March 15,  2010

            LANSING -  Attorney General Mike Cox today announced that he has again posted his personal federal tax return online and renewed his call for the legislature to take up his proposed public official personal finance transparency legislation.  The bill, HB 5317, would require state and local officials, candidates for office, and immediate family members to disclose their personal finances online to help avoid potential conflicts of interest. 

"For Michigan to attract and keep job creators, we must improve our reputation as a quality place to do business," said Cox.  "By enacting ethics reforms, we will send a clear message to the world that Michigan is ready to compete on ethics and economic growth." 

In 2009, Cox posted his three previous years of federal tax returns online at www.michigan.gov/trackyourtaxes.  That website was created when Cox became Michigan's first statewide official to post detailed information about how the Department of Attorney General spends tax dollars.  Cox has repeatedly called on the legislature to pass legislation requiring all state government spending to be posed online. 

Cox's disclosure bill, sponsored by Rep. Paul Opsommer of DeWitt, requires elected state office holders, directors of state departments, local officials earning $65,000 or more, candidates for those offices and immediate family to give an annual reporting of gifts and reimbursements from lobbyists (aggregate value of $250 per year, per lobbyist).  The proposal also requires reporting of personal financial information, including income, assets and liabilities.  Citizens can find more details at www.michigan.gov/trackyourtaxes.

The Center for Public Integrity ranks Michigan dead-last for public official financial disclosure.  Other states made ethics reform a priority, like Louisiana, which recently improved from 44^th to 1^st place.  Cox was joined at the August 2009 legislative announcement by Detroit City Councilman Gary Brown, Warren Mayor Jim Fouts and state legislators.

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