State Rep. Mike Harris today secured the passage of ethics and transparency reforms that would bar former lawmakers from working for organizations that receive a grant from the utility consumer participation board for two years after leaving office.

“The people are tired of this ‘wink wink, nudge nudge’ crap that lands former lawmakers a fat paycheck once they leave office,” said Harris, R-Waterford. “Take former Rep. Jaime Churches as a key example; she said she came here to represent Downriver communities, bankrolled a huge increase to this so-called consumer participation board, and then jumped shipped to an organization getting paid by the same grant scheme she voted to support.”

Former state Rep. Jaime Churches went to work for an organization receiving Utility Consumer Participation Board grant funding. She was a key vote in increasing the amount of grantable dollars doled out by the board by over 300% while also changing granting requirements to favor left-wing environmentalist groups.

The Utility Consumer Participation Board and the grant program it oversees was originally created to make sure everyday utility customers had a voice before regulators and someone looking out for reliable energy and reasonable rates. But during their trifecta, Democrats expanded the program and transformed it from a consumer advocacy tool into a funding stream for organizations aligned with their political and energy agenda.

The reforms passed today would continue House Republicans efforts to end the corrupt revolving door scheme wherever it exists. Harris and his colleagues have voted to end the legislator-to-lobbyist pipeline. Now, under House Bill 6282, they’re going after the backchannel that allows former lawmakers to cash in with organizations benefiting from a program funded by utility customers.

“No one should wonder why there’s an affordability crisis when lawmakers – both past and present – seem more focused on creating future careers for themselves than actually addressing the issues their communities sent them here to tackle,” Harris said. “Democrats have had eight years to create real, positive change in Michigan; some have had far longer. A person’s actions once leaving office say a lot more about their true priorities.”

The legislation now moves to the state Senate for further consideration.

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