In its first week of activity since Gov. McCallum announced the state’s budget reform act, the state Assembly pushed through several non-budgetary pieces of legislation to the Senate.
Campaign finance legislation approved Thursday could extend political parties’ ability to fundraise for specific candidates and effectively end legislators’ campaign committees.
The bill passed with only one dissenting vote.
Legislative caucus staff was eliminated by the state on Jan. 1. But some lawmakers and government watchdog groups said getting rid of them was only a small first step toward overhauling the system. The Assembly bill passed Thursday would limit the fiscal activity of the old campaign committees.
“We’ve agreed to say that’s OK, provided this isn’t the end of campaign finance reform in the Assembly,” Common Cause in Wisconsin executive director Jay Heck told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The state Senate is set to consider a more extensive bill that would revamp state elections and give candidates financial incentives for using self-imposed spending caps.
A second Assembly bill, which lawmakers unanimously passed, would explicitly ban legislators from soliciting campaign contributions in return for favorable treatment of legislation.
Thirteen state Senators have withdrawn their support of Attorney General Jim Doyle’s anti-terrorism proposal after a detailed examination of the plan uncovered a stipulation that would essentially outlaw guns and ammunition.
The bill to which Doyle has lent his support, which was introduced in the Senate by Sen. James Baumgart, D-Sheboygan, would exclude police and military officials from gun restrictions. The plan has come under much criticism because it would prohibit the purchase of ammunition for hunting, self-defense and target practice.
Under Doyle’s bill, the definition of terrorism would be refined and the penalties for terrorism-related crimes and threats would be enhanced.
Other additions to the bill include stiffer penalties for bank fraud and violent crimes against public officials, including jurors. Under the bill, police would have greater access to personal information about suspected terrorists.
David Zien, R-Eau Claire, has harshly criticized Doyle’s bill and has introduced a competing proposal. Zien’s anti-terrorism bill would reinstate the death penalty in Wisconsin, which has been banned since the 19th century.
Other legislation passed in the Senate Tuesday will make it easier for young men to register with the Selective Service. The bill, introduced by state Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, R-Milwaukee, would allow young men to avoid penalties for failure to register for the draft by including a consent form on driver’s license and state ID renewal.
The federal government has required all men to register for the draft by age 18 since the establishment of the Selective Service System during World War II. Failure to register is considered a felony.
Joe Hoey, legislative assistant to Wasserman, said there are many serious consequences for failing to register for the draft by age 30.
“If you fail to register for the draft by the age of 26, you are ineligible for federal jobs and federal job training, you are ineligible for student financial aid, you are ineligible to become a U.S. citizen, and in Wisconsin you cannot have a state job,” Hoey said.
When students fill out financial aid forms, they are automatically registered for the draft, Hoey said, but that can be a problem for kids who drop out of high school or don’t go to college. “If someone drops out of high school and at 30 decides to go back to high school, college or technical school, they can’t get financial aid,” Hoey said.
