Educators, cities worry over bill limiting ballot education

Kathleen Gray | Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

LANSING — The final bill passed before the Legislature adjourned last week has municipal and school officials worried that educating the public about local ballot issues will become difficult, if not impossible.

What started out as a fairly innocuous campaign finance bill that initially got unanimous support in the Senate, was totally changed at the last minute in the House late Wednesday to include several more controversial provisions, including one that bans using public dollars or resources to educate the public about ballot proposals in the 60 days leading up to an election.

That provision was added without any public hearings or notice to the parties that will be most affected by the legislation.

“This language puts an undue burden on communities and their residents, blocking access to unbiased, objective communication on the local issues that matter most to the residents in every community in Michigan,” said Chris Hackbarth of the Michigan Municipal League in a blog post calling on members to urge Gov. Rick Snyder to veto the bill.

According to the Michigan Campaign Finance Act of 1976, it is already illegal to use public resources to make a contribution or expenditure on a ballot proposal. And there are a handful of complaints filed with the Secretary of State dating to 2013.

Now, Hackbarth said he fears that the new legislation will open elected officials and municipal employees up to costly violations if they answer questions during public meetings or during local public access television shows.

“You’re allowed to have your own personal views, but in those 60 days before an election, you’re telling these officials they can’t even respond on their computer or phone, to a question from a constituent,” he said. “There’s a whole free speech concern there.”

The Michigan Association of Counties said the legislation will prevent public officials from performing a vital educational role for members of their communities.

“Local governments already are prevented by state law from using persuasive language to convince voters to approve a millage increase or special millage request. But voters have a right to know why the representatives they placed in office have placed an item on the ballot for their consideration,” said Dana Gill, director of governmental affairs for MAC.

“The new language does not allow any communication between local governments and their citizens within two months of an election,” she added. "There is no compelling public interest served by this restriction.”

Also included in the revamped bill, which grew from 25 to 53 pages during the late-night session, is a provision that allows political action and independent expenditures committees to skip filing reports close to an election, meaning that millions of dollars pouring into special campaigns will go unreported until long after an election is held.

"The Michigan Legislature should make real-time reporting of independent expenditures in all elections its highest order of business when it comes to amending the Michigan Campaign Finance Act," said Rich Robinson of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. "Citizens should have a right to know who is paying for all campaign messages before Election Day."

Democrats objected to the bill, primarily because it wasn’t shared with them until moments before a vote was taken.

“The majority once again has had every opportunity to share with us what you’re doing,” said Rep. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing. “This could have been a bipartisan bill and these are important issues to the public and you’re not allowing us to read and understand the changes.”

But state Rep. Al Pscholka, R-Stevensville, said the issues in the bill have been talked about for quite some time and that the changes made on Wednesday night were minor.

No Republicans spoke out on the bill and it passed, mostly along party lines, by a 58-48 vote in the House. In the Senate, the amended bill also passed mostly along party lines by a 25-12 vote.

It now goes to Snyder for his consideration. The bill hasn’t been presented to Snyder, said his spokesman Dave Murray, “but once it arrives, he will give it a thorough review before he decides whether to sign it into law.”

Contact Kathleen Gray: 517-372-8661 or kgray99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @michpoligal.