A ballot campaign to stop public utilities and some state government contractors from political giving submitted petition language to a state elections board this week.
The optional step starts a 30-day window for the Board of State Canvassers to make sure everything is in order with the petition ahead of signature-gathering. That process involves the state elections director writing 100-word summary language to go at the top of the petition.
Sean McBrearty is vice chair of the Michiganders for Money out of Politics campaign, a coalition made up of environmental voting rights, and other groups.
McBrearty said the group wants to get out in the field collecting signatures as soon as possible. That’s even if it means canvassers could be out in the wintertime, when it’s historically tougher to stop people and ask for their support on the street or at events.
“We’ve heard from people across the state who are excited about being able to take our power back from bad corporate actors and exert the people’s influence over our government again. And so we’re excited to get folks out able to sign this,” McBrearty said.
The ballot measure language is similar to bipartisan legislation introduced earlier this year in the state House of Representatives. That effort itself is a followup from bills in the previous legislative term that never passed.
“This is not something the legislature is going to do itself. If the people want to take back their power from the government contractors and monopoly utilities, the way to do it is at the ballot,” McBrearty said.
McBrearty and other supporters of the ban argue utilities and large contractors have used their money to gain an outsized influence on state government.
Consumers Energy and DTE Energy are two of the state’s largest utilities. The campaign finance site OpenSecrets shows groups tied to each of those have spent over $2 million and $1.2 million respectfully on lobbying across 2023 and 2024.
Both utilities have denied any wrongdoing with their political behavior.
“DTE Energy is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen and complies with all applicable laws regarding corporate donations and political contributions. These disclosures showcase DTE's commitment to our customers and communities we serve, helping us meet our aspiration of being best in the world and best for the world. The political contributions the company makes are supported by the DTE voluntary employee PAC or DTE shareholders – not from customer revenue,” DTE Energy spokesperson Ryan Lowry said in a written statement Tuesday.
Consumers did not respond to an emailed request for comment Tuesday but has previously taken a similar stance, saying it also does not use money from ratepayers to pay for its political activity.
Editor's note: DTE Energy and Consumers Energy are among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
