State lawmakers introduced a new bill Wednesday establishing penalties for special interest groups that falsely represent the views of constituents to elected officials.
According to a statement by authors of the bill, The Truth in Lobbying Act was introduced after a special interest industry group supporting the cable competition bill presented the Senate with false information.
The special interest group in favor of the cable bill presented the Senate with a collection of constituents that purportedly supported the bill. Many of the constituents named were in fact opposed to the bill, according to the statement.
It just simply flies in the face of democracy and I don't think we ever thought that someone would do that,"" said Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts, D-Middleton, one of the authors of the bill. ""It's very dishonest, and it puts every organization in suspect that does not bring us a signature from the constituents.""
Among the names presented by the special interest group were Pope-Roberts and Rep. Joe Parisi, D-Madison, both of whom oppose and voted against the bill. This prompted them to draft the legislation, which would make it illegal to present the Legislature with false information, according to the statement.
According to Parisi, under current law, it is legal for lobby groups to present elected officials with false information regarding the opinions of their constituents.
TV4US Wisconsin, the group in question, was unavailable for comment as of press time.
