“A nonpartisan pillar of democracy, open government, is being taken more seriously in bipartisan Michigan this year as our Democratic governor and Republican legislature work to expand Freedom of Information laws to include themselves.” …read the rest here. MICOG board
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Opinion: Legislative Open Records Act could be start of a Sunshine Era in Michigan |
Jane Briggs-Bunting: “At long last, Michigan citizens may have a real chance to get some statutorily required sunshine in the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor and state legislators. With the 14th annual national Sunshine Week set for March 10-16,
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How to improve government transparency in Michigan |
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is right. On the campaign trail and in her first State of the State address, Gov. Whitmer has said Michigan lags behind other states in the area of government transparency. In particular, the state’s Freedom of Information
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Sunshine Week Would Be Brighter in Michigan with Stronger FOIA Laws
While citizens in the other 49 states celebrate the 13th annual national Sunshine Week from March 11-17, Michigan residents remains an outlier in transparency and accountability under its freedom of information laws. Michigan is the only state in the nation
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Opinion: Michigan gets an F in transparency for Sunshine Week
Jane Briggs-Bunting: “As citizens around the country celebrate the 13th annual national Sunshine Week from March 11-17, Michigan residents have nothing to cheer.” Read the rest here.
Government transparency groups announce database of public employee salaries
Website contains salary info of nearly 300,000 government workers for each of the past three years Today the Michigan Press Association, Mackinac Center for Public Policy and Michigan Coalition for Open Government released a new, searchable database containing the salaries of nearly 300,000
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LORA bills earn unanimous approval in State House
Michigan’s 108 state representatives sent a powerful message on Thursday, March 16 by passing the Legislative Open Records Act unanimously. To approve this legislation during National Sunshine Week reflects the commitment and interest these elected officials have in open and
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State news media push Senate to approve FOIA expansion
The drumbeat pushing the state Senate to approve the Legislative Open Records Act has begun. One of the opening salvos came from Mlive.com in an editorial headlined: “State Senate needs to heed House’s call for a more transparent government”. Michigan
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Michael Reitz elected president of MiCOG
Michael Reitz, executive vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, was elected president of the Michigan Coalition for Open Government at the volunteer group’s board meeting September 22. “Good government is open government,” said Reitz. “The people of
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House passes Legislative Open Records Act
Michigan’s House of Representative on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed the Legislative Open Records Act that amends and expands the state’s FOIA to correct omissions that have made Michigan an outlier among other states across the nation. Under the proposed legislation (HB
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