State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, announced Monday that he plans to draft a bill banning out-of-state contributions for Wisconsin state candidates. This could heavily cut campaign funds for the upcoming gubernatorial and state representative elections.
In the last gubernatorial election, Gov. Jim Doyle and other candidates received more than $1.2 million in out-of-state contributions according to Black.
He added that it is inappropriate to have people who do not live in Wisconsin and cannot vote here impact elections.
\They don't live here and they don't have Wisconsin interests,"" he said. ""But they want to influence the policy that passes at the state capitol.""
Melanie Fonder, Doyle's press secretary, disagreed with Black's claim that out of state contributors do not care about the well being of Wisconsin.
She said that Wisconsin is a forerunner for many issues on the national level, and therefore it makes sense that out-of-state contributors want a say in Wisconsin politics.
""There are a lot of people outside of Wisconsin who care about Wisconsin continuing to be a leader in stem cell research,"" Fonder said. ""There are a lot of people outside Wisconsin who care about the environment and as one of the Great Lakes governors, the governor is obviously very involved in environmental issues that affect more than just Wisconsin.""
Jay Heck, the Executive Director of Common Cause Wisconsin, agreed with Fonder in that there are people from outside the state who have a reasonable interest in the politics of Wisconsin.
He added that what Black is trying to do with his proposed bill is desirable, but that the courts would not likely uphold Black's legislation.
""I think that it's desirable to try to limit out of state contributions,"" Heck said.
He said the Doyle campaign's goal is to raise between $10 and $12 million for the 2006 gubernatorial election, and to do that the governor will have to look out of state.
""Most of the money comes from special interest groups and what that means is that there are strings attached to that money,"" Heck said.
Black agreed with Heck, saying Wisconsin is moving from a system of one person, one vote, to a system of one dollar, one vote.
