The Wisconsin state Senate and Assembly passed campaign finance legislation Tuesday.

Despite the passage of these bills, the Assembly will not consider the bill passed by the Senate, because the Senate voted to move the bill to a joint conference committee, rather than to the Assembly, to resolve the differences between the bills.

The Senate moved to send the bill to the committee to prevent Gov. Scott McCallum from using his partial veto power to turn the bipartisan bill into partisan legislation.

The state Assembly passed AB 843, 87 to 12, late Tuesday evening.

“The Assembly passed campaign finance legislation in an overwhelming vote,” Steve Bass, spokesperson for Speaker Scott Jensen, R-Waukesha, said.

The governor said he would not give up his partial veto power but has vowed not to change the bill into partisan legislation.

Mike Browne, a spokesman for Sen. Chuck Chvala, said the bill was passed by all Senate Democrats and seven Republicans. The bill, which was not amended, was not passed on to the Assembly.

“The position of the Senate is clear,” Browne said. “There are different bills in each house, and they are going to have different resolutions.”

Browne said since the Senate passed the bill and sent it to the committee, it is now the responsibility of the Assembly to take action.

“The ball is in the Assembly Republicans’ court,” Browne said. “We will be ready to meet at any time.”

Despite the desires of the Senate to send the bill to a conference committee, the Assembly vetoed the resolution, 57-42 along party lines.

Without passing the bill to a conference committee, it is stagnant. Heck said if the legislation does not pass, it is the fault of Assembly Republicans

“Right now campaign finance legislation is being held up by [Speaker] Scott Jensen, [R-Waukesha], and the Assembly Republicans,” Heck said.

Rep. Dave Travis, D-Madison, said this is as far as campaign finance reform legislation has gone in decades, and the Assembly did not pass the bill into committee because it is a weak form of the legislation and lawmakers want to pass on a good reform bill.

“I think there is a lack of will to make things happen,” Travis said. “[But] I think something will happen; we are closer now than we have ever been in history.”
Bass said although the Assembly did not vote to send the bill to the conference committee, it is not the responsibility of the Assembly.
He said the Senate must pass the bill to the Assembly before the committee can meet, and until this is done, the Assembly cannot act on the bill.
“Senator [Chuck] Chvala, D-Madison, has proved he is adept at finding ways not to pass the legislation,” Bass said. “Chvala wants to take policy-making out of the hands of 33 [lawmakers] and instead put it in the hands of a six-member committee that is hand picked by him that meets behind closed doors. This is a procedural stunt.”