The state Legislature will not vote on a campaign finance reform package proposed by Gov. Jim Doyle before the end of the year, legislative leaders said Wednesday.
Julie Laundrie, spokesperson for state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, said though the governor had called a special session for Dec. 11, more time was needed.
There's just not enough time to give the proposal a fair public hearing,"" Laundrie said.
Erpenbach and state Sen. Michael Ellis, R-Neenah, co-authored Senate Bill 12, a campaign finance reform bill that has not been voted on in the Senate and is similar to the governor's proposal.
Jim Bender, spokesperson for Assembly Majority Leader Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said the delay is also due to a lack of information about the specifics of the proposal.
The proposal would provide full public funding for Supreme Court races and increase the amount of public funding for candidates running for other state political offices.
In the April 2006 elections, outside interest groups spent millions on the state Supreme Court Race between Justice Annette Ziegler and attorney Linda Clifford.
Bender said the proposal and similar bills have faced debate over the issue of using taxpayer dollars to fund campaigns.
Mike McCabe, director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said the main objections to the finance reform bills come from incumbent politicians hesitant to change a system that has worked for them.
""People in office now have been successful under the old rules. They rode this horse to town, they don't want to kill it once they get here,"" McCabe said.
In response to the issue of using tax dollars, he said, ""The public is paying through the nose for elections now"" in the form of tax breaks given to campaign donors.
Laundrie said campaign finance reform will return elections to the people.
""The will is there to do something on campaign finance reform,"" Laundrie said.
The Legislature passed an ethics reform bill in January, but unlike the governor's proposal, there was prior agreement between Doyle and lawmakers on what the bill would contain.
