The Wisconsin State Senate is currently considering a bill that would make it expressly illegal for state and local officials to exchange votes or actions on legislative matters for campaign contributions.

The bill is being considered as former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala, D-Madison, is being charged with charges ranging from extortion to misconduct in public office. Chvala is not being prosecuted for accepting campaign contributions in direct exchange for votes because right now, this is not expressly against the law.

“This bill will improve the integrity of our system and help restore the people’s trust and faith in their public servants,” said Rep. Mark Gundrum, R-New Berlin, who proposed the legislation.

Gundrum had proposed a similar bill in the last session of the Legislature, which passed the full Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committee by a unanimous vote. Gundrum said it was only Chvala’s failure to schedule the bill for a vote in front of the full Senate that prevented it from becoming law.

“When people think their elected officials’ votes are just going to the highest bidder, that’s when they lose faith in the system,” Gundrum said.

The bill would make intentional violators of the law guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of between $100 and $5,000 or a year in jail.

Yesterday, Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser dismissed one felony charge against Chvala regarding possible illegal campaign contributions received at a union rally. Chvala was charged with soliciting contributions at a rally for the campaign of Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay.

Hansen is currently a proponent of campaign-finance reform.

“One of the key things to do in solving the budget is campaign-finance reform,” Hansen said.

Hansen said campaign reform would ensure that legislators are able to make budget cuts without fear of how it will affect the funding of their re-election campaigns.

At his State of the State address last week, Gov. Jim Doyle commended the work of Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, and Sen. Michael Ellis, R-Neenah, who are both working across party lines to draft a reform bill to regulate many aspects of campaigning.

During the speech, Doyle also praised these efforts and asked for the passing of the Impartial Justice Bill, which would make Wisconsin Supreme Court races publicly funded in order to keep out contributions from special-interest groups.

In an interview last week, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton called such legislation “long overdue.”

“We have a Supreme Court race going on right now where unfortunately many campaign contributors are lawyers who will have business before the elected justices,” Lawton said. “If you were having someone argue your case, would you want to choose your lawyer based on contributions they made to a judicial campaign?”

State Attorney General Peggy Lautenschlager has also voiced her support of the Impartial Justice Bill.

“Impartiality is at the core of our legal system in Wisconsin, but the public’s perception of fairness has been damaged by the flow of special-interest money into our elections,” Lautenschlager said at a Wisconsin Citizen Action rally in Madison.