By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-902378.mp3
LANSING, MI –
Lawmakers at the state Capitol are working on legislation that would regulate financial contributions from corporations to political campaigns.
AUDIO:
The package of bills would ban some corporations from spending money on elections, and require the rest to report their political expenditures. It would also require publicly held corporations to get stockholders' permission before spending money on political campaigns. The legislation is a response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow corporations to contribute to political campaigns.
"That opens the entire process up to substantial abuse."
That's Democratic state Representative Mark Meadows, who helped craft the legislation. He says he hopes to push the regulations through the Legislature before campaign season gets in full swing this summer. He says he thinks there would be support for the measure from both Democrats and Republicans. But it's unclear how popular the bills would be in the Republican-controlled Senate.