From the Detroit News:

Public officials across Michigan from the Detroit City Council to the governor’s office would be required to disclose lobbyist-paid gifts and details about their assets, incomes and debt under an ethics reform package proposed by Attorney General Mike Cox.

If the package of bills is passed, Cox said Thursday, the state would join 47 others that have more detailed rules on what public officials must tell constituents about their financial lives. Such disclosure, he said, would allow citizens to know more about potential conflicts between a politician’s life and their voting record.

Under Cox’s plan, many elected officials and some appointed ones would be required, under fear of criminal prosecution, to reveal on what boards they serve, who took them out to golf and dinner, and which bank holds their mortgage. It would also force the disclosure of similar gifts given to spouses and dependents.

“If I’m serving on a corporate board, the voters ought to know about it,” Cox said.

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