LANSING — A Michigan public body has approved the spending of taxpayer dollars without publicly disclosing the project or its price tag.
The Capitol Commission is an independent body that manages the day-to-day operations of the physical state Capitol, including repairs, renovations and security upgrades.
The entity is subject to Michigan public records laws, but may have acted in violation of those laws this week — Monday, the commission entered a closed session to consider a “critical infrastructure” security upgrade.
But the commission has refused to share details on the vendor, scope or even price tag of the taxpayer-funded project.
“If they were revealed publicly, there’d be no reason to do them,” said Bill Kandler, chair of the commission. “They’d be ruled ineffective just by public knowing about so we’re going to go into closed session to discuss these items.”
Lisa McGraw, public affairs manager for the Michigan Press Association, is asking the Capitol Commission to willingly divulge the price tag and vendor for the project.
“We should be able to know,” she said. “That is one of the fights I fought all these years, that government officials need to understand whose money it is they’re spending and who they are accountable to. And sometimes I think they forget, unfortunately,”
The Michigan state constitution says that “all financial records” and “other reports of public moneys shall be public records and open to inspection.”
Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act contains exceptions for procedures related to ongoing security — but McGraw says the body should provide some level of information to back up that claim.
McGraw says that litigation is possible if the commission continues to withhold information that she believes should be public.