Michigan — Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson recently announced a new item on her agenda: increasing government transparency in the state.
Benson is responding to a study published in 2015 by The Center for Public Integrity which assesses the accountability and transparency of state governments. Overall, Michigan ranked 50th in the U.S. and was given an “F”. However, the state ranked 5th and was given a “B-” in the area of Electoral Oversight and also scored well in its handling of State Budget Processes.
Benson considers herself a longtime advocate for government transparency and said her new agenda “would take Michigan from worst to first in government transparency, shine the light on dark money in politics and stop public corruption.” She also said, “These are things lawmakers must do if they are serious about rebuilding public trust in our elected government.”
Benson’s new legislative agenda is titled “From Worst to First”, and it includes items such as extending the Freedom of Information Act to the governor and state legislature, tightening LLC reporting requirements to ensure certain monies do not corrupt elections, and enforcing the Conflict of Interest Act to identify legislative conflicts of interest. The entire agenda can be found <HERE>.
Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand
