LobbyComply Blog

MICHIGAN: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has called a special election for May 5, 2026, to fill the vacancy in Senate District 35 caused by Sen. McDonald Rivet stepping down to serve in Congress. In August, a group of voters filed a lawsuit against Whitmer seeking to compel her to call a special election to fill the vacancy. The special primary will be February 3, 2026.

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Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson today testified before the House Committee on Oversight to update lawmakers on upgrades and improvements to the new Michigan Transparency Network (MiTN). In her testimony, Benson detailed specific technology fixes and process improvements the Michigan Department of State (MDOS) and vendor Tyler Technologies have made to the MiTN system since May. MiTN improvements planned for July 12 include a campaign finance filing summary report for filings created in MiTN, improvements to the public search function, and the ability to pay committee and lobby fees by credit card. 

Representatives from the Michigan Department of State (MDOS), Tyler Technologies, and the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget (DTMB) testified at a joint committee hearing regarding issues with the Michigan Transparency Network (MiTN) platform. MiTN is the state’s new consolidated online reporting system for personal financial disclosure, campaign finance, lobbying, and legal defense fund information. The hearing was called after lawmakers had trouble filing their financial disclosure reports and approved a one-month extension for their deadline. MDOS and Tyler Technologies are now working to implement substantial improvements by the filing deadline for candidate committees on July 25.  As part of the department’s continuing commitment to transparency, MDOS has launched a new webpage to track existing technical issues, recent fixes, and FAQs for each MiTN module at https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/disclosure/mitn-information.

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The Department of State issued a declaratory ruling clarifying an exception to the lobbying gift ban regarding expenses for officials attending conferences. In the Detroit Regional Chamber Declaratory Ruling issued March 31, the department concluded a lobbyist or lobbyist agent may provide complimentary admission to public officials attending the Mackinac Policy Conference where the officials are providing a service with a value equal to or greater than the price of admission. The burden of demonstrating a public official is providing a service is on the lobbyist or lobbyist agent. An earlier ruling issued on March 10 concluded complimentary admission was an impermissible gift, but additional evidence submitted during the public comment period demonstrated public officials attending the Mackinac Policy Conference provide a service in exchange for complimentary admission. Lawmakers are currently considering Senate Bill 101, which would codify an exception to the gift ban for admission to a conference or educational event with subject matter directly related to the duties of the public official.

Q. I’ve received emails about Michigan transitioning to a new lobbyist system. What do I need to do to be able to file reports?

A. Michigan has completely overhauled their lobbyist reporting system, integrating lobbying reporting into their MiTN (Michigan Transparency Network) and MiLogin services. The old system has been sunsetted and placed in “read only mode.” Due to the old system shutting down, every lobbyist and lobbyist agent must create a new account to file reports electronically. Registrations and reports may still be completed via paper, signed, scanned, and emailed to the Secertary of State. But much like their old lobbyist system, they have disabled their old email. Now all correspondence must be sent to “MDOS-FinancialDisclosure@michigan.gov.”

The first hurdle with the new system is figuring out what portal to use to create their MiLogin profile. Individual lobbyists should use “milogin.michigan.gov.” This is a “personal” login and one that should already be used by lobbyists who are Michigan residents. This ensures an individual does not have multiple accounts. Businesses, lobbying firms, and organizations should use “milogintp.michigan.gov.”
An individual can use the MiLogin for businesses if they wish to file for multiple clients.

Once a profile is created, you must “add” the MiTN link to your MiLogin home page and create a two-factor authorization method. The next step is to link your old Michigan lobbyist information to your MiTN account. Importantly, only people who are listed on a registration, such as an employee or signatory, may file reports. The system will ask what your MiTN user role is. You may select either “Lobby Registrant” or “Lobby Data Entry.” Anyone can be labeled as “Lobby Data Entry” but, only people who are listed on a registration can be labeled as “Lobby Registrant.” Only people labeled as “Lobby Registrant” may file reports. Your account will be reviewed, and once approved, you will be able to file registrations and reports through the portal.

[For more information about the nuances of the changed system, please check out the “Registration” and “Reporting” sections of the Michigan Lobbying Compliance Laws online publication.]

The Department of State will hold a public hearing on March 18 to receive public comments on proposed changes to the Gifts Under the Lobby Act rules. The proposed changes are intended to codify two interpretive statements issued in 2024 addressing a gift loophole allowing officials to offer reimbursement for the difference between the actual gift value and the current limit. The changes are also aimed at providing additional general explanation about the regulation of gifts from lobbyists and their agents to public officials. Comments on the proposed rules may be made at the hearing, by mail, or by email at Elections-PublicComment@michigan.gov.

The Bureau of Elections posted the Lobby Registration Act 2025 Reporting Thresholds, which change every year in January to reflect the change in the consumer price index for Detroit.

The registration thresholds for individual lobbyist compensation and for employer expenditures on a single official increased from $775 to $800.

Exempt expenditures remain unchanged for 2025 at $16.

The registration threshold for an employer making lobbying expenditures increased from $3,075 to $3175 for any 12-month period.

The financial transaction threshold between a registered employer or lobbyist and a public official increased from $1,550 to $1,600.

The reporting threshold for travel and lodging reimbursements increased from $1,000 to $1,025. The monthly food and beverage expenditures allowance for a public official increased from $76 to $79, and the threshold for food and beverages purchased between January 1 and the end the reporting period remains unchanged for 2025 at $475.

Employee reimbursements increased from $31 to $32, and the general gift threshold also increased from $76 to $79.

Late filing fees increased from $31 a day up to a maximum of $930, to $32 a day up to a maximum of $960.

The Office of Secretary of State issued two interpretive statements clarifying the state’s lobbyist gift ban.

The LaBrant Interpretive Statement prohibits a lobbyist or lobbyist agent from providing a public official any gift, including tickets, if the value of the ticket is over the gift limit of $76, even if the public official reimburses the lobbyist or lobbyist agent for the value of the gift over the limit.

The Michigan Association of Health Plans Interpretive Statement indicates complimentary admission to an educational conference paid by a lobbyist or lobbyist agent for a lawmaker’s attendance is only permissible if the value of the conference admission is equal to or less than the value of the services provided by the attending public official.

The Bureau of Elections posted the Lobby Registration Act 2024 Reporting Thresholds, which change every year in January to reflect the change in the consumer price index for Detroit.

The registration thresholds for individual lobbyist compensation and for employer expenditures on a single official increased from $725 to $775.

Exempt expenditures increased from $15 to $16.

The registration threshold for an employer making lobbying expenditures increased from $2,900 to $3,075 for any 12-month period.

The financial transaction threshold between a registered employer or lobbyist and a public official increased from $1,450 to $1,550.

The reporting threshold for travel and lodging reimbursements increased from $950 to $1,000.

Monthly food and beverage expenditures allowance for a public official increased from $72 to $76, and the threshold for food and beverages purchased between January 1 and end the reporting period increased from $450 to $475.

Employee reimbursements increased from $29 to $31, and the general gift threshold also increased from $72 to $76.

Late filing fees increased from $29 a day up to a maximum of $870, to $31 a day up to a maximum of $930.

The 102nd Legislature adjourned sine die on November 14 after the House and Senate adopted House Concurrent Resolution 10 to adjourn sine die early to start the 90-day clock for the effective date of bills not receiving enough Republican support to take effect immediately.

This includes legislation changing the date for Michigan’s 2024 presidential primary election to February 27, 2024.

Lawmakers passed bills to require elected state officers and candidates to annually file a financial disclosure report by April 15 of each year.

Just before the adjournment, House Democrats temporarily lost their narrow two-seat majority when two lawmakers won mayoral elections, creating a 54-54 tie.

However, Democratic House Speaker Joe Tate noted House Rules adopted in January only require a leadership change if there is a 55-55 tie and Democrats are unlikely to lose either of their two vacant seats in special elections likely to occur next spring.

Michigan voters overwhelmingly passed Proposal 1, a constitutional amendment requiring disclosures and modifying term limits with 66% voting yes and 34% voting no with 87% of the votes counted.

The proposal amends section 10 of article IV of the Michigan Constitution to require each member of the legislature, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the secretary of state, and the attorney general to electronically file an annual financial disclosure report by April 15, 2024, and annually thereafter, including gifts, travel payments and reimbursements, and payments to a charity in lieu of honoraria made by lobbyist or lobbyist agent.

The amendment also modifies term limits in section 54 of article IV of the Michigan Constitution to prohibit anyone from being elected as a state representative or senator for terms or partial terms that combined total more than 12 years.

This limitation does not prohibit a person elected to the office of state senator in 2022 from being elected to that office for the three times permitted at the time the person became a candidate for that office.

Incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer won reelection over Republican challenger, Tudor Dixon.

As of Wednesday morning, with 87% of votes counted, Whitmer won by 9%.

Third-party candidates, including Libertarian Party candidate Mary Buzuma, Green Party candidate Kevin Hogan, Taxpayer Party candidate Donna Brandenburg and Natural Law candidate Daryl Simpson pulled in just 1.6% of the vote combined.

Michigan lawmakers introduced several new bills proposing fundamental changes for lobbying disclosure and gift laws.

Senate Bill 963 requires lobbyists to file monthly reports instead of the current schedule of twice a year. The bill also includes a two-year revolving door ban for members of the Legislature.

House Bill 5926 amends the definition of lobbying to include partisan legislative employees in the list of covered officials.

House Bill 5927 implements a gift ban, prohibiting a public official or his or her immediate family member from directly or indirectly soliciting, agreeing to accept, or accepting anything of value from a lobbyist or lobbyist agent.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a special election to fill a vacancy in the House of Representatives following the election of District 15 Rep. Abdullah Hammoud as mayor of Dearborn.

The special primary election will be held on March 1 and the general election will be held on May 3.