[media-credit name=’SUNDEEP MALLADI/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]One week after Wisconsin's most costly state Supreme Court election, two Madison Democrats proposed legislation Monday that would increase public campaign financing.

Funded by taxpayers, candidates running for state-elected positions would be eligible to access public grants if they first collect enough $5 campaign donations from district voters.

A candidate running for governor, for example, would need to collect 3,000 separate $5 donations before being able to access $1 million for a primary election and $2 million for a general election.

Sponsored by two Madison Democrats, Senate President Fred Risser and Rep. Mark Pocan, the bill would also provide some matching public funds for candidates who face opponents funded privately.

"Campaigns have become more about big money rather than big ideas," Risser said in a statement Monday. "We need to create an election environment where candidates can spend their time expressing their ideas in the political process instead of having to spend the major part of their campaigns raising money."

According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which supported the bill at a news conference Monday, the two state Supreme Court candidates and outside interest groups may have spent nearly $6 million on the election.

On April 3, Washington County Court Judge Annette Ziegler soundly defeated Madison attorney Linda Clifford.

The election spending has spurred numerous proposals for campaign finance reform — including a bill that would regulate issue advertising six months prior to an election — but some legislators feel uneasy about public campaign financing.

"I think the Republican caucus has some concern with its constitutionality," said Jim Bender, a spokesman for Assembly GOP Leader Jeff Fitzgerald. "I think it would have a difficult time on its own."

Bender said the Assembly would be more likely to pass reform as part of a package to offset people who generally oppose public dollars supporting partisan campaigns.

Rick La Torra, a campus organizer for the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group, said the reform aims to create "voter-owned elections" and curb outside interest group influence at the Capitol.

"It's really sad that the Supreme Court candidate that's been elected to make decisions in an unbiased manner [may hear cases from] groups that she received money from and won her campaign because of," La Torra said.

La Torra said he hopes legislators not only support public financing but also eventually use public financing in their campaigns. Although public financing limits are significantly below most current spending totals by privately funded candidates, La Torra said public financing is enough to make a person's name well-known.

"People can take the high road," La Torra added and said candidates could weigh their use of public dollars against candidates who are funded by outside interest groups.

"It becomes more about the represented constituents rather than campaign funders," La Torra said.