Michigan Moves to Close Loophole in Lobbyist Gift Laws
Efforts are underway in Michigan to tighten the rules surrounding lobbyist gifts to lawmakers, with a public hearing slated for March 18 to discuss proposed changes. This comes in response to concerns that existing regulations are being circumvented.
Current Michigan law prohibits public officials from receiving gifts from lobbyists, such as concert or sports tickets, when their value exceeds a specified limit. For 2025, this cap is set at $79 per month.
The issue at hand involves officials accepting gifts with a promise to repay the difference between the gift’s actual value and the legal limit. Mid-Michigan attorney Bob LaBrant expressed concerns, stating that, “If a public official wants to pay the Detroit Lions, Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings, or Fisher Theatre, etc., directly for a ticket out of the public official’s candidate committee by finding a way to categorize that payment as an incidental expense, maybe legal, however, the lobbyist or lobbyist agent shouldn’t be allowed to play Ticketmaster, by delivering the ticket to the public official and be the one reimbursed.” His request for state intervention is documented in a formal request.
In August, responses from state elections officials to requests from LaBrant and the Michigan Association of Health Plans led to interpretive statements aimed at ending this reimbursement practice. These statements also provide more guidance to lobbying organizations that finance officials’ travel and conference attendance.
Christina Hildreth Anderson, Chief of Staff for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, emphasized the importance of these changes. “Allowing the cost of a gift to be allocated across multiple parties, be they lobbyists or public officials, cannot circumvent the gift ban and in doing so would frustrate the purposes of the Lobby Act,” she wrote in a response to LaBrant.
The state is now working to codify this position into an official administrative ruleset, solidifying its stance on the matter.
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