LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Michigan lawmakers who leave the state Legislature will now have to wait two years before they can become registered lobbyists, under a law that took immediate effect after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed it.
The measure, Act 74 of 2026, amends Michigan’s 1978 lobbyist registration law. It was introduced as House Bill 4062 by state Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, along with 18 other House members. Whitmer approved the bill July 21, and it was filed with the Secretary of State on July 27, taking effect that same day.
Under the new law, any lawmaker whose term begins on or after Jan. 1, 2027, must wait two years after leaving office before making expenditures for, or receiving compensation for, lobbying activity that would require registering as a lobbyist agent. Lawmakers who resign before Jan. 1, 2027 are barred from lobbying for the remainder of the term they resigned from. Violating the law is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. The law does not prevent a former legislator from taking another state government job or running for elected office.
Tisdel said the bill was part of the House’s Ethics, Accountability and Transparency package, and grew out of concerns about the “revolving door” between the Legislature and the lobbying industry. Describing the reasoning behind the bill, he said the goal was simple.
“The bill that I had passed, it creates a two-year cooling-off period for legislators when they leave office before they can become a registered lobbyist,” Tisdel said.
Tisdel pointed to a recent case of a sitting Michigan lawmaker who also worked as a lobbyist in another state as one example that raised questions about lawmakers’ objectivity. He compared the new law to a non-compete clause used in the private sector, meant to create separation between serving constituents and later being paid to advocate for an outside group.
Enforcement relies partly on lobbyists’ own incentive to comply, according to Tisdel, since the state tracks lobbyist registrations and asks applicants about their legislative service history.
“Violation of the law would eventually result in that inability to ever register again, so there’s just a self-interest there to comply if this is a future that you want to hold,” Tisdel said.
The bill passed the House with broad bipartisan support, according to Tisdel, who said it received more than 90 votes out of 110 House members. It applies to any lawmaker leaving the House or Senate at the end of the current term.
Tisdel said the law doesn’t shut former lawmakers out of policy work entirely. He said their expertise still has value even outside a registered lobbyist role.
“For individuals that have developed particular policy expertise, issue expertise and knowledge, that expertise and knowledge are valuable, whether they’re in a lobbying role or not,” Tisdel said. He said former legislators could still contribute through strategy work, education of lobbyists already registered, or legislative drafting, just not as a directly paid, registered advocate during the two-year window.
