In Massachusetts, voters passed a ballot measure by a wide margin to open the governor’s office and legislature to the state's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a law that allows people to request public records.
This makes Michigan the only state in the country where FOIA does not apply to the governor’s office or the state legislature.
At a press conference Wednesday, governor-elect Jocelyn Benson said she would voluntarily comply with FOIA requests.
"We are looking right now at what that would look like, based on the fact that we've got plenty of examples to craft our policies behind," Benson told reporters.
Michigan’s FOIA law was passed in 1976, about a decade after the federal FOIA law was passed. At the federal level, FOIA only applies to agencies under the executive branch. States, however, have largely expanded the scope to include their governor’s offices and legislatures.
Michigan is the exception, and public officials have tried and failed to change this for years.
State Senators Jeremy Moss (D-Bloomfield Township) and Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan) have proposed multiple FOIA expansion laws throughout their careers in the Michigan legislature.
Now, Moss is set to become a US Representative for Michigan’s 11th District, and McBroom is term limited as state senator.
“The simplest and best way is for the legislature to just do it,” said McBroom.
The legislators have been working on the effort for years.
McBroom and Moss introduced Senate Bills 669 and 670 in 2023. They reintroduced the legislation in 2025 as Senate Bills 1 and 2 after the previous bills expired. Bills 1 and 2 passed the Senate and have been sitting in committee in the State House since.
In a 2025 press conference, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall said, “we’re just not going to do FOIA.”
Benson's promise to voluntarily comply is not unusual for Michigan governors. Governor Whitmer and former Governor Rick Snyder made similar promises and did release some records voluntarily throughout their tenures.
“It means well to do it voluntarily,” said McBroom. “But the infrastructure that is necessary to comply with FOIA is very difficult to put in place on a voluntary basis.”
The Michigan Press Association’s Public Policy Committee commended Benson for the statement. They wrote in an op-ed expressing optimism that the new Michigan government will present a new opportunity for FOIA expansion.
“At a time when Americans seem divided over nearly everything, Massachusetts voters delivered a remarkably clear message: The public deserves to know what its government is doing,” the op-ed said.
The Michigan Press Association is an advocate for reforming Michigan's FOIA law. Polling from the MPA and EPIC-MRA found 89% of registered voters support expanding FOIA.
“If we ran a proposal like that here in Michigan, it would easily pass the citizens as well,” McBroom said, referring to the Massachusetts ballot proposal.
