LANSING, Mich. — With less than two weeks until the Nov. 3 election, Michigan voters are weighing Proposal 2, a citizen-initiated law that would rewrite parts of the state’s 1976 campaign finance law and take regulated utilities out of the business of funding state candidates.
The measure would bar electric and gas utilities overseen by state rate regulators, along with their top officers, major shareholders and affiliated groups, from giving money to candidates for governor, attorney general and the Legislature, to state and local party committees, and to the regulators who set their rates. A utility that broke the rule could face a civil fine as large as 10 times what it gave.
Companies holding more than $250,000 a year in government contracts would face similar limits. A contractor that knowingly made a banned donation could see its contract canceled and would be shut out of new public contracts for 12 months after that election, though returning the money within 30 days would avoid a violation.
The proposal also targets so-called issue ads. Anyone other than a committee who spends $5,000 or more in a year on messages that clearly identify a candidate in the 100 days before a general election would have to file reports, and internet ads would have to say who paid for them. Michigan is not among the 38 states that already require sponsor disclosure on online political ads, according to a nonpartisan state Senate analysis.
Supporters, a coalition of eight groups that gathered the petition signatures, say utilities and contractors have outsized sway at the Capitol and that voters deserve to know who is paying for political messages. The opposing committee, Protect MI Free Speech, counts Consumers Energy, Comcast and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan among its backers and argues the measure would curb free speech and invite costly court fights.
The Senate analysis expects minor added costs for the attorney general, district courts and the Department of State, with fines going to local libraries.
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