LANSING, MI — A bill that would set legal definitions for what is considered an active recall effort was discussed before the House Ethics and Elections Committee Tuesday.
House Bill 5910, sponsored by Ann Bollin, R-Brighton, would amend the Michigan Campaign Finance Act to require a recall candidate to form a recall committee within 10 days after becoming a recall candidate. The account would not need to be established until the recall committee receives a contribution or makes an expenditure.
The legislation, which has bipartisan support, comes in response to a fundraising loophole used last year by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
After Whitmer transferred $3.5 million to the Michigan Democratic Party, shifting funds she raised while facing campaigns to recall her from office, Republicans said she used a loophole in state campaign finance law to funnel cash into nonprofit groups that will help her reelection campaign.
Related: With Whitmer recall threat over, campaign to disburse big-dollar donations
Bollin, who serves as House Ethics and Elections Committee chair, pointed out Tuesday that the governor relied on a 1984 ruling by then Secretary of State Richard Austin that declared any official facing a recall effort was permitted to accept donations.
Under current law, there is no clear definition of when a candidate is considered a recall candidate.
Individual donors are usually only allowed to give a maximum of $7,150. The governor’s campaign collected donations that exceed the limit, based on an exception in the law that allows for unlimited fundraising to protect from recall efforts. In total, Whitmer raked in just under $4 million during the recall campaigns.
“Concerns were also raised by citizens when it was brought to light that there were several large contributions of $250,000 from only three individuals,” Bollin said in the legislative committee Tuesday.
A campaign finance complaint filed against Whitmer alleged she illegally collected excess contributions. The Michigan Department of State dismissed the complaint last December, determining the donations were legal.
The Michigan Freedom Fund asked Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to reexamine how to determine whether a recall is active. The conservative group also filed the original complaint against Whitmer.
Related: Oversized donations to Whitmer prompt campaign finance complaint
Whitmer’s campaign announced it would disburse donations it accepted over the typical limit, since the recalls against her are no longer active. Campaign finance filings show Whitmer refunded several donors, including $250,000 sent back to Farmington Hills Attorney Mark Bernstein.
The governor collected the $2.53 million in donations and spent $5.27 million between Oct. 21 to Dec. 31, 2021. Whitmer said most of the donations were small. Of those collected, 92% of donations were under $200, her campaign said.
The legislation proposed by Bollin would also set contribution limits with the only exceptions being for a member of the candidate’s family. Individuals other than an independent committee or political party committee would be prohibited from making contributions to a recall committee in an election cycle that are more than the following:
- $6,800 if the candidate is in a state elective office other than state legislator or in a local elective office representing a district with a population of more than 250,000.
- $2,000 if the candidate is a state senator or is in a local elective office representing a district with a population of more than 85,000 but not more than 250,000.
- $1,000 if the candidate is a state representative or is in a local elective office representing a district with a population of up to 85,000.
The bill is co-sponsored by eight other Republicans and two Democrats: Reps. Abraham Aiyash, D-Hamtramck and David LaGrand, D-Grand Rapids.
Michigan Department of State legislative policy director Erin Schor called the bill intriguing, but also expressed concerns, including with how the contribution limits were drafted.
“It restates earlier amounts in law and even though those would be subject to cost of living, we might need to just clarify and make sure they’re the same as other campaign contribution limits,” Schor said.
Another concern, Schor explained, is that the bill as it is currently drafted would only allow for the subject of the recall to raise money into one account while there could be multiple recall campaigns for a single position.
“Gubernatorial recall elections are different than those for all other elected officials and there could be multiple elected recall committees against a sitting governor,” Schor said.
Bollin said she and her staff will keep Schor’s concerns in mind as they continue to work to move the bill to the House floor.
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