Despite vows of transparency, annual financial disclosures filed by Michigan lawmakers this month provided an incomplete picture of the perks they receive from lobbyists, according to a Detroit News analysis of the records.

As part of the reports required under a 2022 constitutional amendment, Michigan officeholders were supposed to list gifts, including tickets and meals, they received from lobbyists in the prior year and trips they went on that were financed by lobbyists.

However, 42 of the 147 currently serving representatives and senators — about 29% — went beyond the minimum legal requirements and listed the actual values for the perks they netted from lobbyists. The rest of the lawmakers either reported receiving nothing from lobbyists or merely listed the names of firms or interest groups that provided them some benefit, while not revealing the price tag or specifics.

As one example, lobbyists on their own disclosures said they bought about $6,110 in meals for state Rep. Joseph Aragona, R-Clinton Township, in 2024. On his personal disclosure, Aragona described the haul by listing only 16 lobbyists or businesses and the words "food and drink." He did not detail the amounts of the purchases, which represented an average of about $500 a month.

Similarly, two of the three Michigan lawmakers who disclosed getting tickets from lobbyists last year provided no indication of what events they attended. State Rep. Julie Rogers, D-Kalamazoo, reported receiving a "ticket to event" from Delta Dental, and state Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, reported he received a "ticket" from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Rich Studley, former president of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, worked in support of the 2022 ballot proposal that altered the state's term limits while requiring the financial disclosures. Studley said he personally believes Michigan's leaders should have reached beyond the minimum standards that voters approved overwhelmingly with 66% support at the ballot box.

“My hope is that some of the people who did the bare minimum and did it late and the public officials who made it hard to find and difficult to access would be held accountable,” Studley told The Detroit News.

Some lawmakers appeared to make light of the reporting process.

Rep. Stephanie Young, D-Detroit, wrote that she had received $1.73 in water from someone at a meeting. And to a question on the disclosure form about whether he had "additional disclosures" to make, state Rep. Tom Kunse, R-Clare, wrote, "I removed the tag off my mattress."

"I think we take ourselves too seriously as legislators," Kunse said of the remark.

Kunse was one of the minority of lawmakers who provided details about the amount of free food and beverages he received from lobbyists in 2024. For instance, he reported getting $404 in food and drink from the multi-client firm Governmental Consultant Services Inc. Kunse said he didn't believe it fulfilled the spirit of the requirements to simply list the firms and not the amounts.

"Everything should be disclosed," Kunse said. "There should be no secrets.”

But like multiple other lawmakers, Kunse might have mistakenly left some of the meals he received off his disclosure. The lobbying firm Midwest Strategy Group reported spending $354 on Kunse in 2024, but Kunse didn't list that firm on his report.

Kunse said he did his own tracking of the food and drink he received. If he made an error, he will correct it, he said.

Young detailed getting $80 in food and beverage from lobbyists in 2024 on her disclosure, including the $1.73 in water at a meeting.

However, lobbyists said in their own filings that they spent $713 on Young, who did not return a message seeking comment.

'Voters for transparency'

The proposal that led to the required disclosures also allowed Michigan lawmakers to serve up to 12 years in the Legislature, regardless of whether the 12 years were all in the House or Senate. Previously, under the state's original legislative term limits, lawmakers could serve up to six years in the House and up to eight years in the Senate.

To sweeten that change that allowed some legislators to remain longer in Lansing, lawmakers paired it on the ballot with requiring, for the first time, annual financial disclosures. Michigan had been one of two states in the country without any type of personal financial disclosure for legislators to screen for conflicts of interest.

The ballot language promised annual reports on "assets, liabilities, income sources, future employment agreements, gifts (and) travel reimbursements." The organization that advocated for the amendment was called Voters for Transparency and Term Limits. The group's chairs said in a statement before the election that the proposal "will restore faith in government and give real teeth to conflict of interest standards."

But the wording of the amendment didn't require the disclosure of detailed information and only mandated the reporting of gifts and travel that were already required to be publicly revealed by registered lobbyists. This created loopholes for perks from other sources — groups not registered to lobby, such as nonprofit organizations tied to lawmakers that can receive contributions from lobbyists and secretly pay for travel.

Lawmakers had to file their first disclosures under the policy on April 15, 2024. Their second round of annual filings was originally scheduled for May 15, 2025, but because of claimed technological problems, lawmakers moved the date to June 13.

Of the 10 Michigan lawmakers who received the most free food and drink from lobbyists in 2024, according to lobbyists' reports to the Secretary of State, only two— then House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, and Rep. Will Snyder, D-Muskegon — listed detailed information about how many free meals they received on their personal disclosures.

Lobbyists reported purchasing about $4,750 in food and drink for Snyder in 2024, the third-largest total among all lawmakers for that year. On his report, Snyder accounted for about $4,540 in perks from lobbyists, including receiving $2,262 from a single multi-client lobbying firm, Governmental Consultant Services Inc.

Aragona, on whom lobbyists reported spending about $6,110, and Rep. Pauline Wendzel, R-Watervliet, on whom lobbyists reported spending about $5,060, led the Legislature in free food and drink in 2024. Neither of them listed specific information on their own disclosures.

Wendzel reported receiving unspecified "food + beverage" from 16 firms or interest groups.

Current House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, listed 32 firms or businesses that bought him "food and beverage" in 2024, including the state's dominant utilities, DTE Energy and Consumers Energy. His filing didn't specify how much they spent. The utilities reported, on their submissions, spending $607 on Hall last year, when he was the House minority leader.

Some lawmakers went further and provided more details.

Rep. Bradley Slagh, R-Zeeland, submitted a list of about 186 events where he interacted with lobbyists in 2024. The law firm Dykema had provided "snack foods and drinks" at a Nov. 22, 2024, reception, Slagh wrote. And on Dec. 18, 2024, the Michigan Association of Health Plans and multi-client lobbying firm McAlvey Merchant & Associates dropped off bottles of wine at his office, Slagh wrote.

Details don't always match

Some lawmakers, like Kunse, said they tracked the meals they received from lobbyists throughout 2024 themselves, while others appeared to use data provided by lobbying firms.

Rep. Alicia St. Germaine, R-Harrison Township, submitted to the Secretary of State's office April letters from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and two lobbying firms that informed her of how much was spent on her last year. Muchmore Harrington Smalley & Associates sent St. Germaine a letter on April 22 that listed $14.99 in spending on food and beverage.

"In an effort to assist you with your personal financial disclosure report, which is due on May 15, 2025, we are providing you this letter," said the message, signed by seven employees of the lobbying firm.

Still, The News found a handful of instances where there were clear differences between what lobbyists reported and what lawmakers disclosed themselves.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, didn't report any interactions with lobbyists, according to her June 13 filing. However, cable provider Comcast reported spending $330 on food and drink for the governor in 2024, according to the Secretary of State's database.

Whitmer's office didn't respond to a request for comment about the discrepancy.

Two Republican House members — state Reps. Bryan Posthumus of Rockford and Cam Cavitt of Cheboygan — initially listed no lobbyist interactions on their personal financial disclosures for 2024. But lobbyists reported spending $578 on Posthumus and $558 on Cavitt last year.

Cavitt said he tracked his interactions and wasn't sure why the information didn't show up on his disclosure submission. Posthumus said his document didn't properly upload and would be revised.

Under state law, an individual who knowingly files an incomplete or inaccurate personal financial disclosure report can face a civil fine of up to $2,000.

On tickets

Michigan law specifically bans gifts of more than $76 from lobbyists to state officeholders. But there's an exemption to the limit for food and drink purchases.

In the 2024 round of filings last year, The News found four lawmakers who, despite the gift prohibition, reported getting tickets to events from lobbyists. A resulting investigation into the flow of tickets in Lansing eventually led to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson deeming a strategy lobbyists used to get around the gift ban improper. That technique involved lobbyists providing lawmakers with tickets worth more than $76 and then privately sending them letters asking for the value of the tickets over $76 to be paid back to lobbying firms.

Still, in the new disclosures, three of the current 147 lawmakers disclosed getting tickets from lobbyists in 2024.

Rep. David Martin, R-Davison, reported getting a ticket from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for a Jan. 28, 2024, basketball game between the Detroit Pistons and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Martin listed the cost of the ticket as "unknown."

Martin didn't respond to a request for comment from The News.

Likewise, Tisdel also disclosed getting a ticket to something from Blue Cross Blue Shield. Tisdel told The News he thought the ticket was to a Pistons game that featured a "bunch of us in a suite."

Asked how many lawmakers Blue Cross Blue Shield provided tickets for in 2024, health insurer spokeswoman Meghan O'Brien didn't answer specifically in a statement.

"Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan follows all applicable state and federal campaign finance rules," O'Brien said.

Benson has said lobbyists and lawmakers have to determine the fair market value of a ticket to decipher whether it violates the $76 limit. Blue Cross Blue Shield stopped providing tickets to lawmakers after Benson's ruling on the matter in August, O'Brien said.

A spokeswoman for Rogers, the third lawmaker who reported getting a ticket in 2024, said the ticket she received was to the musical "Six" at Michigan State University's Wharton Center for Performing Arts.

As for trips, eight lawmakers disclosed receiving travel or lodging paid for by lobbyists in 2024. All of the trips had been previously reported by lobbyists.

Lobbyists had to report only trips that cost more than $1,000. No lawmaker voluntarily disclosed a trip that fell outside traditional reporting requirements, according to The News' analysis.

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