LANSING – Even though the House of Representatives unanimously approved a package of bills Tuesday that will partially expose the governor’s office and the Legislature to the Freedom of Information Act, the legislation is unlikely to get the same enthusiasm in the state Senate.

“We’re not going to do nothing. We’re going to do something,” said Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake. “But it won’t be exactly like what the House is sending over.”

Michigan is one of only two states in the nation — Louisiana is the other one — that currently exempt the Legislature, the governor and lieutenant governor’s office from having to disclose records and communications under the Freedom of Information Act. That lack of transparency has led to the state getting a failing grade of F from the Washington D.C.-based Center for Public Integrity.

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The bills address some of those transparency concerns, but still leave some gaping holes:

Communications to legislators, the governor and lieutenant governor from constituents would be exempt from disclosure, even if the names and addresses are redacted

Letters or emails between legislators also wouldn’t have to be disclosed.

State Rep. Donna Lasinski, D-Scio Township, said it was important to protect the privacy of constituents when they were looking for help from their elected representatives.

“When I was a teacher, it was critical to me that parents who communicated with me knew that any sensitive information would not be available for public viewing,” she said.

In addition, the governor’s office wouldn’t have to disclose records having to do with the following:

Appointments

Decisions to suspend or fire a public official or grant a pardon or commutation to a prisoner

Budget recommendations or reductions in spending

Messages or recommendations to the Legislature

Information on the governor’s residences.

The Legislative Open Records Act would change how denials for records are handled. Currently, people who are denied can go to the state Court of Claims to appeal that decision. The bills approved Tuesday would have denials in the Legislature handled by an administrator of the Legislative Council, basically a legislative employee, and would bar judicial review of those decisions.

Lawmakers said that provision would make it less expensive to appeal denials because lawyers and court fees wouldn’t be involved.

“Appeals will actually cost less,” Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, said during testimony on the bill earlier this month. “We don’t want to be litigated in court for decades to come.”

But open records advocates said an independent review of those denials is essential.

““We still have some major concerns about these bills, like the lack of judicial review for legislative record denials and some very broad exemptions, but we think the time to act on more transparency is now and these bills are a good step forward,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of the Lansing-based, liberal advocacy group Progress Michigan.

“The bills establishing the Legislative Open Records Act do not follow all the components of the FOIA law, most importantly the option for judicial review when access to records is denied.”

Lawmakers, however, said the measures were a good step forward on increasing transparency in state government.

“People in Michigan deserve more transparency,” said state Rep. Daire Rendon, R-Lake City. “We must remove these FOIA exemptions to make government more accountable to taxpayers of the state. They’re entitled to information on how their money is being spent.”

The unanimous passage in the House will probably not be replicated in the Senate, Shirkey said.

He has concerns with aspects of the House bills, saying it would limit the free flow of ideas between legislators as they contemplate the language of bills and put personal communications at risk.

“We’re going to propose something specific and it will likely be different than what’s coming out of the House,” he said.

The Senate also is looking at what other states are doing on FOIA legislation to see whether there is a model that is more acceptable, Shirkey said.

The FOIA legislation has been introduced in every legislative session for several years. In 2017, similar bills gained overwhelming support in the House but died without getting a hearing in the Senate.

The bills — HB 4007-4013 and 4015-4016 — now move to the Senate for consideration.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.