Michigan canvassers walk back approval for petition aimed at taxing the rich to fund schools
Read the full article on the Michigan Advance website here.
By Kyle Davidson - July 10, 2025
Members of the Michigan Board of State Canvassers on Thursday walked back their approval for a proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy to better fund the state’s public schools following a controversy surrounding changes to the petition language.
Daniel Ziegler, an attorney representing the opposing Coalition to Stop the Business and Family Tax Hike, opened the board meeting with a request, asking members to rescind their approval of the summary language for the Invest in MI Kids petition, saying the proposal’s committee altered the petition language hours before the public comment period closed.
As a result, Ziegler argued the group evaded public comment on the updated petition, leading to the board considering and approving a 100-word summary at their June 27 meeting based on the wrong version of the petition, which was not subject to public comment. Additionally, there was no public comment during the meeting, Ziegler noted, arguing it failed to receive input on both the front and back end.
After going into closed session for a little over half an hour, acting Director of Elections Adam Fracassi laid out the timeline on the group’s petition submissions, telling the board the initial request for a constitutional amendment was received and put out for public comment on June 10. However, the group submitted revised language for the petition on June 16, with public comment set to close on June 17.
Both the June 16, and a later June 20 submission had been altered to exclude the word public from the phrase “local public school districts,” with the group’s attorney Olivia Flower noting that Michigan law uses the term “local school district.”
Fracassi said that the final version of the petition was not available online until June 24.
The board unanimously voted to rescind its approval of the petition’s 100-word summary and reset the summary approval process.
Flower argued it was improper for the board to rescind their approval, as they had not violated the Michigan Open Meetings Act.
“The Open Meetings Act allows for the opportunity for the public to review the deliberations for the form on the record. Those deliberations were fulsome and spirited, and everyone commented on the actual form of the petition that was before the board, then is still before the board now,” Flower said.
Although the board was initially scheduled to consider the form of the proposed constitutional amendment, the matter was removed from the agenda in light of the board’s vote.
Thursday’s meeting also marked the consideration of two ballot initiatives aimed at requiring voters to verify their citizenship in order to cast their ballot, with both proposals submitted by the same organization, Americans for Citizen Voting.
While the board approved the summary language for the group’s initial petition at their meeting in May, the form was not, due to a few typos in the proposed language for the constitutional amendment.
Alongside considering the form for the first effort, the board considered the language and form for the group’s second proposed amendment.
Canvasser Heather Cummings, a Democrat, raised questions on why the ballot committee would file a second initiative with the same goals as the first, after the group’s attorney, David Porter, explained they would not be withdrawing the first effort.
“We took a lot of the comments that were made at the last meeting and discussion by the board to heart. Some of those changes are reflected in this new proposal. So it just offers a different alternative, in case we would like to proceed with that,” Porter said.
Paul Jacob, the group’s chair, explained that the group had not yet decided which proposal it planned to circulate among voters for placement on the ballot.
“We’re unlikely to do two. We’re very likely to do one,” Jacob said, noting that they would likely proceed with the second proposal.
By law, the group can propose and file as many measures as it would like, Jacob said, assuring Cummings “two is as many as we would like.”
However, Mark Brewer, a former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party and the attorney for Promote the Vote Action, which opposes the proposal and the other effort requiring voters to verify their citizenship, called the move bad form.
“I’ve been practicing before this board since the 1980s… I have never seen anybody and I would not advise my clients to do what is being done here today. I just think it’s poor practice and doesn’t serve democracy to hide the ball in terms of what proposal a group’s going to circulate,” Brewer said.
While the board approved the form of the first petition and the summary language and form for the second petition, Board Chair Richard Houskamp, a Republican, chastised the group for submitting multiple petitions seeking the same end, telling members of the ballot committee they were setting a dangerous precedent.
When asked whether they would consider withdrawing one of their proposals, Jacob declined, though Americans for Citizen Voting – Michigan Treasurer Kurt O’Keefe told Houskamp “it’s highly likely that your concern will be met in a way that you find appropriate.”
Following the meeting, Jacob spoke with reporters, explaining that the group’s second proposal was filed out of concern that the first proposal “could get blocked at any point,” and that they did not want to place their trust in the first proposal receiving approval.
“Today, people working on this campaign are going to get together and decide which measure should we go with. I think it’s pretty likely it’ll be this second one that was just approved,” he said.
The two proposals mark the second and third effort approved by the board in recent months aimed at preventing noncitizens from voting in Michigan elections. The first, approved in April, was launched in support of an effort introduced by House Majority Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus (R-Rockford) in the Legislature, which would require Michigan residents to show proof of citizenship when casting their ballot and registering to vote.
Jacob said his group had been in contact with the organization in charge of the other initiative, the Committee to Protect Voters’ Rights, and while their proposals are close, he considers their most recent proposal to be the best effort.
Unlike the Committee to Protect Voters’ Rights proposal, Jacob said their proposal offers more clarity on what it would require from the Secretary of State, as well as the rules and penalties for violating the law. It also does not require any action from the Legislature, Jacob said, whereas the other group’s proposal would have the Legislature craft a program to ensure citizens facing hardship have the documents needed to cast their ballot.
In order to make the ballot in 2026, the groups will need to gather nearly 446,198 signatures within 180 days and file them with the Secretary of State, with Jacob telling reporters they expect to launch their effort before the end of the month.
He also doesn’t expect to see two competing petition drives.
“There’s no fight here. There’s people who want to see only citizens voting, making sure that our elections are secure, and we’re going to all be working together,” he said.
While noncitizens are barred from voting in federal elections, conservatives in Michigan have raised alarms over election security after a Chinese citizen attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor cast a ballot in the 2024 general election. However, a review from the Michigan Department of State released in April confirmed instances of noncitizen voting are extremely rare, with only 15 credible cases identified out of the more than 5.7 millions ballots cast in the state in the general election last year.
Micheal Davis, the executive director of Promote the Vote, called Americans for Citizen Voting’s efforts “yet another initiative that aims to make it more difficult for all eligible voters to cast a ballot,” but applauded the board of canvassers changes to the petition summary, highlighting negative impacts the proposal would have on voters.
“Michigan’s elections are secure and accurate, and we should be looking for ways to build on that progress, not trying to bury citizens in unnecessary red tape. We urge Michiganders to visit noredtapeformi.com and decline to sign the petitions for these harmful initiatives,” Davis said.
