A campaign finance violation by a national nonprofit group backing a campaign for a $15 minimum wage in Michigan puts Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, both Democrats, at odds.

When One Fair Wage Action made its 2022 endorsements for the August primary in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Nessel made the cut. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson did not.

While Nessel has spoken in favor of the campaign by the Cambridge, Massachusetts, nonprofit to push for a $15 minimum wage in Michigan, and even advocated for the Michigan Supreme Court to rule in its favor in another case, Benson has raised concerns about One Fair Wage’s campaign spending.

On Aug. 29, 2022, the Secretary of State’s Bureau of Elections notified One Fair Wage Action of a complaint against it.

The complaint alleged that One Fair Wage Action was used as a vehicle to shield the identities of donors behind $1.8 million in contributions to Raise The Wage, the ballot committee, between December 2021 and April 2022.

At the time, Raise The Wage was pursuing a 2022 ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage in Michigan to $15 per hour. In the end, they held off on the effort and will seek a spot on the 2024 ballot.

The $1.8 million accounted for 99.9% of Raise the Wage’s donations at the time, the complaint alleged, which the state investigation affirmed. The complaint was filed by the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust.

The state’s first letter to One Wage Fair Action, and another on Sept. 29, went unanswered. On Nov. 30, the elections bureau determined that One Fair Wage Action had violated campaign finance law.

“Given that contributions by One Fair Wage Action to Raise the Wage were closely followed by expenditures Raise the Wage made to other entities totaling an almost identical value, it is clear that One Fair Wage Action coordinated to some extent with Raise the Wage,” the letter read.

The Nov. 30, 2022, letter gave One Fair Wage Action an April 13, 2023, deadline to respond, or else it would refer the matter to Nessel’s office.

In March 2023, Nessel publicly asked the Michigan Supreme Court to weigh in on a court case involving the Legislature’s attempt to deflect a 2018 ballot measure by adopting it into law and then changing its requirements.

The court took the case, and it will hear oral arguments Thursday on whether the “adopt and amend” strategy used by lawmakers in 2018 is constitutional.

“The Legislature adopting an initiative and then amending or repealing it within the same legislative session is contrary to the People’s understanding of our Constitution. It undermines the will of the People, and weakens direct democracy,” Nessel wrote in the March letter. “I am hopeful that the Michigan Supreme Court will weigh in on this important question.”

Despite three letters, One Fair Wage has never responded to the Secretary of State’s correspondence, according to the complaint file.

The 30-page file ends with an April 18, 2023, letter from Michael Brady, chief legal officer at the Michigan Secretary of State, to Nessel, referring the matter for criminal prosecution.

“Please allow this letter to serve as a referral to the Attorney General of the above referenced campaign finance matter for the enforcement of any criminal penalties under the Michigan Campaign Finance Act. MCL 169.215(10)(a),” read Brady’s letter. “If you or your staff would like any additional information regarding this case, please contact this office.”

The attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for an update on the referral.

The Growing Michigan Together workgroup recommends that the state increase school funding in an attempt to attract more residents.

The logic is that if the state spends more money on education, there will be better academic outcomes, which will drive families to the state. The problem is the state’s education data tells a different story.

The workgroup also says there has been inequitable funding in poor and minority communities.

“It is a commonly held belief that more funding leads to better academic outcomes. But this misconception has been consistently disproven,” Molly Macek, director of education policy at the Mackinac Center, told Michigan Capitol Confidential. “Record spending paired with declining student performance in recent years confirms that more money is not the answer.”

The Detroit Public Schools Community District received $8,891 in per pupil funding in 2011-12, according to the Michigan Department of Education’s financial report, known as Bulletin 1014. Northville was rated as the wealthiest district in the state in 2020, according to Census Bureau data, and it was given $9,163 per pupil the same year.

Detroit’s per-pupil funding surpassed Northville’s over the next 10 years, however. Detroit received $25,761 in per-pupil funding and Northville was allotted $12,355 in 2021-22.

Flint Community Schools received $13,757 in per-pupil funding in 2011-12m while the Farmington Public School District lagged behind at $12,039. In 2021-22, Flint’s per pupil funding ballooned to $27,192 while Farmington’s was less than half that, or $12,355.

Although funding in Michigan’s schools has soared in recent years, academic outcomes have declined. The average per-pupil funding in 2009 was $14,883. The same year, the average fourth grade reading score was 218.2 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, while the average for math was 236.3. Eighth graders in the state scored 261.9 on average for reading and 278.3 for math, according to the Nation’s Report Card.

The state’s per-pupil funding average in 2022 was $19,126, a 28.5% increase. Yet overall scores decreased. Fourth grade reading scores dropped to 211.8 and those for math dropped to 232.2. Eighth grade reading scores dropped to 258.5 in reading, while the score for math dropped to 272.6.