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Bledsoe - Holding Government Accountable     
            
I want to talk to you about two aspects of our plan: first of all, it’s the revolving door provision, and secondly, the financial disclosure provision. We've got a bill that’s going to provide for a two year waiting period on former legislators before they are allowed to lobby their colleagues. Now, early in 2007, now-President Barack Obama pushed legislation in the U.S. Congress that changed their waiting period from one to two years, and tried to do something about the revolving door from in the U.S. Congress. The people have every right to expect their Representatives to serve their interests, and not the interests of lobbyists here in Lansing, and if we suspect or if the people suspect that their legislators are looking ahead at their next job rather than thinking about their needs and concerns as they cast their votes late in their political career, that casts a shadow on the Michigan Legislature and the Michigan government.
            
Now, the second provision that I want to talk about, I think is a very important provision, has to do with financial disclosure. Currently, we are one of three states in the nation providing for no requirements for financial disclosure of public officials. The proposed law would force legislators and many local elected officials with incomes over a certain threshold to reveal their sources of income. The public has every right to expect that there is a degree of transparency in the financial resources of elected officials. This law would bring Michigan into line with 47 other states that currently require their officials to reveal their sources of income.