Michigan legislation · 103rd Legislature
Michigan HR313: A resolution to urge Jocelyn Benson to release all information in her possession related to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s operations, including any details concerning the organization’s alleged payments to individuals associated with extremist groups, and to publicly address her role in the organization.
Status: Passed both chambers, May 13, 2026
What the bill says
A resolution to urge Jocelyn Benson to release all information in her possession related to the Southern Poverty Law Centerï¿1⁄2s operations, including any details concerning the organizationï¿1⁄2s alleged payments to individuals associated with extremist groups, and to publicly address her role in the organization.
From the enrolled text, May 13, 2026:
A resolution to urge Jocelyn Benson to release all information in her possession related to the Southern Poverty Law Centerï¿1⁄2s operations, including any details concerning the organizationï¿1⁄2s alleged payments to individuals associated with extremist groups, and to publicly address her role in the organization. Whereas, The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a Montgomery, Alabama-based nonprofit organization, has long presented itself to donors and the public as a leading defender against hate and extremism; and Whereas, On April 21, 2026, a federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, returned an 11-count indictment charging the SPLC with wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured financial institution, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering. The indictment alleges that, between 2014 and 2023, ï¿1⁄2the SPLC secretly funneled more than $3 million in SPLC funds to [individuals] who were associated with various violent extremist groups,ï¿1⁄2 including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations, and the National Socialist Party of America. The indictment further alleges that, by failing to inform donors that some of their funds would be used in this manner, the SPLC defrauded its donors; and Whereas, The U.S. Department of Justice has indicated that these payments were made while the SPLC was actively soliciting donations under false pretenses, advertising itself to donors as an entity that fights the very extremism it was allegedly …