Bill Text: MI HB4177 | 2019-2020 | 100th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Public employees and officers; ethics; office of government accountability; create. Creates new act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-14 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 02/13/2019 [HB4177 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2019-HB4177-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 4177
February 13, 2019, Introduced by Reps. Cherry, Ellison, Kennedy, Sneller, Neeley, Byrd, Cynthia Johnson, Hood and Hoadley and referred to the Committee on Oversight.
A bill to create the office of government accountability; to
prescribe the powers and duties of the office, the legislative
council, and state departments and agencies; and to provide
remedies.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. (1) This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"government accountability act".
(2) As used in this act:
(a) "Administrative act" means an action, rule, regulation,
order, omission, decision, recommendation, practice, or procedure
of a public body.
(b) "Complaint" means an allegation of wrongdoing or a report
as described in section 2 of the whistleblowers' protection act,
1980 PA 469, MCL 15.362.
(c) "Council" means the legislative council.
(d) "Office" means the office of government accountability
created in section 2.
(e) "Person" means an individual, sole proprietorship,
partnership, corporation, association, or any other legal entity.
(f) "Public body" includes all of the following:
(i) An officer, employee, agency, department, division,
bureau, board, commission, council, authority, or other body, or a
member thereof, of the executive branch of state government.
(ii) An officer, employee, agency, board, commission, council,
or other body, or member thereof, of the legislative branch of
state government.
(iii) A county, city, township, village, intercounty,
intercity, or regional governing body; a council, school district,
special district, or municipal corporation; a board, department,
commission, council, agency; or a member or employee thereof.
(iv) The judiciary or a member or employee of the judiciary.
(v) A person that has contracted with a public body to provide
a service that the public body is required to or would otherwise
provide or to fulfill an obligation or duty of the public body.
(g) "Wrongdoing" means an action by a public body that does
any of the following:
(i) Violates a law of this state, a political subdivision of
this state, or the United States.
(ii) Results in the gross mismanagement or gross waste of
public funds.
(iii) Creates a substantial and specific danger to public
health or safety.
(iv) Results in the alteration, concealment, or destruction of
or tampering with data used in the preparation of an official
report for the purpose of falsifying or misrepresenting the data or
misleading a person relying on the report.
Sec. 2. (1) The office of government accountability is created
within the legislative council.
(2) The principal executive officer of the office of
government accountability is the government accountability officer
who is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the council.
(3) The council shall establish procedures for approving the
budget and expenditures for the office and for employing personnel.
Sec. 3. (1) Within 30 business days after receiving a
complaint, the government accountability officer shall conduct an
investigation. The government accountability officer may decline to
conduct an investigation if he or she determines that the complaint
pertains to a matter that is outside the scope of the government
accountability officer's powers.
(2) Subject to approval of the council, the government
accountability officer shall establish procedures for receiving and
processing complaints, conducting investigations, holding hearings,
and reporting the findings resulting from the investigations.
Sec. 4. If the government accountability officer decides to
investigate a complaint, the government accountability officer
shall notify the complainant in writing. If the government
accountability officer declines to investigate a complaint, the
government accountability officer shall, in writing, notify the
complainant and inform the complainant of the reasons for the
government accountability officer's decision.
Sec. 5. (1) Upon request and without the requirement of any
release, a public body shall give the government accountability
officer access to all information, records, and documents in the
possession of the public body that the government accountability
officer considers relevant to an investigation.
(2) Upon request and without notice, a public body shall grant
the government accountability officer entrance to inspect at any
time any premises under the control of the public body that the
government accountability officer considers relevant to an
investigation.
(3) The government accountability officer may hold informal
hearings and may request that any person appear before the
government accountability officer or at a hearing and give
testimony or produce documentary or other evidence that the
government accountability officer considers relevant to an
investigation.
Sec. 6. Upon request of the government accountability officer,
the council may hold a hearing. The council may administer oaths,
subpoena witnesses, and examine the books and records of the
relevant public body or of a person, partnership, or corporation
involved, in accordance with section 104 of the legislative council
act, 1986 PA 268, MCL 4.1104, in a matter that is or was a proper
subject of investigation by the government accountability officer
under this act.
Sec. 7. (1) Correspondence between the government
accountability officer and a complainant is confidential, is not
discoverable in a legal proceeding, is exempt from disclosure under
the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246,
and must be processed as privileged correspondence.
(2) The government accountability officer shall maintain
confidentiality with respect to all complaints and the identities
of the complainants, except so far as disclosures may be necessary
to enable the government accountability officer to perform the
duties of the office and to support any recommendations resulting
from an investigation.
(3) A report prepared and recommendations made by the
government accountability officer and submitted to the council
under section 8 are exempt from disclosure under the freedom of
information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
Sec. 8. (1) The government accountability officer shall,
within 30 days after completing an investigation, prepare and
submit a report of the findings of the investigation to the
complainant and the council and, if the government accountability
officer finds any of the following, make recommendations to the
council:
(a) A wrongdoing.
(b) An administrative act for which justification is
necessary.
(c) A matter that raises an issue that it is in the best
interest of the state for the public body to address.
(d) Any other significant concerns as determined by the
government accountability officer.
(2) The council may forward the report prepared and submitted
under this section to the relevant public body or other persons
affected. In an appropriate case, the council may forward a report
to the Michigan state police or Ingham County prosecutor for
further investigation or prosecution.
Sec. 9. The government accountability officer shall submit to
the legislature an annual report on the conduct of the office.
Sec. 10. (1) A complainant or any other individual must not be
subject to adverse employment action or be penalized in any way by
a public body because of filing a complaint or cooperating with the
government accountability officer in investigating a complaint,
unless the complainant knowingly filed a complaint based on false
information or the individual provided information the individual
knew to be false or misleading in the course of the investigation
of a complaint. As used in this subsection, "adverse employment
action" means discharge, threats, or other discrimination against
an employee regarding the employee's compensation, terms,
conditions, location, or privileges of employment.
(2) A person shall not hinder the lawful actions of the
government accountability officer or employees of the office, or
willfully refuse to comply with lawful demands of the office.
(3) A person that violates this act is guilty of a felony
punishable by imprisonment for not more than 2 years or a fine of
not more than $5,000.00, or both.
Sec. 11. The authority granted to the government
accountability officer is in addition to the authority granted
under any other act or rule that provides a remedy or right to
appeal or object, or any procedure provided for inquiring into or
investigating any matter. The authority granted the government
accountability officer does not limit or affect the remedy or right
of appeal or objection and is not part of an exclusionary process.
Sec. 12. (1) The government accountability officer shall
prepare a written notice of the rights of individuals under this
act and the whistleblowers' protection act, 1980 PA 469, MCL 15.361
to 15.369, and shall prepare a training guide of those rights.
(2) A public body shall train its employees utilizing the
training guide prepared by the government accountability officer
under subsection (1).
Enacting section 1. This act takes effect 90 days after the
date it is enacted into law.