Michigan still shields governor, lawmakers from FOIA as high fees hinder access

A decade ago, Michigan was dead last in national government transparency rankings.

Michigan, alongside Massachusetts, is one of two states where both the governor and the legislature are exempt from public records laws.

The Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allows access to most records of public bodies. The most recent legislation aimed at changing FOIA was rejected (in November) by House Speaker Matt Hall, in favor of reforms to publicly disclose legislative earmarks before the state budget was passed.

Collaborative journalism nonprofit MuckRock assists in filing and tracking public information requests across the country. Its data shows that 21% of Michigan’s requests come with a fee attached, which is the fourth-highest rate in the country; Oregon is the highest at 27.6%.

The average cost of a public records request in Michigan is nearly $5,200, which is the 13th highest in the nation; California is the highest at $31,565, but only requests fees 2.7% of the time.

University of Florida’s Freedom of Information Project Director David Cuillier authored a report in 2019 using MuckRock data, and he found a correlation between better transparency and stricter provisions, particularly short response deadlines and mandatory fee-shifting.

Michigan’s law contains both of these, as well as very high fees for violations. Possibly due to these factors, Michigan is average nationally in requestor success rate at 34%; Alabama has the worst success rate at 15.8%.

While the overall success rate may be high in Michigan, the cost may dissuade many.

Cuillier suggested an independent office, or ombudsman, to aid the public and ensure the law is followed.

“You could pass the best law in the world, but if it has no teeth, the government is just going to ignore it, and it won’t make a difference,” Cuillier said.

Attorney General Dana Nessel believes Michigan’s legislature has a culture that sees transparency laws as a nuisance rather than open government. She says legislators have become accustomed to candid, sometimes hostile email correspondence and may be more reluctant to discuss bills if that is made publicly available.

“If all you’ve ever known is that these conversations are not made public – these conversations are not exposed – you get used to it,” Nessel said.

Nessel says FOIA requests have also been increasingly used for what she sees as harassment, both from the public and lawmakers, particularly the House Oversight Committee.

Because of long response time, exorbitant fees and exemptions, many journalists increasingly work around, or without, FOIA requests.

Ron Fonger of the Flint Journal covered the Flint water crisis largely without FOIA, primarily through public meetings. Records that Fonger used were self-released by then Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration following public pressure, or were revealed through criminal prosecutions.

“I don’t know that we ultimately received everything that otherwise would have been subject to FOIA,” Fonger said.

Government officials have become increasingly resistant to records requests, according to MLive President John Hiner. He believes the fees are too high and the waits are too long.

“We spend tens of thousands of dollars a year just to get information that, in a more transparent state, we wouldn’t have to,” Hiner said.

Nessel said many candidates have run on pro-transparency platforms only to abandon promises to expand FOIA once in office.

Any proposed change to Michigan’s FOIA law may need to be put on a statewide ballot to decide, Nessel said.

A statewide poll from the Michigan Press Association in 2025 indicated 89% of Michigan voters would support a ballot initiative to change the law.

“Once these people are in positions of authority, and they’ve been benefiting from something like a lack of FOIA, they’re just not going to (change the law),” Nessel said. “It’s got to be through a ballot proposal.”

 All MuckRock data used was from Nov. 29. As this data is continually updated, results may have fluctuated slightly in the time since.

Lee Marentette is a junior at Grand Valley State University. He serves as the news editor of the Grand Valley Lanthorn.