Build a Better Michigan 
will have to pay a $37,500 
fine 
after 
Secretary 
of 
State 
Jocelyn 
Benson 
determined 
Friday 
that 
the nonprofit organization 
violated 
campaign 
laws 
with advertisements run in 
support of Gov. Gretchen 
Whitmer.
Build a Better Michigan 
was formed by Whitmer 
allies, 
and 
spent 
more 
than 
$2.4 
million 
in 
the 
2018 
election. 
The 
group ran a series of ads 
they described as “issue 

advocacy,” exempting them 
from the Michigan Finance 
Campaign Act.
The 
Michigan 
Finance 
Campaign 
Act 
requires 
financial disclosures from 
all groups. Political action 
committees 
that 
support 
a certain candidate must 
also file reports with the 
Michigan 
Department 
of 
State. 
However, because Build 
a Better Michigan filed its 
organization under Section 
527 of the Internal Revenue 
Code, it cannot advocate 
directly for a candidate. 
Since 
they 
are 
not 
independent 
from 

Whitmer’s campaign, there 
are limits on how much 
money 
the 
organization 
could spend.
Benson said in a letter to 
the 
lawyers 
representing 
Build a Better Michigan and 
Whitmer’s campaign that 
two particular ads were the 
main area of concern.
“I 
conclude 
that 
the 
phrase, ‘Gretchen Whitmer 
| Candidate for Governor,’ 
constitutes 
express 
advocacy,” Benson wrote. 
“… I view this interpretation 
of the MCFA, as applied to 
this specific set of facts, 
as critical to promoting 
greater transparency.”
The two ads showed 
Whitmer 
speaking 
on 
camera with the words 
“Gretchen 
Whitmer, 
Candidate for Governor.” 
The complaint filed by 
the Michigan Republican 
Party and a conservative 
group claimed Build a 
Better Michigan should 
have 
disclosed 
their 
direct 
advocacy 
for 
Whitmer. 
According 
to 
Colleen Pero, the chief 
of staff for the Michigan 
Republican 
Party, 
the 
ads 
advocated 
for 
Whitmer by identifying 
her as a candidate for 
governor and indicated 
collaboration 
between 
Whitmer 
and 
Build 
a 
Better Michigan.
Benson said by doing so, 
the group violated state 
campaign finance law.
“The fact that BBM 
obtained video and audio 
of the candidate speaking 
directly to the camera 
from 
a 
predetermined 
script 
is 
sufficient 
to 
indicate that coordination 

occurred,” Benson wrote.
The fine will be paid 
within 
the 
next 
two 
months. 
GOP 
spokesman 
Tony Zammit said he was 
unhappy and called the 
entire 
deal 
“shameful.” 
The Michigan GOP said 
they thought Benson and 
Whitmer had worked out a 
deal for a smaller fine.
Benson’s 
spokesman 
Shawn Starkey told The 
Detroit News Benson did 
not believe the fine was on 
the smaller scale and she 
asked her staff to keep the 
context of the case in mind 
when deciding.

Public Policy junior Katie 
Kelly, 
communications 
director for the University 
of Michigan’s Chapter of 
College 
Democrats, 
said 
no party is above violating 
campaign laws.

WINDING DOWN WITH WAFFLES

ON THE DAILY: 

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY: 
COMMUNITY REJOICES AFTER MANDELA’S RELEASE

While the 61st annual Grammy 
Awards honored many prominent 
celebrities, some notable Michiganders 
also left the Grammy Awards victorious 
on Sunday.
Michigan band Greta Van Fleet 
won Best Rock Album for “From the 
Fires,” despite being nominated in a 

competitive field. The nominees for Best 
Rock Album included heavyweights 
Alice in Chains, Fall Out Boy and 
Weezer. Members Josh Kiszka, Jake 
Kiszka, Sam Kiszka and drummer 
Danny Wagner formed the band in 
Frankenmuth, Michigan in 2012.
A singer for Mack Avenue Records, 
a record label based in Grosse Pointe 
Farms, Mich., also won a Grammy. 
Mack’s artist, Cecile McLorin Salvant, 

won Best Jazz Vocal Album for “The 
Window.” This is fitting, as Mack 
Avenue Records specializes in jazz and 
similar music and is a sponsor of the 
Detroit Jazz Festival, to which Mack 
Avenue Records founder Gretchen 
Carhartt Valade donated $15 million 
in 2006. While this is Greta Van Fleet’s 
first Grammy award, Mack Avenue 
Records has boasted previous awards 
from its slate of recording artists, 

including Stanley Clarke, Alfredo 
Rodríguez, 
Jimmy 
Greene, 
Kirk 
Whalum and Christian McBride.
Other notable award recipients at 
this year’s Grammy Awards include 
Childish Gambino, who won record and 
song of the year for “This is America,” 
despite not attending the awards show; 
Dua Lipa, who won Best New Artist; 
and Kacey Musgraves, who won Album 
of the Year for “Golden Hour.”

Feb. 12, 1990
Beating drums, singing songs, 
and dancing arm in arm, members 
of the Ann Arbor community 
converged on the Diag last night 
to celebrate yesterday’s release 
of former South African political 
prisoner Nelson Mandela. 
“Our struggle has reached a 
new level because our comrade 
Nelson is finally free to walk 

the streets in Africa,” shouted 
Paquetta Palmer, a member 
of the Free Southern Africa 
steering committee and the 
Washtenaw County Coalition 
Against Apartheid. The two anti-
apartheid groups organized the 
celebration along with the United 
Coalition Against Racism. 
Speakers 
stressed 
that 
Mandela’s 
release 
was 
the 

result of the people’s struggle in 
South Africa, and that the event 
should not be looked upon as an 
initiative for change by President 
F.W. De Klerk and the national 
government.
“When we look at the situation 
in South Africa, we know the 
government has been and will be 
the enemy of the Blacks,” UCAR 
steering committee member Pam 

Nadasen told the crowd. “When 
the De Klerk’s are replaced by 
the Mandela’s in the presidential 
palace, then we can celebrate 
victory in South Africa.”
Another 
UCAR 
steering 
committee 
member, 
Barbara 
Ransby, 
echoed 
Nadasen 
sentiment. 
“We 
don’t 
come 
here to praise the South African 
government.” 

2A — Wednesday, February 13, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News

MICHAEL BAGAZINSKI/Daily
Michigan students enjoy winding down with waffles at the Center for Campus Involvement sponsored event at 
Pierpont Commons Tuesday.

TUESDAY:
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WEDNESDAY:
This Week in History 

MONDAY:
Looking at the Numbers

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Pro-Whitmer group fined $37.5k for 
violating state campaign finance laws

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson penalizes Build a Better Michigan for ads

ZAYNA SYED
Daily Staff Reporter 

ALYSSA MCMURTRY
Daily Staff Reporter

“We strive to 
promote fair 
campaigns and 
elections and it is 
disheartening to 
see these kinds of 
violations within 
our own party.”

“Campaign 
finance 
violations are wrong no 
matter 
the 
party 
that 
commits 
them,” 
Kelly 
said. “As an organization, 
we strive to promote fair 
campaigns 
and 
elections 
and it is disheartening to 
see these kinds of violations 
within our own party.”
The University’s chapter 
of College Republicans did 
not comment in time for 
publication. 
Build a Better Michigan 
spokesman 
Mark 
Fisk 
said 
in 
a 
statement 
he 
was 
disappointed 
with 
the decision, but accepted 
Benson’s conclusion.
“Build a Better Michigan’s 
advertising is part of a long 
tradition of issue advocacy 
used for years in Michigan 
by both parties and we’re 
proud to have played a 
role promoting affordable 
health 
care, 
improved 
infrastructure 
and 
clean 

water,” Fisk said. “While 
we 
respectfully 
disagree 
with 
the 
secretary 
of 
state’s determination and 
settlement, we fully intend 
to comply with her ruling 
to put this matter behind us 
and move forward.”

LSA 
sophomore 

Maeve Skelly worked on 
Whitmer’s 
campaign. 
She said she agreed with 
Benson’s decision, adding 
she thought the fine was 
overall a step in the right 
direction 
toward 
better 
communication 
between 
government officials and 
the public.
“I think that this fine 
was justified and I think 
that Jocelyn Benson did 
the right thing setting a 
precedent for transparency 
in 
campaigns 
going 
forward and to make sure 
the Michigan’s Campaign 
Finance Law is upheld,” 
Skelly said.

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