Michigan

Bills to expand FOIA to Michigan Legislature, governor’s office clear Senate panel

Published

2 years ago

March 13, 2024

Bills to expand FOIA to Michigan Legislature, governor’s office clear Senate panel

Legislation to expand Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act to include both the governor’s office and state Legislature is advancing, after members of the Senate Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to report bills to the full Senate floor for consideration.

Senate Bills 669 and 670 would add both the Legislature and the governor’s office to Michigan’s existing FOIA laws, which allow individuals to request records and other information from government organizations to gain a better understanding of how they’re operating. The bills were introduced by Sens. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, and Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, respectively.

In February, the Senate Oversight Committee heard testimony on the bills for the first time. While speakers mostly applauded the bills, there were concerns over some exemptions to open records requests that are currently baked into them, like shielding the communications in the governor’s office for issuing pardons and criminal reprieves, and exemptions for communications between constituents and employees of the governor’s office or Legislature.

Moss and McBroom said after the initial hearing, they worked with advocates to tweak the bills, leading to a pair of substitute bills being adopted and reported Wednesday.

Under the substitute bills, communications between lawmakers and their own constituents remain exempt from open records requests, but communications between lawmakers and residents who don’t reside in their districts are no longer considered exempt.

“We did feel that this was the best route to capture the sensitivity around the communication that somebody engages with their lawmaker on,” Moss said.

Communications between lawmakers and an individual who is required to register as a lobbyist, is a public employee or is appointed to a public board would not be exempt, even if the individual lives in the lawmaker’s district, under the proposed legislation.

Additionally, Moss said the substitute bills now place the burden of explaining why a FOIA request is denied on the FOIA coordinator of the responding agency — the initial draft placed the burden of proving why certain records are of public interest on the individual submitting the FOIA request.

Exemptions for records possessed by majority and minority caucuses in the Legislature have also been peeled back slightly. Under the substitute bills, exemptions are limited to advice, opinions or recommendations about public policy or district work.

Bill sponsors said the substitutes adopted Wednesday are aimed at addressing some of the concerns transparency advocates presented at the initial hearing in February, among them the amount of discretion FOIA coordinators would have when responding to public records requests.

“I think that we have really worked very hard to create a system that’s as objective as possible,” McBroom said. “We’ve tried to create something that can just be more objectively determined. Does this person live in your district? Are they registered lobbyists or not? Is this personal communication? Those are just mostly very objective, easy-to-determine standards.”

Moss and McBroom were the only speakers to testify Wednesday. The committee voted 5-0 to send the substitute bills to the full Senate, with one member, Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, R-Coldwater, passing on both votes.

Michigan has long held a reputation for being one of the worst-ranking states when it comes to government transparency. In 2014, the Free Press reported Michigan was one of only two states in which both the governor and state lawmakers have blanket exemptions from public record laws, and despite efforts from some lawmakers to change that, no legislative expansions of government transparency have taken place in the decade since.

But longtime backers of shedding more sunlight on the governor’s office and Legislature in Michigan are hopeful the current effort to expand open record laws is successful.

“I think this is a historic moment at least for the Senate, because it has been the Senate who has been the block of making this law for the last couple of sessions,” said Sen. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, who chairs the Oversight Committee. Singh also noted that March 11-15 is the so-called “Sunshine Week,” which aims to educate the public about government transparency and warn about issues arising from excessive secrecy for government operations.

Keeping with that theme, Michigan House Democrats were expected to unveil their own set of transparency legislation Wednesday afternoon — lawmakers had called a press conference to discuss a package of bills called the Bringing Reforms for Integrity, Transparency and Ethics, or BRITE Act, later in the day.

Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) @arpanlobo. Contact Clara Hendrickson: chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, @clarajanehen.

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Michigan

Michigan Football S Jordan Young enters transfer portal

Published

3 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Michigan Football S Jordan Young enters transfer portal

Announced on Tuesday evening, Michigan true freshman safety Jordan Young has entered the transfer portal.

A former four-star prospect from Monroe, North Carolina, Young flipped his commitment at the last moment from Clemson to Michigan in the 2025 class. He played in nine games this season for the Wolverines and had 15 tackles and three pass breakups, with all three pass breakups coming in the final four games of the season.

We wish Young the very best at his next college football program.

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Michigan

Tom Izzo angry at former Michigan State star for courtside ejection

Published

15 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Tom Izzo angry at former Michigan State star for courtside ejection

EAST LANSING – Michigan State was rolling to a win against USC when there was a stoppage in play with six minutes remaining in the second half on Monday night.

It had nothing to do with what was happening on the court at the Breslin Center.

Referee Jeffrey Anderson blew his whistle to eject a fan sitting a few rows off the floor. The individual booted happened to be Paul Davis, who starred at center for the Spartans from 2002-06.

“He kind of got after the official and he was 150 percent wrong,” Izzo said of Davis after the No. 12 Spartans (13-2, 3-1 Big Ten) won 80-51 against the Trojans on Monday, “and for a guy like me to 150 percent agree with the official, it’s almost illegal.”

Michigan State fans were upset about a foul call on the other end of the floor when Davis stood up and said something Anderson immediately objected to. That led to a hook.

Despite being tossed, Davis attempted to stay in his seat while taking a drink from an alcoholic beverage container. Anderson didn’t let it slide and provided an explanation to Izzo, who was less than thrilled and yelled across the court questioning what his former player was doing.

Davis finally stood up after being told to leave by associate athletic director Seth Kesler but took his time and brushed two hands against his chest. That prompted Izzo to scream, appearing to tell his former center to “get outta here.” Davis was walked up the stairs and watched the rest of the game from a concourse box.

“I love Paul Davis, I really do, he’s one of my favorite guys … but what he said he should never say anywhere in the world and that ticked me off,” Izzo said. “Just because it’s 25, 20 years later, I’m going to have to call him tomorrow and tell him what I thought of it. You know what he’ll say, ‘I screwed up, coach, I’m sorry.’”

Former Los Angeles Clippers center Paul Davis (40).AP

Izzo claimed he was told what Davis said was nothing racial or sexual in nature but it was obviously enough to get the boot.

“It was just the wrong thing to say,” Izzo said, “and I’ll leave it at that.”

Davis ranks 10^th on Michigan State’s career scoring list with 1,718 points, was a second-round NBA pick by the Clippers and spent four years in the league. Izzo praised the work Davis does with current players but the Hall of Fame coach in his 31^st season leading the Spartans has never been ejected from a game.

“He made a mistake but he’s been really good with our players too,” Izzo said of Davis. “In the summer he comes up and helps work a guy out or he’s just around. Jud Heathcote used to always tell me sooner or later the game makes fools of us all. Once in a while, the game makes fools of our fans and definitely it’s made a fool of me more than a couple times.”

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Michigan

Former Michigan star RB promoted to Eastern Michigan assistant head coach

Published

1 day ago

January 5, 2026

Press Room

Former Michigan star RB promoted to Eastern Michigan assistant head coach

Former Michigan running back and assistant coach Mike Hart is getting a promotion on Chris Creighton’s staff at Eastern Michigan.

The school announced Monday that Hart is being elevated to assistant head coach and will oversee the receivers in 2026. Michigan’s all-time leading rusher spent last season as an offensive analyst for the Eagles.

“Coach Hart is a winner,” Creighton said in a news release. “He has the ‘It’ factor. He selflessly helped us this year as an offensive analyst and made a positive impact. We know that he will be a major addition as assistant head coach and wide receivers coach.”

Hart has 14 years of college coaching experience, including a three-year stint as Michigan’s running backs coach from 2021-23. He served as interim head coach for one game during the Wolverines’ 2023 national championship season when Jim Harbaugh was suspended.

Under Hart, Michigan’s running backs thrived. Blake Corum rushed for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons and was a third-round pick by the Rams in 2024. The Wolverines won the Big Ten all three years Hart was on staff, but they did not renew his contract after the 2023 campaign.

The 39-year-old began his coaching career at EMU in 2011 and also has had stints at Western Michigan (2014-15), Syracuse (2016) and Indiana (2017-2020).

As a player at Michigan, Hart was a two-time Doak Walker Award finalist and finished fifth in the 2006 Heisman Trophy voting. Last season, EMU finished 4-8 but was No. 2 in the Mid-American Conference in passing yards per game.

“I am excited to be a part of Eastern Michigan football,” Hart said in a release. “Coach Creighton is one of the best leaders of men I have ever been around, and I look forward to learning and being a part of his program. EMU football and the Ypsilanti community have always held a special place in my heart, and I am excited to help the team reach our goals for the 2026 season.”

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