When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer first won reelection, she told us she wanted to make her office and the Legislature subject to government transparency laws.

It didn’t happen.

When she won reelection and the Democrats took control of both chambers of the Legislature, Whitmer and Democratic leaders said subjecting lawmakers and the governor to the state’s Freedom of Information Act — or something similar — was high on their list of priorities.

It still hasn’t happened.

It’s time to change that.

The government works on our behalf. It uses our tax money to do so. The actions of the government — all corners of the government — ought to be transparent to the people.

The exemptions

The Freedom of Information Act has served the people well. It allows the public to request documents in the government’s possession — everything from emails to internal memos to personnel files to criminal records — that can reveal the government’s deliberations and actions around important issues.

It can reveal what the government doesn’t want the people to know — which is usually what the people most ought to know.

Bills are pending in the state House and state Senate now that would force lawmakers and the governor to turn over most records upon request. Similar bills have been introduced in previous legislative sessions, never to come up for a vote.

The current bills have yet to receive even a committee vote.

It’s time for lawmakers to move this forward and make the Legislature and governor more transparent.