Miscellaneous
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network looked into the connections between state lawmakers and non-profit groups that can accept unlimited donations from secret donors. The watchdog group’s director Craig Mauger says they found that a majority of lawmakers have ties to one of those groups. Mauger says the non-profit organizations don’t have to disclose their donors, so it creates secrecy around the relationship between lawmakers and people trying to influence them. While the non-profit groups are not supposed to participate in political activity, they do give lawmakers a chance to promote themselves to potential voters. Mauger says many times groups with business before a lawmaker donate money to a non-profit organization with ties to that state representative or senator.