LANSING, Mich. (Jan. 29, 2025) — Today, the Senate passed bipartisan legislation to expand Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and subject the Legislature and governor’s office to records requests from the public. Senate Bills 1 and 2, sponsored by Sens. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) and Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Twp.), were prioritized as the first votes of the new legislative session and passed nearly unanimously by a 33-2 margin. 

“It’s outrageous that Michigan is nearly alone in the country in blocking the public from accessing the documents from the governor and State Legislature. For the last 10 years, I’ve been working to strengthen FOIA and give our residents more tools to shine light on the inner workings of state government,” said Sen. Moss. “It should not take another 10 years for the Legislature to do the right thing for our constituents. Today, the Senate has done its part — now it’s up to the House to take action for the people of Michigan and ensure a more transparent government.”

Michigan’s FOIA law, enacted in 1976, remains one of the few in the nation that exempts state lawmakers and the governor’s office from public records requests. Last year, the Senate passed similar legislation to amend FOIA, but the bills were not taken up in the House.

“Transparency is imperative to an open, honest government that fosters public trust,” said Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids). “We’ve been fighting for over a decade to bring greater transparency to Michigan’s executive and legislative branches. During that decade, we have seen countless situations where access to open records could have allowed residents to hold their elected officials accountable, and in that same amount of time, I have not heard one good reason why we shouldn’t permit public information requests. For all of us, this should be an easy ‘yes,’ and I expect to see swift passage in the House.”

In the National Center for Public Integrity’s 2015 report, Michigan received an “F” in government integrity — the last in the nation. Michigan failed in 10 of 13 categories, including public access to information, executive accountability, and legislative accountability.

“The people of the state need tools to hold their elected officials accountable,” said Sen. McBroom. “These bills make a great step forward for that accountability.”

Senate Bills 1 and 2 now await action in the House.