On Monday, in an extraordinary session of the Assembly, Republicans passed two bills that signal the end of clean government in Wisconsin. Only Republicans voted to weaken the state’s campaign finance laws so that they are almost meaningless and to destroy the Government Accountability Board (GAB), the nonpartisan ethics and elections watchdog, and replace it with two commissions filled with partisan appointees. The bills now go to the governor for his signature.
Republicans also voted to vastly limit public access to essential campaign information. For example, no donor will have to provide their employer’s identity, and only big donors will have to identify their occupation. As a result, it’ll be impossible to discover which corporations’ executives and employees are donating to specific candidates—and what they get out of the relationship in the form of legislation and budget items. Adding insult to injury, corporations and foreign interests will be able to give money directly to political parties and some campaign committees, allowing corporations and citizens of other countries to legally purchase elected officials in Wisconsin.
“These proposals were written to benefit the political interests of the lawmakers who are pushing them and their funders,” said Andrea Kaminski, executive director of the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, at a Monday press conference. “They’re not written to benefit us, the people of Wisconsin, and our interests.”
Although the average Wisconsin voter may not care about some of the arcane details of the bills, all of us will definitely feel their impact when campaign ads—masquerading as innocent “issue ads”—flood the airwaves and stuff our mailboxes. The sponsors of these ads don’t have to disclose their donors, who can give unlimited funds. And thanks to the Republicans’ assault on good government, the public won’t know if a candidate or elected official was coordinating with a dark-money group—or even one major, anonymous donor—to produce their deceptive ads.
This is very troubling for many reasons. Not only will corrupt candidates and elected officials be able to put their votes and their careers up for sale without fear of getting caught, but the changes are coming just a few months before a busy elections year.
The elections calendar is precisely why the Republicans were pushing these bills through the Legislature. Gov. Scott Walker’s approval rating is below 40% and Wisconsinites are fed up with the direction the state is taking, making the incumbent majority party very vulnerable next year, even with the implementation of a voter ID law that favors Republicans. Looks like Republicans are putting themselves and the Legislature itself up for sale to remain in office and keep their hold on power, whether or not that’s truly what voters want.
|
|
