SEIU Receives Record Fine

The Service Employees International Union has been slapped with a near $200,000 fine for alleged campaign finance violations from a failed 2012 ballot initiative. Secretary of State Ruth Johnson says it is the second largest such fine in state history. Johnson’s office investigated a complaint filed by political advocacy group Michigan Freedom Fund that alleged Home Care and Home Care First, the two entities that backed the home health care ballot initiative in 2012, intentionally delayed required filings with the state to conceal that SEIU had made substantial contributions to support the proposal. Johnson says Michigan law requires all organizations to complete campaign finance reports when spending directly in support of a ballot question. And, she says, these organizations cannot be used as a means to conceal the identity of the true contributors.