With Election Day Near, Abed and Cochran Push for Election Reform in Michigan
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012 |
Contact: Katie Carey Phone: (616) 240-3701 |
With Election Day Near, Abed and Cochran Push for Election Reform in Michigan
Stricter laws, harsher penalties needed for true campaign ethics overhaul
LANSING –Theresa Abed, Democratic candidate for the 71st district in the Michigan House of Representatives, and Tom Cochran, Democratic candidate in state House District 67, today urged passage of stricter election and campaign reforms to clean up Michigan elections. In January, House Democrats introduced bills calling for unprecedented accountability, transparency and campaign finance reform.
“If the voters send me to the state Capitol, they can count on me to fight for election reforms,” said Abed. “We can’t have our elected officials, like Speaker Jase Bolger and Rep. Roy Schmidt, trying to throw elections. Voters should be able to expect honesty and integrity from legislators. I’m shocked that my opponent, Deb Shaughnessy, has not condemned Speaker Bolger’s actions, but instead she is letting him host a fundraiser for her. The voters of House District 71 deserve better.”
Speaker of the House Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) and state Rep. Roy Schmidt (R-Grand Rapids) are subjects of a one-person grand jury investigation. An Ingham County judge will determine whether they conspired to commit perjury or other crimes when they recruited a fake state House candidate in Grand Rapids minutes before the campaign-filing deadline.
House Democrats called for increased ethics and accountability in campaign finance laws in January even before the “Bolgergate” scandal was revealed. It was only after Republican Speaker of the House Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) and Rep. Roy Schmidt’s (R-Grand Rapids) effort to defraud and mislead voters by rigging an election in Grand Rapids was uncovered that House Republicans took any action on campaign reform legislation.
Abed and Cochran support legislation that would:
· Create a two-year “cooling off” period for elected officials and a one-year period for department directors who attempt to move directly into lobbying to close the revolving door between public and private work.
· Require personal financial disclosure from appointed and elected officials. Michigan is one of only three states with no financial disclosure requirements.
· Increase transparency by forcing corporations making expenditures in campaigns or for lobbying purposes to comply with the law and publicly disclose funders.
· Eliminate “Pay to Play” politics by banning the state from awarding any contract over $100,000 to a contractor or vendor who made campaign contributions to elected officials.
· Require “robo-calls” to clearly state the name and address of the organization paying for them.
“I was raised in a family that believed in public service and also taught that voting is our civic duty. So it makes me angry when I see people and politicians trying to play games with elections,” Said Cochran. “If the voters send me to the state Capitol, I’ll work with Theresa and the Democrats to pass election reforms and ensure fair elections so that every resident’s vote counts.”
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