Lawmakers resurrect legislation to end political spending from utilities and government contractors

A group of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle joined with members of the Taking Back Our Power Coalition Wednesday to reintroduce a package of bills looking to bar energy companies and companies seeking government contracts from donating to political campaigns. 

Arguing that political spending has allowed companies like DTE Energy, Consumers Energy and Blue Cross Blue Shield to escape accountability through political influence, State Reps. Donovan McKinney (D-Detroit) James DeSana (R-Carleton), Jason Morgan (D-Ann Arbor) and Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City) said people deserve to have their voices heard.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican, doesn’t matter where you live in our state in this country, doesn’t matter how you worship or who you love. People want corporate influence out of politics, and so this is a opportunity to bridge that gap, bring everybody together,” McKinney said. 

According to a survey from Emma White Research LLC., commissioned by the Taking Back Our Power coalition, 81% of Michiganders support limiting corporations seeking government contracts and regulated monopolies like Michigan’s major energy providers from making political contributions.

During the previous legislative cycle, at least 119 of the 148 members of the Michigan Legislature accepted political spending from energy utilities including Consumers Energy and DTE Energy, according to an Oct. 27, 2023 report from the Energy and Policy Institute, an energy industry watchdog. 

Wegela criticized Consumers and DTE alongside health insurance company Blue Cross Blue Shield for their campaign contributions, accusing the companies of bypassing contribution limits by donating through “dark money” spending where the donor is not disclosed. 

Among those donations was a $100,000 contribution from an account led by DTE Energy executives to an account linked to former Michigan Speaker of the House Joe Tate (D-Detroit) in 2023, the Detroit News reported. 

“Michiganders are paying the highest rates for energy in the region when we deal with the worst reliability and instead of investing in the grid, corporations are making record corporate profits and spending thousands on campaign donations and lobbying efforts,” Wegela said. 

DeSana noted his support for free market policies before stating the perils of massive corporate and special industry spending in politics are “readily apparent.” 

“I believe that only citizens should fund our elections, and my support for this package of bills is an outgrowth of that belief,” he said. 

Clean Water Action is one of the member groups of the Taking Back Our Power Coalition. Mid-Michigan Campaign Organizer Nichole Keway Biber said corporate funding for campaigns is buying more than influence.

“They’re buying outcomes,” she said. 

“When corporations fund campaigns, we are stuck with policies that leave out the rights and needs of working families,” Keway Biber said. 

Michigan’s energy companies have faced strong scrutiny in recent years as customers face frequent and often lengthy outages while energy rates continue to climb. According to the Citizens Utility Board of Michigan, the state ranked as the 9th worst in the nation for reliability, as residents pay the 15th highest energy bills in the U.S.

Under the newly reintroduced bills, utility companies and their affiliates in  the state would be barred from providing political contributions to politicians and engaging in campaign activities. Government contractors with $250,000 or more in aggregated contracts would also be prohibited from making political contributions for 18 months before seeking or entering the contract, during the contract’s term, and 18 months after the contract is terminated. 

While the previous bill package failed to secure a committee hearing, DeSana told reporters at the announcement that there is an openness to these ideas within the Republican-led House of Representatives, noting that they were able to secure the Republican Conference room for the announcement. 

“I’ve had conversations with colleagues who are, they can get 99% of the way there, and I think we’re just going to keep working on that other 1%,” DeSana said. 

Wegela further noted that several of the package’s supporters were in conversation with members of the Democratic-led Michigan Senate looking to have them introduce similar if not identical legislation in the upper chamber. 

Katie Carey, Consumers Energy’s director of media relations, said the company is committed to compliance and transparency, including through its participation in the legislative and political process. 

“Contributions to elected officials can come from one of two places — either shareholder profits, or voluntary contributions made by our employees to the Employees for Better Government (EBG) PAC — and never customer bills,” Carey wrote in an email.

Participation in the employee PAC and all contributions are publicly disclosed on the Secretary of State’s website, Carey said. Additionally, the corporation does not contribute to federal Super PACs, nor does it directly contribute or make independent expenditures to advocate for the election or defeat of a federal, state or local candidate, per the company’s policy. 

Jill Wilmot, director of corporate communications for DTE similarly emphasized the company’s compliance with laws governing corporate donations and political contributions. 

“In compliance with our [Integrated Resource Plan] settlement, we have voluntarily expanded our disclosures to increase transparency for all stakeholders. These disclosures showcase DTE’s commitment to our customers and communities we serve, helping us meet our aspiration of being best in the world and best for the world. The political contributions the company makes are supported by the DTE voluntary employee PAC or DTE shareholders — not from customer revenue,” Wilmot said.