Ballot campaign will seek to ban utility monopolies, state contractors from political spending

A ballot campaign plans to launch in July to ask voters to ban political donations from committees affiliated with utility monopolies and from businesses with substantial state contracts.

A coalition of progressive organizations is behind the campaign for a voter-initiated law to rein in the influence of utilities and insurance companies with market dominance, as well as contractors that do more than $250,000 in business annually with the state, which would appear to include Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a prolific political donor.

“This isn’t just another policy tweak,” said Sean McBrearty, Michigan director for Clean Water Action, one of the groups backing the proposal. “It’s a line in the sand. We want to stop corporations from buying off our democracy.”

The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics campaign said Consumers Energy and DTE Energy, in particular, have used their clout to fend off efforts to award bigger paybacks to customers for power losses.



https://www.michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2025-06-30/ballot-campaign-planned-to-ban-utility-monopolies-state-contractors-from-political-spending