A new report from the Michigan Campaign Finance Network shows half of current Michigan lawmakers have paid fines for violating campaign finance disclosure rules.
Common errors by state lawmakers and their campaign included reporting late, not reporting properly, and not disclosing contributions before an election.
Craig Mauger is the Executive Director of MCFN.
He said fines can range from $10 to $7,000.
“I think what this is about for us is looking at this and letting lawmakers and other candidates for office know that someone is watching this, there are lawmakers out there that have racked up 5,000 in fees, one 17,000 dollars in fees, and it's pretty much gone unreported to the public.”
Mauger said a candidate's committee often doesn’t realize the reporting rules.
“I would say generally the lawmakers who tend to rack up the most fees are the ones that just don't think about this, or simply may not understand the full extent of the reporting requirements.”
The fines are issued by the Michigan Secretary of State.