FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
June 23, 2025
Contact: Denzel McCampbell, (313) 400-0298, denzel@progressmichigan.org
Annual Lawmaker Disclosure Discrepancy Shows Need for Gifts Ban
MICHIGAN – On Monday, Progress Michigan released the following statement calling for a ban on gifts from lobbyists for state lawmakers after annual disclosure reports discovered large discrepancies of unreported giving. The statement can be attributed to Sam Inglot, Progress Michigan executive director:
“The annual disclosure reports of gifts from lobbyists to state lawmakers show that we must do more to tackle the outsized role of the corporate lobbyists in Lansing and the access they have to our elected officials. And there’s no question about it; this is clearly a bipartisan problem. Even after some steps toward reforms, we’re seeing just how tangled the web of money in politics is in state government. The solution to this problem is to ban gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers outright. There’s no reason for lawmakers to get expensive tickets to shows and sporting events or bottles of wine dropped off at their office by lobbying groups other than as a shady way to illicit favoritism on policy.
“Michiganders want money out of politics and that includes the slush fund that corporate lobbyists have to pour into shaping public policy while residents in Detroit, Marquette, Grand Rapids, and everywhere in between are shut out of the process. Ban lobbyist gifts now.”
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