A new bill passed through the MI Senate Committee on Local Government today with voting divided strictly along partisan lines to allow local governing bodies to go into closed session to discuss a seemingly infinite number of issues. Openness, transparency, and accountability are bedrock principles of good governance and vital for any society with a representative government. All public business should be discussed openly and inclusively before the public, except in the rarest of circumstance, where the best interest of the public or legal protections for the rights of individuals demand otherwise.
Read Katherine Bussard’s testimony on this matter below: