Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton, incoming state Assembly Speaker, Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, and state Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, all addressed the mounds of money spent in the mid-term elections and the campaign finance and ethics reform at a Common Cause Wisconsin meeting Tuesday.
Lawton, who said she was speaking on behalf of Gov. Jim Doyle, promised to make campaign and ethics reform a top priority next year.
""We will ... foster legislation that will address elections and ethics reform, that will address the sway that issue ads hold today in Wisconsin, and the issue of public funding for campaign, "" she said.
Lawton would not delve into specifics of legislation, and said she expects information to come forward sometime before the State of the State addresses in early 2007.
State Sens. Michael G. Ellis, R-Neenah, and Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, introduced reform in the last legislative session, but Senate Bill 1 was not voted on.
""We have seen bills not move forward and not arrive at the governor's desk for lack of a visible constituency ... We have not done a good job of educating the public the cost of inaction,"" Lawton said.
Though Huebsch said he supported merging the state ethics and elections board into one entity like SB 1 specified, he thought the legislation was designed to tarnish lawmakers' reputations.
If investigated, Huebsch said even if state legislators were found innocent, their reputations would be tainted and their careers would suffer.
Reform needs to be enacted, Huebsch said not to persecute lawmakers but to prevent corruption and clearly define the rules.
Despite the prosecutions of several Wisconsin politicians including Chuck Chvala, former Senate majority leader, Huesbch said he believes the system is not corrupt.
""There is not an elected official out there that I believe is desirous of becoming a criminal. We need to have a very clear conscience, and authoritative answers ... about what we can and cannot do.""
When asked about possibly restricting the amount of spending following the most expensive gubernatorial campaign in Wisconsin, Huebsch said greater disclosure is more necessary than spending limits.
He also expressed his disagreement with publicly funding state races because he said it would raise taxes.
Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, said he believed there are other ways to publicly fund the campaigns.
According to Miller, State Sen. and majority leader Judy Robson and Huebsch are in very intense negotiations about the topic.
""Senate Democrats are committed to resorting public confidence in this institution, "" Miller said.
