HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Bridge Magazine is reporting that former Senate Leader Arlan Meekhof, a West Olive Republican while he served in Lansing, may have broken the law before he was term-limited out of office.
The magazine reports that Meekhof Michigan’s medical marijuana guidelines — and that, within weeks of leaving office, he was consulting with businesses wanting to join the field.
Bridge reporters using the Freedom of Information Act found a Feb. 21 email from Meekhof stating he asked medical marijuana licensing board chairman Rick Johnson to get his clients on the board’s March agenda. If that’s true, Meekhof appears to have violated a 2016 law forbidding lobbyists from outside communications with licensing board members.
While in office, Meekhof recommended Johnson for the marijuana board in 2017, according to Bridge Magazine’s reporting. Meekhof and Johnson each told the magazine’s reporter, Craig Mauger, they did not recall having such a conversation.
Meekhof was the 89th District Representative from 2007-11 — a seat now occupied by Park Township Republican Jim Lilly — and served as Michigan’s 30th District senator from 2011 until Jan. 1, 2019. Roger Victory won the 30th District seat last November.
