US News
Published June 1, 2024 at 9:38 pm ET
(The Center Square) – A Michigan lawmaker wants to pay journalists and news organizations to expose public corruption and save taxpayers money.
Rep. Joseph Aragona, R-Clinton Township, developed the idea after the Detroit News recently exposed questionable spending related to a $20 million grant from businesswoman Fay Beydoun. He was a member of the executive committee of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
As previously reported by The Center Square, the Detroit News first reported on the expense, which included a $4,500 coffee maker, $11,000 for a plane ticket, $100,000 for a sponsorship and $9,400 for annual House membership dues. of Detroit Regional Commerce.
Since then, Attorney General Dana Nessel launched an investigation and both the House and Senate voted to withdraw what remained of the funding.
Rep. Joseph Aragona wants to pay journalists and news organizations to expose public corruption and save taxpayers money. Michigan House Republicans
Aragona sees the idea of offering rewards to journalists who uncover misuse of taxpayer funds as a way to promote local journalism.
“Local journalism is dying, which is bad because we need an informed population and because we need independent watchdogs to monitor what the government does,” Aragona said.
One item purchased with the taxpayer-funded grant was a diamond-white Jura Z10 coffee maker that cost $4,526 after adding 10 accessories, including $359 for cooling control, a $249 cup warmer, $196 for filters, $68 for descaling tablets , $25 for a milk system cleaner. and $50 for a glass milk container.
Attorney General Dana Nessel launched an investigation and both the House and Senate voted to remove what remained of the suspicious funding. KeynoteUSA “Local journalism is dying, which is bad because we need an informed population and because we need independent watchdogs to monitor what the government is doing,” Aragona said. Michigan House Republicans
Other expenses included $21,400 on furniture from Wayfair, more than $4,000 on hotel rooms, $3,950 for a recruiter to find a chief of staff and $40,800 for two years of housing.
The condition of the grant only requires an audit once half the money has been spent.
He said if the state can recoup the unspent portion of the $10 million already awarded and end the rest of the grant, that would represent a savings of $19 million for taxpayers. And he believes 10%, or $1.9 million, should go to the Detroit News and the journalists who cover the issue.
“The federal government offers rewards to whistleblowers,” Aragona said. “Silicon Valley uses large bounties because it is much cheaper to find vulnerabilities before exploiting them. The same principle applies here. “There are some practical issues to resolve, such as how to decide who receives the reward, because big stories are often divided into phases and many contributors rely on previous reports.”
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