The Michigan House passed [1] a bill [2] in November requiring all local governments in Michigan to set up ethics boards. The bill, which amends the state ethics law, requires that ethics boards either use the state law, which is minimal, or that local governments pass their own ethics laws, with no restrictions. The bill is currently before the Senate Committee on Local, Urban and State Affairs.

Apparently, the bill went through to the House floor with little or no debate. One representative's comment [3] on this is especially telling:


He's got that right. Each voter can very well investigate and determine the value of ethics allegations.

The required ethics boards are appointed by the local government's chief elected official, with legislative approval. They can all be of the same party, even members of the legislative body. And they can only make recommendations to an official or employee's "appointing or supervisory authority," which appears to leave the ethics of elected officials in the hands of the electorate, just as Ref. Meekhof prefers.

There are no minimal requirements for a local ethics code, so it could be even weaker than the state code. And the bill holds off requiring use of the state ethics code for the first year, so that, if a local ethics code does not exist or is not quickly passed, there are no standards to guide officials and employees, or the ethics board. On what basis could anyone file a complaint during this first year in, one would assume, the majority of jurisdictions?

The bill passed the House 70-31. I couldn't find anything online that referred to it, except at michiganvotes.org, which covers every bill. There does not seem to be much excitement about a poorly written bill that takes a baby step toward requiring local government ethics laws.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research, City Ethics

203-230-2548