Michigan Republicans voted Tuesday to make it a crime for government agencies to require the disclosure of nonprofits’ donors and other information, a move decried by critics as shielding political “dark money” but defended by supporters as protecting people’s right to freedom of association.
The GOP-controlled House approved the bill 58-51, largely on party lines. It will go to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder following a procedural step in this final week of a frantic lame-duck session.
The vote came as another contentious measure, to strip campaign finance oversight authority from Democratic Secretary of State-elect Jocelyn Benson and shift it to a new bipartisan commission, was in serious trouble. A committee agenda that was posted late Tuesday did not include the Senate-passed legislation — considered by many to be the most egregious among several GOP “power grabs” — after it drew opposition from Democrats and many Republicans in the House.