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Revised ethics bill passes vote

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Also by Keegan Kyle:

Nothing to complain about? (December 12, 2007)
Recruiting isn't easy on campus (December 7, 2007)
Doyle set to sign off on ethics (February 2, 2007)
Volunteerism on the road (October 19, 2007)
Down and dirty on campus sanitation (October 11, 2007)

by Keegan Kyle

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

The Wisconsin Legislature’s ethics reform package is one step closer to Gov. Jim Doyle’s desk after passing through its first committee Monday.

The Assembly Committee of Judiciary and Ethics passed a revised version of the bipartisan bill that would combine the state Ethics and Elections Boards into a Government Accountability Board of six former judges.

Among the committee’s major amendments was an additional provision to the controversial non-severability rule. To prevent a void period with no government-policing agency, the committee added a provision that would re-establish the current boards if the bill is found unconstitutional.

Fearing future legal contentions, the committee also removed provisions that restricted a board employee’s right to pursue public office.

State Rep. Frederick Kessler, D-Milwaukee, was the sole committee member to oppose the legislation because, he said, “it creates a special group [under law] for public office holders.”

“No one should receive special treatment,” said Kessler, who added he plans on introducing an amendment to the Assembly floor so state officials are prosecuted like every other citizen.

Kessler, meanwhile, is not the only person worried about the legislation’s legal integrity. Several government watchdog groups including the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and Common Cause in Wisconsin have increased their criticism of the bill’s non-severability clause as well as other provisions.

And on Monday, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin withdrew its endorsement of the ethics package. According to the group’s letter to Gov. Jim Doyle and the Legislature, the ethics reform package has a strong foundation and potential, but also contains some “serious flaws.”

“This is in conflict with the principle of open government, and it is in conflict with any bill seeking to promote government accountability,” the League said in its letter to lawmakers. “There should be no loss of our current level of transparency in discussions and investigations dealing with campaign finance issues.”

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Director Mike McCabe echoed concerns at last week’s public hearing regarding a provision that vaguely penalized board investigators for releasing information.

In any case, the bill’s non-severability provision is shaping up to be one of the project’s largest debates, considering three of the five Senate committee members oppose the provision.

Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, has supported non-severability, because without the non-severability clause, he said, the credibility and balance of the new system would instantly come into question, according to a Jan. 19 statement.

“It would then be possible for one majority party to manipulate the new, weaker system at the expense of the minority,” Huebsch added. “We’ve already seen enough of that and the people of Wisconsin have made it clear that these political games must stop.”

The state Senate Committee on Ethics Reform and Government Operations held its public hearing Thursday at the Capitol with the advantage of already having heard most concerns during the Assembly hearing three days earlier.

The committee has been drafting amendments and is scheduled to vote today.

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