Republican lawmakers in Michigan are calling on the state to reward journalists who expose the government’s misuse of tax dollars.
State Representative Joe Aragona says he is drafting a bill that would give bonuses to reporters who uncover specific examples of government waste. told Fox 2 Detroit.
The agency said he came up with the idea for the bill after a Detroit News reporter reported on reckless spending by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).
Former MEDC executive committee member Faye Beydoun had secured a $20 million grant from the agency for the nonprofit organization.
Reporters later discovered that she had blown $4,500 into a coffee maker for the organization.
“In Michigan, there is no internal control by the state government that discovered it,” Aragona told the local Fox station. “Who found it? It was a news source. So you know what I think we need to do? We need a bounty.”
He proposed giving journalists a 10% pay cut.
“If a news organization finds out that it’s wasting taxpayers’ money in such a thoughtless and unnecessary way, I think that the news organization should take a cut, probably 10 percent.” .
But journalists at the Michigan Press Association were less enthusiastic about the free money idea, citing ethical concerns and concerns that it could quickly turn political, the station reported.
He also thought that since reporters were already paid by the company for their work, it could give a bad impression.
Still, Aragona insisted he already has a number of colleagues willing to sign on as co-sponsors.
The Post reached out to the congressman.
