Advocacy News – Nov. 6, 2025
What’s new: The latest round of October campaign finance reports offers new insight into the financial backing and progress of several ballot initiatives circulating across Michigan — many of which would have major implications for businesses and taxpayers alike.
Why it matters: As the signature collection deadlines approach in early 2026, these campaign finance reports provide the first real glimpse into how these initiatives are being bankrolled — and by whom. With multiple proposals drawing heavily from national funding networks, questions are likely to persist over outside influence and the potential impact of these sweeping policy changes on Michigan’s political and economic future.
- The “Michiganders for Money Out of Politics” (MMOP) proposal, which the MI Chamber opposes, aims to ban all political spending by private utilities and state contractors while imposing new restrictions on grassroots advocacy. Since launching in August, MMOP has raised a total of $118,405, with 97% of that amount ($115,000) coming from the California-based Tides Foundation — a national clearinghouse for liberal donor-advised funds that channels hundreds of millions of dollars each year into progressive causes. The remainder of MMOP’s reported support comes in the form of in-kind contributions from coalition partners such as Voters Not Politicians, making it difficult to track the full scope of their financial activities, expenditures or staffing costs.
- The group must collect 356,958 valid signatures by late February for the statutory initiative to qualify for the 2026 ballot. It remains unclear how close they are to meeting that goal.
- The “Invest in MI Kids” proposal, which the MI Chamber opposes, seeks to implement a graduated income tax in Michigan. Organizers claim they are on track to gather 700,000 signatures by Feb. 11, well above the 446,198 valid signatures required for the constitutional amendment to appear on the November 2026 ballot.
- Like MMOP, the campaign’s largest single donor is the Tides Foundation, which contributed $235,000 to the effort. The group has reported just $1,177 in additional donations from other sources since its formation. In addition to direct financial contributions, Invest in MI Kids reported more than $200,000 in donated staff time, largely provided through BOOM — an organization that describes its mission as supporting “social justice and community-based organizations that are focused on multiracial working-class power building.”
- In 2026, a question will automatically appear on the ballot asking voters whether to hold a constitutional convention (“con-con”) to rewrite — in whole or in part — the Michigan Constitution. A new group called Protect MI Constitution from Special Interests is poised to oppose the effort. All of the committee’s funding, $150,000, came from a single organization: American Opportunity Action, a Washington, DC based nonprofit.
- The “Rank MI Vote” proposal seeks to allow voters to select (or “rank”) their candidates in order of preference for Governor/Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and Secretary of State — and authorizes use in local elections. Under rank choice voting, if no candidate receives 50% of the first-choice votes, the lowest-ranking candidate is eliminated, and their second-place votes are reallocated among the remaining candidates; the process repeats itself until a winner is selected. The group, which expended $99,000 and brought in $76,900 in small-dollar contributions since August, seems to be mostly relying on a volunteer network to collect over 446,198 signatures to qualify for the constitutional amendment to qualify for the November 2026 ballot.
- The “Americans for Citizen Voting” proposal, which would require Michiganders to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote, brought in $3.577 million this quarter, almost entirely from Restoration of America. The group spent nearly all of the dollars collected — $3.549 million — on petition management activities, including consultation, research and signature gathering. The group needs to collect 446,198 valid signatures for the constitutional amendment to appear on the November 2026 ballot.
- The “Ax MI Tax” proposal, which would eliminate all real and personal property taxes in Michigan and require a 2/3 majority of the legislature for any increase in revenue that exceeds .01% over 5 years (and require a 60% super majority vote for local tax questions), brought in $9,500 this quarter and spent $6570. The group needs to collect 446,198 valid signatures for the constitutional amendment to appear on the November 2026 ballot.
- The “Voters to Stop Pay Cuts” proposal would initiate a referendum to repeal the Legislature’s 2025 minimum wage law. If adopted, it would decrease the minimum wage in 2026 and 2027 (before increasing it in 2028) and requires tipped workers to be paid the full minimum wage with tips on top. “One Fair Wage,” the group behind the referendum, reported raising no new money; however, it has $182,353 cash on hand.
Go deeper: Read our analysis of the various ballot proposals. Send questions to info@michamber.com.