Students and community members rallied on Library Mall Wednesday, supporting a cleanup of campaign finance in Wisconsin politics.

The rally comes as Senate Bill 1, which continues through the state Legislature, looks to promote a more vigorous enforcement of the state ethics code and Wisconsin's campaign finance laws.

Essentially, the bill could regulate what politicians can and can't do when campaigning.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign along with the Campaign for Clean and Fair Elections hosted the Wednesday event, which featured notables such as Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, and Nino Amato, a former University of Wisconsin System regent.

"What we've gone from is a democracy where people make decisions, to now what we call a 'checkbook democracy,'" said Amato, also the State Director for the Wisconsin Fair Trade Coalition. "Therein lies the tragedy, we want to change things [and] we need campaign finance reform."

Throughout the rally, speakers kept returning to the point that they wanted to instill campaign finance reform and the need for people to engage themselves in the governmental process.

"It is time to return our government to the people," Black said. "And the way you do that is to pass comprehensive campaign finance reform that gets the big money and special interest out of politics and get the people back in."

Additionally, the speakers said students should have a vested interest in the issue since tuition prices were at stake.

Amato said student voices aren't being heard because they often don't write out campaign contributions. He went on to say tuition has increased by 51 percent at UW over the past four years.

Others noted enrollment has been down, not only with underprivileged students, but with middle- and upper-middle class students as well.

"The students are an easy mark, so [politicians] ignore them," Amato said.

Students are not the most likely demographic to contribute to a campaign coffers, so often times they are left behind, he added.

"The reason you are being treated the way you are is that none of you make huge campaign contributions," said Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, to students.

McCabe also noted the impact students can have on reform, adding "we can do it now."

"Even the very best campaign reform law, even the very best, will mean nothing unless it is faithfully implemented and rigorously enforced, and that is why we desperately need Senate Bill 1," McCabe said.

Students who helped set up the rally asked passersby beforehand to call the Capitol and ask for SB 1 to be passed.

"It is important to let their Reps. and their legislators know that they care about issues by making phone calls and writing letters," said Tegan Costanza, coordinator for the Campaign for Clean and Fair Election.

The rally ended with hopeful words from the speakers.

"Politics is not about money. Politics is not about power," Amato said. "Politics is not about winning. Politics is about doing what is right for people.