LANSING, Mich. (Jan. 29, 2026) — Today marks one year since the Senate passed critical legislation to expand the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to the Legislature and governor’s office. Sponsored by Sens. Jeremy Moss (D-Bloomfield) and Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Twp.), Senate Bills 1 and 2 would align Michigan with the majority of the country’s FOIA standards, bringing much-needed transparency to state government. Despite passing with overwhelming bipartisan support, the bills have been sitting idle in the hands of Speaker Matt Hall.
“This is an anniversary not worthy of a party. For a year, Matt Hall has refused to open up access to the files in the Legislature and governor’s office — documents that would shed light on how state government decisions are made that affect Michigan taxpayers,” said Sen. Moss, Chairman of the Senate Elections and Ethics Committee. “This sweeping ethics reform passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate. With the House blocking the passage of these bills, it begs the questions: What is Matt Hall hiding from the public? How can our residents trust the state government when they’re left in the dark? How can we ask our constituents to be active and civically engaged when we deprive them of resources that could better aid their understanding of how the government operates?”
Just days after the Senate transmitted the bills to the House in early 2025, Speaker Hall declared them dead on arrival and called them “a very low priority” — despite voting in favor of this very legislation in a previous session. Instead of advancing this good-government legislation to increase accountability and transparency in the Michigan Legislature, Speaker Hall instead chose to spend the year blocking legislation to lower health care costs for teachers and first responders; slow walking the 2026 budget process and unilaterally axing $645 million in previously approved funds slated for Michigan communities.
Because of Speaker Hall’s inaction, Michigan continues to be one of only two states that carve out state lawmakers and the governor’s office from being subject to records requests. This exemption contributed to the 2015 report from the Center for Public Integrity, which gave Michigan an F in government integrity, and the state ranked dead last — failing 10 out of 13 categories, including public access to information, executive accountability, and legislative accountability.
Despite House Republicans’ refusal to take up the legislation, these bills continue to have broad support from a diverse and bipartisan group of stakeholders, including the Michigan Press Association, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, ACLU of Michigan, Progress Michigan, and Voters Not Politicians.