With only a few days of legislative session remaining under Michigan’s pro-voter trifecta government, Voters Not Politicians is activating our volunteers and mobilizing both our citizen lobbying and direct lobbying programs to pass our priority pro-democracy legislation.
In 2025, Michigan will lose our pro-voter majority in the state house just as the dangers of Project 2025 rise. The good news is that we still have a pro-voter majority right now. That’s why we are focusing our volunteer capacity from now until the end of the year on lobbying for our lame duck priorities.
Today, we’re in Lansing with over 150 volunteers for a Pro-Democracy Lobby Day to champion the Michigan Voting Rights Act, National Popular Vote, lobbyist reform, ending prison gerrymandering, and Taking Back Our Power legislation. (Find more details on these legislative priorities here.)
We’re partnering with a broad coalition of state and national organizations including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Campaign Legal Center, All Voting is Local, Common Cause, Fund MI Future, the Voting Access for All Coalition, and Promote the Vote. This Lobby Day will include advocacy training and legislative meetings for volunteers, as well as a coalition press conference in support of the Michigan Voting Rights Act.
Alongside this single-day effort, we have activated volunteers statewide to make calls, send emails, and meet in person with their lawmakers to urge them to swiftly pass pro-democracy legislation. We are recruiting new volunteers to join our Dial for Democracy program and add their voices to the call for legislative action before the end of the year.
Already, we’ve achieved one legislative win during this lame duck session, with the passage of House Bills 4127 and 4128, which ban open carry of guns at polling places and within 100 feet of an absentee counting board. Voters Not Politicians has been advocating for these reforms since the very beginning of this legislative session, so we’re happy to see them signed into law by Governor Whitmer.
In the aftermath of the 2016 election, Voters Not Politicians became the place where many people channeled their feelings of disappointment, disenfranchisement, and disillusionment with our political systems into an empowering movement that revolutionized Michigan’s democracy.
Eight years later, Voters Not Politicians is still here, and we are now a leading force in Michigan’s pro-democracy movement. In this moment, we are more prepared than ever before to do the work necessary to improve our democracy and deliver positive change for all Michiganders. We will continue to be a place for those who want to take action and achieve lasting results together, and right now we will use our collective voice to make the most of the last few weeks of Michigan’s pro-democracy majority.
First, I think a 1 year ban on lobbying is a joke. This s/b 2yrs at a bare minimum. If I had my way I’d say the way to put an end to this corruption would be a 5yr ban, no exceptions. Let’s get real about ending this practice.
Second, what leads to the above? The silly term limits we have. While I am strongly opposed to lifetime appointments for judges, and do think presidential term limits (given the power this one person holds) are valid, what other profession limits how long a person can serve, & the experience gained from that? I have told many I believe term limits increase corruption, not stop or limit it. Term limits encourage politicians to come back as lobbyists, or seek to impress companies they intend to work for, once their political term has ended: “hey Mr/Ms xyz co, look how I voted for less regulation (etc.) on your company while I was a legislator…” You know the game. Legislators are looking for their next opportunity because they are term limited & are often not serving the interests of the public. Term limits also limit the experience level & sense of “working together” from longer term relationships across the aisle. It’s often been said we always had term limits, they’re called “elections.” And with fair elections without gerrymandering, which we can thank VNP for, term limits are foolish knee jerk solutions that exacerbate the problem they’re intended to solve. Term limits & lobbying go hand in hand, & feed on each other. The MI public was shortsighted in approving this nonsense years ago, let’s get rid of it. We shouldn’t have forced novices (with the term limited turnover) looking for their next opportunity after being a legislator, who often take actions that seek to serve their own personal interest rather than the public.