” practices.

The chamber passed SB 22 104-0 and SB 373 99-5, both dealing with rental law; SB 1013 97-7, amending the Insurance Code.

The House also approved SB 1052, dealing with the “Medicaid False Claim Act”; SB 527, amending the Revised Judicature Act; and SB 569, making changes to the Public Health Code.