Last week, the Taking Back Our Power coalition, an alliance of everyday people, grassroots organizers, and statewide advocacy groups, announced the formation of the Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP) Ballot Committee. Michiganders for Money Out of Politics aims to pass a citizen-led ballot initiative that bans political contributions from regulated monopoly utilities, such as DTE and Consumers Energy, as well as corporations that seek or hold large state and local government contracts.
As a leading member of the MMOP coalition, Voters Not Politicians is once again grabbing our clipboards and taking this fight directly to voters to ask: Do we want a government that serves us or a government that is bought and paid for by corporations?
The corrosive influence of corporate money in Michigan politics has consistently grown worse over the last several decades. The dominance of dark money contributions and corporate cash drowns out the voices of people across the state, and has contributed to public loss of faith in democracy itself. The worst examples of this type of undue and misused influence come when corporations that are reliant on government support and intervention for their profits, monopoly utilities and government contractors, spend huge amounts of money ensuring that they have the support of the lawmakers who are supposed to do what’s best for their constituents.
In recent years, as part of the Taking Back Our Power coalition, Voters Not Politicians has attempted to address the problem of money in politics through the legislative process, introducing legislation in both the 23-24 session (House Bills 5520, 5521, 5975 and 5976), as well as bipartisan legislation in the current legislative session (House Bills 4381, 4382, 4383, 4384). Despite the bipartisan support, neither bill package received movement in Lansing.
One of the many problems that comes from the influence these corporations have on our politics is, there is little to no political appetite in Lansing for reforms that would limit the power of corporate money. Politicians are not willing to get money out of politics, so now the voters are going to do it for them.
MMOP intends to submit petition language for a statutory initiative to the Board of State Canvassers this July, before launching a massive, statewide signature collection drive to gather more than 357,000 valid signatures and put the initiative before voters on the November 2026 ballot.
“We plan to use grassroots power to get this initiative moving and bring it across the finish line. Our plan is to appear before the Board of State Canvassers in July, and then as soon as we have the green light with our form and summary approval we’re going to dust our clipboards off and hit the street,” said Kim Murphy-Kovalick, Senior Director of Policy and Programs of Voters Not Politicians. “We plan… to give voters the power to decide: in 2026 do we want a government that serves us or a government that is bought and paid for by corporations?”
The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics coalition includes Clean Water Action, Climate Cabinet, Community Change Action, Detroit Action, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Michigan United Action, MOSES Action, Progress Michigan, and Voters Not Politicians. If you are interested in learning more and supporting the ballot initiative, you should visit mopupmichigan.org to donate or volunteer.
3 Responses
Hello,
My name is Sue Hoeft from Mt. Pleasant. I am just curious if wording like “any foreign entity” should be added to the language of the bill or if there is a reason it isn’t included. Might was well close all possible loopholes while we are at it.
Sue Hoeft
[email protected]
517-825-9257
Hi Sue!
There are a few ways to target corporate spending in politics. Our research revealed that pay to play laws, which is what is included in the Michiganders for Money Out of Politics, are much more palatable to courts – in fact, 15 states have similar laws on the books already. Banning foreign-influenced business entities from political spending is more likely to be stopped in the courts. Both policies limit corporate influence on policy.
Thank you for the response,
I think I sent the same question somewhere else (sorry).
We need an easily understood answer to share with the public when/if they ask this question as we are asking them to sign the petition, not sure that saying that “that issue will more likely to be handled by the courts” will satisfy the people asking the question. If I am working on trying to get signatures I want to be able to answer hard questions like ” when they ask why the courts and not this law?” I am not trying to be a pain. I am just wanting to be knowledgeable and able to answer tough questions so that people trust the proposal.
Thanks for all you do. I know it is a lot of work and a thankless job.
Sue