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Lawmakers talk election reform

Special interest groups and issue advertising were the targets of two bills discussed in a legislative hearing Tuesday.

The bills, introduced by Sen. John Erpenbach, D-Madison, and Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, would treat targeted issue ads — advertising that mentions a specific candidate or district — as independent expenditure groups.

Such groups would be required to disclose the amount of money spent, which candidate they aim to support or oppose, and who donated the funds.

"Issue ads are running away as the No. 1 vehicle to get around our campaign finance laws," Ellis said.

Erpenbach said the need for transparency is crucial to a democracy.

"If you're going to participate in the Wisconsin electoral process, then you have to disclose where your funding is coming from," he said.

According to Ellis, the bills would seek to protect the rights of legitimate issue ads — ads that are directed at issues rather than candidates — while weeding out special interest money.

"What we're trying to do here is move the emphasis away from special interest groups and back to multi-faceted entities such as the various political parties," Ellis said.

Under the proposed bills, if the total amount spent by independent expenditure groups exceeds $15,000 in a state Senate race, the benefiting candidate's opponent would be awarded an amount matching the excess within 24 hours.

"If [interest groups] are going to spend that money against you, they have (to) learn … that the money's not buying them what they want, because [opponents] are going to get a comparable amount of money," Ellis said.

The funds would be taken from check-offs on state income tax filings and an endowment fund created specifically for matching funds.

James Buchan, a representative from business lobbying group Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, said declining participation in the check-off on tax returns recently — typically between 6 and 10 percent — shows disinterest in public financing.

"You'd be hard-pressed not to draw the conclusion that it's an abject failure," Buchan said. "The public frankly doesn't want to fund campaigns that way."

Buchan said that a system where everyone receives the same amount of money would favor incumbents over challengers due to the publicity and notoriety they would enjoy.

"Frankly, I think the assertions on the part of reformers that politicians are bought out by campaign contributions … does more to undermine public confidence in the political process than any campaign spending," Buchan said.

Another provision would increase the role of public campaign financing. Candidates who achieve a base level of funding would be awarded $52,000 for state Senate races and $26,000 for Assembly races.

"This opens the door of our democracy so that it's no longer the exclusive club of just the incumbents," Ellis said.

The funding of these programs, Ellis said, would amount to a small portion of the budget.

"We're talking less than a dollar and 70 cents [a person] … that can return this democracy to the people and send special interest groups packing," Ellis said. "A Big Mac and a fry to restore the integrity of democracy."