So far this legislative session, nearly 1,000 bills have been introduced in the GOP-controlled state Assembly and Senate, including some identical bills in both houses. As the first year of the two-year session draws to a close, about 100 bills have passed. Just over half of these have been signed into law; the rest await Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s approval or veto.
Tag: Wisconsin Government Accountability Board
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Don’t shield donor employer info
Grothman’s bill would raise the threshold for when donors to state and local campaigns must disclose their occupations and eliminate the requirement that the donor’s principal place of employment be disclosed.
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
Elections need army of poll workers
Bills now before the state Legislature would let municipalities use poll workers from anywhere within their counties and tinker with rules that allow political parties to nominate poll workers.
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
Campaign cash is his niche
Julseth’s job is tracking the vast sums flowing into the state’s political system — date by date, donor by donor, dollar by dollar.
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
Unions sapped, other lobbying strong
Special interest groups in Wisconsin spent less trying to sway state law and policy in the first half of 2013 than in comparable past periods. But it’s still a whole lotta moolah: more than $17 million.
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
Out-of-state donors buoy Walker
Of the $3.5 million received by Walker in the first six months of this year, nearly $2 million came from out of state. This continues a trend that began when Walker first announced sweeping changes to the collective bargaining power of most public employees.
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
Dollars grease skids for school choice
Some GOP lawmakers oppose expanding the voucher program; others tie their support for the budget to its inclusion. Among the latter is state Sen. Rick Gudex, R-Fond du Lac, who won a tight race last fall. The Federation for Children told the state it spent $145,000 on the race; it told supporters it spent $325,000.
Posted inWisWatch Blog
GAB: threatened with overhaul, praised by advocates
State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, incoming Majority Leader, has been suggesting that the Government Accountability Board should be governed by partisan appointees, rather than the six retired judges who now do the job. “I just don’t think they’re an independent voice at all,” the Republican from Juneau told the Associated Press.
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
Groups eye redistricting reforms
The Republicans were able to keep a 5-3 lead in the U.S. House of Representatives, reclaim control of the state Senate by a margin of 18 to 15 seats, and secure a commanding 60-39 advantage in the state Assembly, despite getting fewer votes.
Posted inMoney & Politics
Cash from Wisconsin rocked Pennsylvania governor’s race
At a campaign stop near Philadelphia early in his 2010 bid for governor, Republican Tom Corbett announced, “We’ve got to raise money,” calling this his campaign’s “No. 1” priority. That same July day, a $1.5 million contribution arrived — from Wisconsin. Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, calls this well-traveled donation a prime example of “an elaborate money-laundering scheme” used by the RGA with success in a number of races for governor in 2010 — one that is legal.
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
Filings track unions’ fall, mining bill fight
During the first six months of this year, registered lobby groups spent $13.9 million trying to influence state government, pushing the total spent on lobbying for the session that began in January 2011 to $52.3 million.
Posted inGovernment, News about Wisconsin Watch
Wisconsin better off than many, in new report on ethics enforcers
Many states’ ethics agencies aren’t provided with the resources and independence needed to carry out their responsibilities, according to a new report that casts Wisconsin’s efforts in a favorable light.