After a highly publicized negative gubernatorial campaign fueled by millions of dollars, state politicians plan to introduce campaign finance reform legislation to prevent further corruption.
Campaign finance reform became a hot-button issue after the record-breaking amount of money spent in the gubernatorial race.
After Green was ordered to return $467,844 of campaign fund contributions by the State Election Board, state Republicans called for reform. However, Democrats accused Republicans of voting against a campaign finance reform bill last year.
""I think clearly [after this election] there's going to be greater pressure on legislators to get along and work together,"" said Mike McCabe, executive director of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. ""Democrats won't be able to do whatever they please. They'll have to work with Republicans.""
Bipartisan cooperation is exactly what state Senators Michael G. Ellis, R-Neenah, and Sen. John Erpenbach, D-Middleton, need in order to pass their campaign finance reform bill.
The state Senate rejected an attempt to change campaign finance law, Senate Bill 46, sponsored by Ellis and state Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, in March of 2005. Ellis and Erpenbach plan to introduce a slightly modified version of SB46 at the start of the next session.
Advocates of the bill hope that the change in composition and power of the Legislature will help with the passage of the plan, especially since most Democrats supported SB46. The Democrats took control over the state Senate and gained seats in the Republican controlled Assembly.
""I think the chances of reform should be enhanced,"" said Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, a non-partisan government reform group.
Advocates of the reform plan said the passage of this bill is essential to restoring public faith and trust in state government.
""If this election did anything, it should have sent a clear message to the leaders that they need to clean up their act,"" said McCabe.
Jay Heck agrees that something must be done. ""There have been polls done nation and state-wide that corruption is a huge problem. They don't trust the system,"" said Heck.
UW-Madison professor Charles Franklin said the public is cynical about campaign finance but it doesn't mean that politicians have an incentive to adopt significant reforms.
McCabe disagrees. According to McCabe, if Republicans kill reform plans this session, it can mean losing more seats in the legislature during the next election.
""The electorate sent them a very powerful, unmistakable message: ‘clean up your act or you're going to get tossed out.' And quite a few of them got tossed out,"" said McCabe.
