What a debacle.

Republicans and some Democrats walked out of the Legislature earlier this month, trying to force leadership to tackle their priorities.

Instead, the 2023-24 legislative session simply ground to a halt.

That left a number of unresolved issues on the table. Any bills lawmakers didn’t pass before adjournment have to be reintroduced and start from scratch in the new legislature that begins in the new year.

Among the bills left on the table were ones that would finally subject the Legislature and Governor’s Office to transparency requirements.

Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act requires state agencies, local governments, and school districts all to hand over documents requested by the public. However, state law has exempted lawmakers and the governor from those requirements.

For more than a decade, well-meaning lawmakers have tried to change that.

In the legislative session that just ended, bills that would force transparency on lawmakers and the governor made it farther than ever before, passed by the state Senate, cleared by a state House committee, awaiting only a vote of the full state House.

The walkouts stalled the bills, meaning they’ll have to be reintroduced in the new legislature.

We demand lawmakers reintroduce the bills and push them to the finish line in the new year.

The public deserves to know what the most powerful people in the state are up to.

— The Alpena News