(The Center Square) – Michigan state Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, says he will introduce a bill next year aiming to prohibit legislators from signing non-disclosure agreements.
The plan follows a Detroit News report revealing that nearly one in five Michigan lawmakers have signed “secrecy pacts” gagging them from sharing their knowledge of taxpayer-funded projects.
“Elected officials have a duty to be as open and transparent as possible,” Carra said in a statement. “Lawmakers should never trade their silence for information about corruption that benefits the politically connected in their communities. Our job is to represent all the voices of our districts.”
Carra encourages economic expansion but says the government picking winners and losers behind closed doors isn’t the right solution.
Greg LeRoy, executive director at Good Jobs First, a national watchdog of state and local economic development subsidies, said lawmakers shouldn’t sign NDAs.
“The core problem is corporate control of the process,” LeRoy said in a phone interview. “If this is really a public-private partnership, then both parties have to be equals at the table. And you can’t do that if the corporations get to hide all the information, including even their identity as the negotiations occur.”
LeRoy said NDAs gag public officials from telling local taxpayers who the company is, what they are, the number of jobs created, the subsidy included, whether public officials will overspend on the project, and if the subsidies are even necessary.
“None of those questions can get raised credibly if the deal is secret,” LeRoy said.
On the Nov. 7 election, voters in Green Township ousted five board members who “brought in Gotion without letting the community know about it.”
The China-linked electric vehicle battery parts plant is estimated to create 2,350 jobs created over 10 years for a taxpayer subsidy of $715 million.
Funding includes a $125 million grant for job creation, a 30-year Renaissance Zone to Mecosta County valued at $540 million, and a $50 million performance-based grant.
Local officials have also signed NDAs about a now paused $3.5B Ford EV plant in Marshall, Michigan, that’s promised more than $1.7B in subsidies. Still, Ford says it’s not confident it can run the Michigan plant competitively.
“The free market should dictate where companies choose to expand,” Carra said. “NDAs in government exist to keep information from the public. Any information lawmakers have access to should be accessible to all Michigan residents, just like tax cuts should be given equally to all businesses, not just special tax exemptions for the rich and connected. These NDAs are yet another result of the government interjecting itself into places it doesn’t belong.”
Carra says the plan aims to amend state statutes to prevent sitting lawmakers from signing NDAs to ensure all business dealings involving elected officials remain open and transparent.
