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Raising millions, forgetting about the budget

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Also by Beth Mueller:

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Senate approves UW System staff unionization (February 20, 2008)
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Political groups canvass campus (February 19, 2008)
Michelle Obama defends Barack (February 19, 2008)

by Beth Mueller

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Wisconsin lawmakers held more than 100 fundraisers during last year’s four-month budget holdup, raising millions of dollars, according to a report released Wednesday by a watchdog group.

The analysis by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign showed legislators brought in a combined total of about $3.86 million last year, and more than $2 million during work on the long-delayed budget.

Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, called the numbers “really disgraceful” and said he advocates legislation that would ban fundraising during the budget process.

“You can’t look at a campaign finance report and see any information about a donor’s reason for giving,” McCabe said. “But you can look at the amount raised during the budget process and the fact that the budget was four months late.”

Legislators met in session on average about once every three weeks, according to McCabe, but one of them held a fundraiser about every two days.

“People can connect those dots,” McCabe said. “And then you see the final product, and you see the budget pork and the favors for some special interest groups.”

Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, is sponsoring a bill currently working its way through the Senate that would prohibit fundraising by all legislators during the budget process.

“Fundraising is obviously an important part of political campaigns, but we think ultimately the less time fundraising the better,” said Jack Jablonski, spokesperson for Harsdorf.

That legislation would also provide incentive to finish the budget on time, according to McCabe.

However, the bill will have a “tough time” making it all the way through the Legislature before session ends mid-March, according to John Murray, spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem.

Carrie Lynch, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said they’d like to see the bill included as part of a larger package of campaign finance reform.

“That bill alone doesn’t address the major problems with campaign finance,” Lynch said.

Legislators would have to raise just as much money in less time under that legislation, according to Mark Jefferson, executive director of Wisconsin’s Republican Party.

“I think it’s a little bit disingenuous for groups like Wisconsin Democracy Campaign to point the finger at others,” Jefferson said, adding that legislators have to disclose where all their money comes from, while special interest groups can raise large sums of money for issue ads that can sway elections without disclosing their donors.

Lynch also said the number of days in session was a “poor correlation” to the amount legislators actually accomplish because most of the work on bills gets done in committee rather than in floor sessions.

The report showed that total fundraising from the Legislature is up 15 percent from 2005 and nearly 50 percent from 2003.

Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, led the Assembly in 2007 fundraising, according to the report, as she faces a tough challenge in her district. The Assembly fundraisers were led by Huebsch.

But the big fundraising numbers are not just limited to the Legislature, the report showed, as Gov. Jim Doyle, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen raised a total of $1.16 million in 2007, though they are not up for reelection until 2010.

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