The Legislature has adopted a bill that would require the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to meet in public. It now goes to Governor Gretchen Whitmer for her signature.
The commission has come under fire for holding a closed-door meeting and refusing to release memos and a recording of the session. The commission’s attorneys say the secret meeting was necessary to discuss legal advice regarding its job of drawing new legislative and congressional district lines. The bill headed to Whitmer’s desk would make clear that the commission is expected to comply with the state’s open meetings law.
The commission is also facing a lawsuit that’s before the state Supreme Court. News media organizations want a ruling that the 2018 voter-approved amendment bars the commission from holding closed-door meetings.