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HB 6220

Public employees and officers: ethics; public officer financial disclosure requirements; modify. Amends secs. 3, 6 & 7 of 2023 PA 281 (MCL 15.703 et. seq.).

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Carrie Rheingans and 1 co-sponsor

Michigan HB 6220 tightens financial disclosures for public officers and spouses, expanding assets, gifts, dependents, and inflation-adjusted reporting thresholds.

bill electronically reproduced 07/03/2026
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Bill Summary · HB 6220

Overview

House Bill 6220 (2025-2026 Session, Michigan) amends 2023 PA 281, the Public Officers Financial Disclosure Act, updating definitions and disclosure requirements for public officers and their spouses. The measure, introduced July 3, 2026, by Reps. Skaggs and Rheingans, would modify sections 3, 6, and 7 (as amended by 2025 PA 3) to adjust who must disclose, what must be disclosed, thresholds, inflation adjustments, and related certification provisions. The Department of State appears as the filing entity for the disclosure form.

Main purpose and intent

  • Strengthen and expand financial disclosure requirements for public officers in Michigan.
  • Clarify and adjust terms and thresholds to reflect current conditions, including inflation adjustments.
  • Increase transparency around earnings, assets, liabilities, gifts, travel, and related party interests for public officers and their spouses, as well as for certain dependents.

Key provisions and changes

  • Definitions (Sec. 3):
    • Refines terms such as Blind Trust, Consumer Price Index (CPI for Detroit area), Department, Dependent, Earned Income, Fair Market Value, Form, Gift, Honorarium, Liabilities, Lobbyist, Lobbyist Agent, Public Officer (lists specific offices e.g., governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and leaders of state universities and boards), Report, Reporting Period, Spouse, Unearned Income.
    • Establishes that CPI adjustments will apply to certain asset and securities valuations every four years.
  • Financial disclosure form and reporting (Sec. 6):
    • Reaffirms the basic form structure and identifies required information, including personal contact details, spouse information, and whether the filer is a public officer or candidate.
    • Requires reporting of spouses’ employers with income over $1,000 and related positions; also requires disclosure of spouse’s lobbyist registration if applicable.
    • Requires listing of all outside organizational roles and positions (excluding religious, social, fraternal, political, or honorary roles).
    • Requires disclosure of earned income sources of $1,000 or more.
    • Requires disclosure of assets (non-business) with fair market value thresholds and, for dependents, includes assets held by dependents with higher thresholds.
    • Requires disclosure of liabilities over $10,000.
    • Requires disclosure of future employment arrangements, leaves of absence, and continuation/deferral payments from former employers, including details of timing and participants.
    • Requires reporting of gifts from lobbyists or lobbyist agents, travel payments, and charitable contributions tied to lobbyists, including fair market value for certain gifts.
    • Requires disclosure of state contracts where the officer or spouse holds a majority interest (10% or more) and description of contracts.
    • Requires reporting related to dependents, including the number of dependents, income sources, assets, securities, and interests in entities conducting business in Michigan, with beneficiary-specified thresholds.
    • Requires inflation-adjusted valuations for certain assets and securities held by the public officer or spouse (adjusted every four years using CPI and rounded to the nearest $1,000).
    • Allows exclusion of stocks within widely held investment funds if the fund is publicly traded or widely diversified and the officer/spouse does not exercise control.
  • Public officer disclosures (Sec. 7):
    • Mandates comprehensive disclosure of: personal and employer details; spouse information and potential lobbyist status; current positions held outside the state; earned income sources; asset and investment disclosures with specified thresholds; real property with value thresholds; cryptocurrencies; and details of agreements regarding future employment or benefits from former/current employers.
    • Requires listing of liabilities over $10,000 and securities above $1,000 (with inflation adjustments applied to asset and security valuations every four years).
    • Requires disclosure relating to gifts, travel payments, and payments to charities by or on behalf of lobbyists, and potential vendor relationships with the state (e.g., if officer or spouse is a registered vendor or holds a 10%+ majority interest).
    • In provisions related to dependents, requires similar asset, liability, and ownership disclosures for dependents, with inflation adjustments as applicable, and a maximum data collection framework keyed to dependents’ initials.
  • Blind trusts (Sec. 3 and Sec. 6 discussions):
    • If a public officer holds a beneficial interest in a blind trust, the report need not itemize the trust’s assets, but must indicate the existence of the blind trust.
  • Certifications:
    • Each report must include a certification asserting truthfulness and non-movement of assets to avoid disclosure.

Who would be affected

  • Public officers listed in the statute (including state representatives, senators, attorney general, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and university/government board members listed in the act).
  • Spouses of these public officers.
  • Dependents of public officers and their dependents’ financial interests.
  • Individuals and entities engaged with lobbyists or lobbyist agents, given reporting requirements for gifts, travel payments, and other interactions.
  • Agencies and staff responsible for collecting, reviewing, and publishing disclosure forms (notably the Michigan Department of State).

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Status: Introduced July 3, 2026; referred to the Committee on Election Integrity.
  • No explicit external deadlines are included in the text provided, but the bill references annual reporting periods (the preceding calendar year) and triggers for disclosures tied to changes in employment or compensation.
  • Inflation adjustments (CPI-based) are required every four years for certain asset and security valuations.

Potential impact

  • Increases in transparency for financial interests and potential conflicts of interest among Michigan public officers and their households.
  • Expanded scope of reportable items, including dependents’ assets and certain real property, as well as gifts, travel, and vendor relationships with the state.
  • Administrative workload for officers and the Department of State to collect, review, and enforce disclosures.
  • May influence public perception of conflicts of interest and accountability in public office through more granular and inflation-adjusted reporting.

If you’d like, I can compare these provisions to the current 2023 act and highlight exact shifts in thresholds or broadened categories.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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