Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson appeared before the Michigan House Oversight Committee on Tuesday to provide an update on the state’s new campaign finance tracking system, known as the Michigan Transparency Network, or MiTN.
The system, launched in January to replace the Michigan Electronic Reporting and Tracking System (MERTS), has faced numerous technical issues, prompting questions from lawmakers about the timeline, cost, and transparency of the rollout. MiTN is now scheduled for a revised launch date of July 12.
“I take full responsibility,” Benson said in response to a question from Rep. Jamie Greene (R-65th), who asked who should be held accountable for the rollout’s delays. Benson added that her office is “working day and night” to improve system functionality ahead of the new deadline.
The legacy system, MERTS, was introduced in 2000 and, according to Benson, relied on outdated technology and was prone to slow load times and frequent crashes. She said the decision not to maintain MERTS during MiTN’s transition was based on cost considerations, citing annual savings with the new contract.
“Our contract to maintain MERTS was up, and I did not want to invest additional taxpayer dollars in a dying, outdated system,” Benson said.
MiTN was developed under a five-year, $9 million contract with Tyler Technologies. Benson told lawmakers the vendor would return $164,000 to the state for the portion of the year the site was not fully operational.
On the most recent filing deadline, June 13, the department reported that 159 filers submitted campaign finance documents, 47 through MiTN and 112 via email. Older campaign finance records are expected to be made available later this summer.
Benson said the goal remains to provide a more accessible, modern platform for campaign finance data. “At the end of the day, we are working to build a campaign finance search engine that will not only save the state money, but be easier for everyone to use and easier for the public to understand,” she said.
Lawmakers expressed concerns about transparency and whether the transition could have been better managed. Benson acknowledged those concerns and said improvements are ongoing.
MiTN’s full system update is expected to go live next month.