Members of the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections heard bipartisan support Wednesday regarding two ethics-reform bills aimed at cleaning up the Wisconsin government.
State Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, authored both Assembly Bill 996 and Assembly Bill 814. AB 996 would prohibit executive branch officials from fundraising or soliciting contributions, while AB 814 would implement stronger disclosure by ordering lobbyists to report on all attempts to influence state agency decisions.
'I'm working hard to restore integrity to our state government, and these two bills are a step in the right direction,' Black said.
He said money is running the show at the state Capitol, and had these bills been introduced earlier, they might have been able to prevent some of the corruption and scandal happening now.
'I think some of the problems we've seen in the headlines would have been avoided had these bills been in place,' he said. 'Now, let me point out that this activity under current law isn't illegal, but it should be. And that's why I'm introducing these bills.'
Roth Judd, director of the Wisconsin Ethics Board, said the approval of AB 996 and AB 814 in the Assembly committee was a success.
'[AB] 996 is a terrific bill,' Judd said. 'The Ethics Board first recommended such a bill back in 2002, so it's not driven entirely by recent events, but it's something the Ethics Board has really thought about for several years. The Board is absolutely delighted it has bipartisan support from both houses.'
Judd said the lobbying reform outlined in AB 814 was another ethics-reform achievement.
'It's consistent with the work and purposes of the lobbying law and the work of the Ethics Board,' Judd said.
UW-Madison political science professor David Canon said he believed approval of the two proposals was positive progress toward reform.
'Clearly, the state needs to do something to clean up the political process and try to make both the campaigning process and the lobbying process more transparent,' Canon said.
Black said he was confident about the future success of AB 996 and AB 814.
'Fortunately, both of these bills received strong bipartisan support in the committee,' he said. 'I'm optimistic both of these bills will pass the Legislature by the end of the floor period.'
