State Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, announced Tuesday he will introduce legislation that would allow "tainted" campaign funds to be deposited into a fund for inquiries into other cases of campaign fraud.
Under the bill, which would create an "Illegal Activity Investigation Fund," campaign money acquired in a fraudulent manner could be "put to good use" in order to snuff out other cases of campaign misconduct in Wisconsin.
"What we're saying here is, 'Let's set up a special account with the State Elections Board that allows us to be able to use that money to go after future illegal campaign activities,'" Pocan said.
Under current law, questionable campaign money can only be given to a charity or back to the source that donated it, Pocan said. This bill would give politicians the added option of allocating the money to the State Elections Board.
Presently, the board must request money from the state's Joint Finance Committee in order to conduct an investigation into suspected campaign fraud.
The bill is in response to the recent indictment of U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who has been accused of obtaining and dispensing campaign funds illegally, Pocan said. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., received at least $30,000 in campaign money from DeLay, Pocan said. Green has since been criticized for not trying to get rid of the money sooner.
"The problem is that about eight times since 1998, Congressman Mark Green has taken money from Tom DeLay," Pocan said. "And Green has also donated to Tom DeLay's legal defense fund in the past, too."
Common Cause in Wisconsin Executive Director Jay Heck said while the legislation has merit, he thinks Pocan is trying to directly embarrass Green with this bill.
"I think it would be a good thing if the State Elections Board could act as a repository for money that is questionable or comes from questionable sources," Heck said. "But I don't think Mark Green knew Tom Delay was going to be criminally charged when he received most of this money."
Heck said Green has agreed to return $2,000 of the money he was given, but added if Green wanted to fully "distance" himself from DeLay, Green would give the money to a different source. Money can only be returned in $2,000 increments, though, and Heck said Pocan's bill would eliminate that limit.
Pocan said the bill is not aimed at Green alone, however, since there have been cases where both Republicans and Democrats alike have been guilty of attaining illegal contributions.
"Not only does this solve the problem for the politician who's gotten tainted money, but also we're using it for a good purpose," Pocan said. "We've just about closed the door on the Capitol scandals in Madison, [and] I would hate to all of [a] sudden reopen it with more scandals."
