I was sent an article from the Lansing City Pulse written by Kyle Melinn, that claims there are four state legislators that are married to lobbyists.
As Melinn says “that means in four households, one person works for the state to write the laws we live by. The other person works to tell lawmakers what those policies should be.”
Now we can’t regulate who marries who, but it would seem if you are one of 147 legislators running our State, and paid by taxpayer money, that either you or your spouse should step down from your position. It’s not illegal but most certainly a conflict of interest and one you would think an upstanding legislator would want to avoid.
Just to be clear, lobbyists are paid to influence legislators. For instance, as an intern several decades ago, I worked for a lobbyist whose job was to influence legislators in an attempt to get more funding for Detroit Public Schools. We visited legislators at their offices, held get-togethers at a local restaurant, and did all we could to explain and cajole lawmakers to provide more funds.
So, I question how this works with the four legislators and their spouses. The spouses are paid to influence their partners. Something doesn’t smell right with this arrangement.
The four legislators with lobbyist spouses are:
Sen. Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit). Her spouse is Harvey Santana, who works for the Alliance for Safety and Justice, a non-profit focused on criminal justice reform.
Rep. Pat Outman (R-Six Lakes). His spouse is Autumn Outman who has been a lobbyist since 2017 for Trinity Health.
Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia). Her husband is the former mayor of East Lansing but now is a lobbyist for the State Bar of Michigan
Rep Phil Skaggs (D-Grand Rapids). Kate Skaggs works for a multiclient firm that lobbies for a variety of organizations.
Of course, power couples are nothing new in Washington D.C. or Lansing. Since the beginning of time, they have wielded their influence on our laws at the federal and state level. But frankly I was surprised that we had actual spouses that might influence their married partner at the dinner table, and there are no written restrictions disallowing this.
Former Public Citizen’s Congress Watch director once said, How can a member of Congress (in this case state legislature) possibly share a bed and a bank account with a member of a persuasion industry (lobbying) without a life laced by conflicts of interest?”
I would answer it’s impossible and inappropriate. If you were to ask these four couples you would hear a myriad of excuses. “We don’t discuss politics at home.” “The legislation I am working on has nothing to do with my spouse.” On and on.
If I had my druthers I would do away with lobbyists all together. Unfortunately, they have much more say than one would think about shaping the laws and regulations of our land. Legislators come and go, but lobbyists in some cases are in their positions for years. They know more about the legislative process than most legislators. Yet they are unelected and work in the background. You don’t know their names or what they are advocating.
My suggestion to you as a voter is to be aware of these power couples next time you are in the ballot box. Only you have the ability to make change.
