DTE Energy, Detroit | Susan J. Demas
A ballot initiative is in the works to ban corporations with large existing or pending government contracts from making political contributions to candidates for office and sitting lawmakers.
Taking Back Our Power, a coalition backing the , announced Monday its plans to get language approved for signature collection. The aim is to get the proposal before voters on the 2026 general election ballot.
Michigan law currently allows powerful monopolies and large government contractors, like DTE Energy, Consumers Energy and insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, to gain political influence via campaign and political action committee contributions, which can often evade public transparency and accountability, the group said Monday.
That性视界传媒檚 where Michiganders for Money Out of Politics aims to make a difference. The ballot committee backed by Taking Back Our Power says it seeks to restore Michigan性视界传媒檚 democratic systems by putting people over corporate profits.
The coalition consists of Michigan advocacy groups like Clean Water Action, Climate Cabinet, Community Change Action, Detroit Action, Emergent Justice, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Michigan United Action, MOSES Action, Progress Michigan, and Voters Not Politicians.听
The latter group was instrumental in helping create the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, which put state legislative and congressional redistricting in the hands of an independent, citizen-led commission instead of the Michigan Legislature.
The goal of Taking Back Our Power is to get the language and the summary before the Michigan Board of State Canvassers in July for approval to start collecting signatures.
Members of the group held a virtual news conference on Monday afternoon to extol the necessity of the measure.
Sean McBrearty, the state director of Clean Water Action, said that the corrosive influence of corporate money on state politics drowns out the voices of Michigan residents.
性视界传媒淭he worst examples of this influence come when corporations that are reliant on government support and intervention for their profits, namely monopoly utilities and government contractors, spend huge amounts of money ensuring that they have the support of lawmakers who are supposed to be voting in the best interests of their constituents,性视界传媒 McBrearty said.
For example, McBrearty said that in 2022, DTE gave money to 138 out of the 148 state House representatives and state Senators in Lansing. In 2023, he said DTE gave $100,000 to a nonprofit tied to former House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) while DTE residents were without power in the midst of winter storms.
性视界传媒淯nsurprisingly, a huge grassroots push for greater utility accountability fell on deaf ears in Lansing after that contribution,性视界传媒 McBrearty said.
Tate, who is running for the 2026 Democratic gubernatorial nomination, has yet to respond to a request by Michigan Advance for comment on McBrearty性视界传媒檚 statement.
Taking Back Our Power attempted over the last two years to address DTE性视界传媒檚 and Consumers性视界传媒 political contributions via legislation. Bills were introduced last term and were reintroduced this term. Despite broad bipartisan support, the bills weren性视界传媒檛 given a hearing last term.
McBrearty, the vice chair of the new ballot committee, noted that state Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City), who aligns ideologically with Democratic Socialists, and state Rep. James DeSana (R-Carleton), a deeply conservative member of the Michigan House Freedom Caucus, led the way on that legislation. They both have endorsed the campaign to prevent monopolies like DTE and Consumers Energy from having an outsized influence over state politics.
DeSana is the only Republican noted on a shared by the group that details which legislators have pledged to support the effort and what it性视界传媒檚 trying to accomplish.
Getting dark money out of Lansing has been an uphill battle for those waging war against it, but some advances have been made in recent years, including the .
Kim Murphy-Kovalick, programs director with Voters Not Politicians, said the committee will leverage grassroots power to get it across the finish line. The coalition性视界传媒檚 individual member organizations have already started training volunteers and staff on the amendment and the rules of petition circulation. Public town hall events were soon to follow, she said.
Reporters asked Taking Back Our Power if they had received any response from DTE or Consumers on the matter. McBrearty said they had not and were not prioritizing those companies in terms of public outreach and feedback, adding that the group would instead stay focused on people and getting the message to them.
DTE told on Monday that it has complied with all corporate donation and political contribution laws.
The initiative is focused on utilities and other businesses with large government contracts in excess of $250,000. When asked why the ballot initiative was essentially stopping at utility companies, McBrearty said the group studied a list of state contractors when it was making its legislative moves. Concerns abounded during that work, McBrearty said, and led to the meat of the Michiganders for Money Out of Politics proposal.听
The $250,000 figure was chosen because Taking Back Our Power saw that the companies getting state contracts at less than $250,000 were largely service based, like lawn mowing.听
性视界传媒淟awn mowing, laundry, cleaning, office buildings. 性视界传媒 They性视界传媒檙e not the people who are buying our government,性视界传媒 McBrearty said. 性视界传媒淲e want to stop the corrupt practices of corporations that are getting these huge contracts and the regulated utilities from buying our government, and so those who are getting smaller contracts are not the ones that we性视界传媒檙e concerned about.性视界传媒
Targeting a ban on political contributions from regulated monopolies was the path forward to start addressing dark money concerns because there was precedent for that, McBrearty added.
性视界传媒淪econdly, there性视界传媒檚 a strong record of fact that the contributions of DTE, Consumers and others who fall into that category have a corrupting influence on the legislative process in Lansing,性视界传媒 he said. 性视界传媒淚 think this is definitely not a cure all for all the problems with campaign finance and with our democracy. This is 性视界传媒 a major step forward that will make things more accountable and more representative of the people of Michigan in Lansing.性视界传媒
Ranked choice voting initiative to start collecting signatures
While Michiganders for Money Out of Politics gets its wheels in motion, a ballot initiative to amend the Michigan Constitution for ranked choice voting during future elections was approved late last week by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers. The effort will soon start collecting signatures.
The petition form and a 100-word summary for the Rank MI Vote initiative were approved Friday. Rank MI Vote also wants to place the question on the 2026 ballot, which could see high turnout from voters.听
Under ranked choice voting, voters rank candidates from first to last. If no candidate receives a majority of first-place votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the second-place votes on those ballots are then distributed to the remaining candidates. That process continues until a candidate reaches a majority and is declared the winner.听
Michiganders in 2026 will elect a new governor, secretary of state, attorney general, U.S. Senator and decide who controls the state Senate.
The Rank MI Vote amendment aims to implement the voting system for most federal and state elections. To appear on the 2026 ballot, the committee will have to collect 446,198 valid signatures within a six-month window. Rank MI Vote in a statement said that it has begun distributing educational materials explaining ranked choice voting.
The group cited Pew Research Center data that shows 65% of U.S. voters reported dissatisfaction with the nation性视界传媒檚 political climate. Rank MI Vote Executive Director Pat Zabawa said those feelings have helped elevate the ranked choice voting issue and has led to success thus far in volunteer recruitment.
性视界传媒淵ou性视界传媒檝e got nearly two in three voters saying they性视界传媒檙e fed up with politics; they don性视界传媒檛 need us to tell them that no one性视界传媒檚 looking out for them anymore and political campaigns have become one scorched-earth ad blitz after another,性视界传媒 Zabawa said. 性视界传媒淏ut their ears perk up when we explain how ranked choice voting changes political parties and candidates性视界传媒 incentives, encouraging more positive, collegial, issues-focused campaigns. That message resonates strongly with just about everyone we talk to, and it性视界传媒檚 starting to break through in a big way.性视界传媒澨
Ranked choice voting is currently allowed statewide in Alaska and Maine. Other states have ranked choice voting at the local level, like St. Paul, Minnesota, and several cities in the San Francisco Bay area, according to the .
The voting system had a national spotlight during last week性视界传媒檚 New York City mayoral primary elections, which helped propel Democrat Zohran Mamdani to .
Using ranked choice voting comes with the promise of electing a more diverse set of candidates, like Mamdani in New York, who pulled off a major upset by besting former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in disgrace.
性视界传媒淭rump and Slotkin both winning Michigan last year with fewer than half the votes moved the needle for a number of Michigan voters,性视界传媒 Zabawa said. 性视界传媒淏ut when Mike Duggan declared his candidacy for governor as an independent, suddenly everyone性视界传媒檚 speculating about the spoiler effect and which party Duggan will pull more votes from. People are really fired up about majority winners because it性视界传媒檚 no longer some distant, theoretical possibility. It性视界传媒檚 possible our next governor could win with less than 35% of the vote.性视界传媒
Also approved on Friday was the Voters To Stop Pay Cuts , which seeks to upend , which created a new minimum wage scheme after a long court battle over two 2018 initiative petitions that were adopted before they could go before voters and gutted by the Legislature in the same session.听
Public Act 1 set minimum wage $12.48 in 2025, $13.73 in 2026, and $15 an hour starting in 2026. The act also kept tipped wages intact and raised their percentage of hourly wage on a graduated scale up until 2030, much like it did with non-tipped workers性视界传媒 minimum wage.
Voters to Stop Pay Cuts would like that law exorcised from statute, with referendum language arguing that Public Act 1 reduced the minimum wage for tipped workers and changed the way future inflation adjustments for minimum wage increases occurred in the future.
Canvassers gave the greenlight to Voters To Stop Pay Cuts性视界传媒 petition form and summary on Friday.
听A ballot initiative that aims to add also had its summary language approved on Friday but full approval of its petition form was tabled for the canvassers性视界传媒 next meeting.
