LANSING -- Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer paid more than $145,000 in bonuses to 15 cabinet members and department directors last year as a "performance pay" program for high-ranking civil servants that has expanded to political appointees, records the Free Press obtained under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act show.
The bonuses of close to 5% were paid to Whitmer appointees whose state jobs, for the most part, already pay more than $200,000 a year, records show.
The fact bonuses were being paid to at least one cabinet member was revealed in January when two Michigan State Police unions filed an ethics complaint over a $10,145 bonus paid to the MSP director, Col. James Grady.
At that time, Whitmer spokeswoman Stacey LaRouche did not respond to questions about whether other department directors -- who are considered "unclassified" employees because they are appointees outside the classified civil service who serve at the pleasure of the governor -- also had received bonuses.
But records the Free Press received Tuesday through FOIA requests sent to the Michigan Civil Service Commission and the Department of Technology, Management and Budget show Grady's bonus was the rule, not the exception, last year when nearly every Whitmer cabinet member received a bonus.
It's not clear when gubernatorial appointees first began receiving performance pay and questions remain about how they get recommended and approved. Emails made public in connection with the bonus paid to Grady suggest that he recommended his own bonus and it was then sent to Whitmer's office for approval. But LaRouche, Whitmer's press secretary, has not responded to questions about how the process works. Those questions include: Do the bonus recommendations originate inside the various state agencies or inside the Governor's office? What factors are considered in approving performance bonuses for appointees? And has the governor has approved bonuses for her appointees each year since 2019?
Performance pay for civil servants was introduced in the early 1980s under former Republican Gov. William Milliken and revamped in the 1990s under former Republican Gov. John Engler. It was then halted in 2003 by Engler's successor, Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who cited "continued deterioration in state budget conditions" during the depths of a recession. It began making a slow comeback under Republican Gov. Rick Snyder before quadrupling under Whitmer, to just over $5.6 million in 2021, as state government's financial fortunes improved.
But until the controversy over Grady's bonus, there has been no media coverage about bonuses paid to gubernatorial appointees.
"I was a member of Engler's cabinet for 12 years and Snyder's for two, and never even saw or heard of a bonus payment," said James Haveman, who held positions of mental health director and health director in the two administrations.
Two other cabinet members who served under Snyder and requested anonymity because of sensitivities related to their current positions said Thursday they were not aware of bonuses being issued to cabinet members under Snyder and neither of them ever received one.
The biggest 2024 bonuses -- $10,145 each -- went to Grady and to State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks, State Budget Director Jen Flood, Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel and Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington. Their lump-sum bonuses represented 4.8% of their annual salaries, which at the time were $213,039 each, records show.
The next tier of bonuses -- $9,662 each -- also were 4.8% and paid to eight officials with salaries of $202,895 each. They were: Agriculture and Rural Development Director Tim Boring; Department of Natural Resources Director Scott Bowen; Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Director Marlon Brown; Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Director Susan Corbin; Department of Insurance and Financial Services Director Anita Fox; Department of Technology, Management and Budget Director Michelle Lange; Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy Director Phillip Roos; and Michigan Department of Transportation Director Bradley Wieferich.
In other bonuses, Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli received an $8,670 bonus, representing 4.8% of her then salary of $182,070. Department of Civil Rights Director John Johnson, Jr. received an $8,570 bonus, representing 5% of his then salary of $171,400 records show. The Lottery Bureau is not a stand-alone state department and is housed inside the Treasury Department, but the lottery commissioner is a member of Whitmer's cabinet, Lottery Bureau spokesman Jake Harris confirmed. Johnson reports to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, which approves his salary and bonuses, but also is a member of the cabinet, department spokeswoman Annika Clemens said.
In response to a FOIA request, the Michigan Civil Service Commission said it had no record of a 2024 bonus for U.S. Army Major General Paul Rogers, the director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. It also said it had no record of a 2024 bonus for Superintendent of Education Michael Rice, who is a member of Whitmer's cabinet but whose compensation is set by the elected State Board of Education. Ken Coleman, a spokesman for the Education Department, confirmed Thursday that Rice did not receive a bonus in 2024. The response to the FOIA said the MCSC had no record of a 2024 bonus for Beverly Walker-Griffea, the director of the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential. However, she did not take office until late June of 2024.
The Michigan Civil Service Commission, which handles compensation issues for the classified civil service but receives copies of performance pay paperwork for some unclassified employees, took the position that the paperwork related to Washington's bonus was exempt from FOIA under a 1994 law that restricts access to MDOC personnel records. But it released the one-page record after checking with Washington and confirming that she had no objection.
In 2021, only about 3,000 of the state's roughly 50,000 classified workers were eligible for performance pay -- and those tended to be already high-level and relatively highly paid workers receiving annual salaries of at least $91,489.
Kurt Weiss, a spokesman for the Civil Service Commission, said a state employee must be working in a job that is eligible for performance pay for at least six months to be eligible to receive a bonus recognizing work done in the previous fiscal year. But he said civil service rules do not apply to the governor's appointees.
In connection with Grady's bonus, the Michigan State Police Command Officers Association and the Michigan State Police Troopers Association complained to the State Board of Ethics that Grady was not eligible for performance pay when he received it, citing an MSP policy requiring employees to be in a job one year before becoming eligible. Grady had been in his position for only about six months when emails show him requesting a bonus for himself.
On Jan. 14, the executive secretary of the State Board of Ethics dismissed the complaint without a hearing, citing a lack of evidence that Grady abused state funds that he controlled. The unions say they plan to resubmit their complaint with additional evidence.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or [email protected].