Michigan ballot drive would subject governor, lawmakers to FOIA

Advocates for open government will launch a 2022 ballot drive to subject the Michigan governor and Legislature to the state's public-records law. Michigan is one of just two states to wholly exempt the governor's office and is among eight states where lawmakers are explicitly exempt. Bills to end the exemptions have stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate in recent years despite having won widespread bipartisan support in the GOP-led House. Lonnie Scott, executive director of the liberal advocacy group Progress Michigan, says the "people of Michigan deserve accountable and transparent government."