A major shift in state legislative politics was marked Thursday as state Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala, D-Madison, announced his resignation following his indictment in 20 caucus related crimes ranging from extortion to acceptance of illegal campaign contributions.
The charges came a day after Dane County Circuit Judge Paul Higginbotham cleared the way for Milwaukee District Attorneys to file the investigation by denying Chvala's request for a temporary restraining order against the prosecutors.
\I will fight these allegations because they are not true,"" Chvala said in a statement. ""But I have decided that, in the interest of the Senate, I will resign as majority leader as soon as a new leader is selected.""
It is anticipated state Sen. Russ Decker, D-Schofield, will replace Chvala, though political experts said he will not enjoy the same amount of power.
""What we have here are situations where people have taken the positions and enhanced the power considerably way beyond what anyone ever envisioned what the law allowed,"" said UW-Madison Professor of political science Dennis Dresang. ""He abused the power he had as Majority Leader.""
Chvala was charged with three counts of extortion, seven of misconduct in public office, and 10 other charges regarding various campaign contribution violations.
According to Dresang, the charges of extortion stem from the ""Pay-to-Play"" system of only allowing contributors of certain amounts accessibility to the legislative process.
""The difference between the type of scandal we have now and previous scandals that we've had for about the last 100 years in Wisconsin is that previous ones have been primarily using one's public office for personal gain,"" he said. ""What we have here is individuals using their own positions of power and violating the law in ways that really compromise our election process and our public process.""
However, with the expectation of additional indictments of state Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen R-Waukesha, UW-Madison Professor of political science Charles Franklin said the charges should not have a negative impact on either party in the upcoming elections.
""I think it certainly opens up a lot of the issue of honesty and ethics in government and that's something that hasn't been on the front burner of either the gubernatorial or legislative campaigns,"" he said.
Gov. Scott McCallum released a statement Thursday regarding the case.
""Only dramatic and meaningful reform will lift the cloud off the Capitol dome,"" he said. ""We must enact legislation prohibiting 'Pay-to-Play' distinct from any other campaign finance legislation.""
Despite the results of the upcoming investigation and court cases, Dresang said Wisconsin will benefit from a more open system of legislative activity.
""When you open it up and it's not highly controlled you do not have to pay to have your views reflected in the policy making process,"" he said.
