Wisconsin lawmakers held more than 100
fundraisers during last year?s four-month budget holdup, raising
millions of dollars, according to a report released Wednesday by a
watchdog group.

The analysis by the Wisconsin Democracy
Campaign showed legislators brought in a combined total of about
$3.86 million last year, and more than $2 million during work on the
long-delayed budget.

Mike McCabe, executive director of the
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, called the numbers ?really
disgraceful? and said he advocates legislation that would ban
fundraising during the budget process.

?You can?t look at a campaign
finance report and see any information about a donor?s reason for
giving,? McCabe said. ?But you can look at the amount raised
during the budget process and the fact that the budget was four
months late.?

Legislators met in session on average
about once every three weeks, according to McCabe, but one of them
held a fundraiser about every two days.

?People can connect those dots,?
McCabe said. ?And then you see the final product, and you see the
budget pork and the favors for some special interest groups.?

Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, is
sponsoring a bill currently working its way through the Senate that
would prohibit fundraising by all legislators during the budget
process.

?Fundraising is obviously an
important part of political campaigns, but we think ultimately the
less time fundraising the better,? said Jack Jablonski,
spokesperson for Harsdorf.

That legislation would also provide
incentive to finish the budget on time, according to McCabe.

However, the bill will have a ?tough
time? making it all the way through the Legislature before session
ends mid-March, according to John Murray, spokesperson for Assembly
Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem.

Carrie Lynch, spokesperson for Senate
Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said they?d like to see the
bill included as part of a larger package of campaign finance reform.

?That bill alone doesn?t address
the major problems with campaign finance,? Lynch said.

Legislators would have to raise just as
much money in less time under that legislation, according to Mark
Jefferson, executive director of Wisconsin?s Republican Party.

?I think it?s a little bit
disingenuous for groups like Wisconsin Democracy Campaign to point
the finger at others,? Jefferson said, adding that legislators have
to disclose where all their money comes from, while special interest
groups can raise large sums of money for issue ads that can sway
elections without disclosing their donors.

Lynch also said the number of days in
session was a ?poor correlation? to the amount legislators
actually accomplish because most of the work on bills gets done in
committee rather than in floor sessions.

The report showed that total
fundraising from the Legislature is up 15 percent from 2005 and
nearly 50 percent from 2003.

Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills,
led the Assembly in 2007 fundraising, according to the report, as she
faces a tough challenge in her district. The Assembly fundraisers
were led by Huebsch.

But the big fundraising numbers are not
just limited to the Legislature, the report showed, as Gov. Jim
Doyle, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen
raised a total of $1.16 million in 2007, though they are not up for
reelection until 2010.