September 1, 2021
Whitmer’s Transparency Issues Continue, This Time Regarding the FOIA
Lansing, Mich., September 1, 2021 – Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s latest affront to government transparency comes in the form of slowing down Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. In an internal memo discovered through a Michigan Rising Action FOIA request, it was revealed that the Governor’s legal team requires state departments to clear any communications regarding the governor with them before releasing it to the public, i.e. a FOIA request. The governor’s office offered the following rebuttal in an article from Bridge:
“Whitmer’s spokesperson called the policy a good government approach to increase efficiency, and officials from past administrations said governors’ offices typically expected advanced warning before any sensitive disclosures.”
Of the three previous administrations, none required a written notice from their departments. In a baffling excuse, the Governor’s team has claimed that the added step of clearance from their legal team ‘increases efficiency,’ but impartial observers view it as an open attack on transparency. Bridge continues:
“Lisa McGraw of the Michigan Press Association, which advocates for government transparency, called the Whitmer administration’s advance review policy ‘problematic’ because it ‘just slows everything down.’… ‘Obstructionist is the word that comes to mind,’ she said.”
As the Governor’s administration interferes with the FOIA request process, Michigan residents remember the campaign trail back in 2018, when Whitmer vowed to be a champion of transparency for our state. 32 months later, there has been little to no progress made on that promise and many believe Michigan is less transparent today than when Whitmer took office.
“If Governor Whitmer really thought this policy increased transparency, it wouldn’t have been revealed through a FOIA request,” said Eric Ventimiglia, Executive Director for Michigan Rising Action. Ventimiglia continued “We are now at the end of year three of Whitmer’s term, and the only movement we’ve seen on her promise is toward less transparency.”