Democratic leaders in the Wisconsin State Assembly plan to ban campaign fundraising while the Assembly debates the budget this spring.

The rule would prohibit Assembly members from soliciting or accepting campaign donations from the time Gov. Jim Doyle introduces the budget in February until it is passed several months later.

Introduced by Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, the rule is currently in committee and will be discussed Jan. 29.

“I think its important that we show that there isn’t even an appearance of improprieties,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee.

Wisconsin’s 2007 budget was months overdue and accusations were made by organizations such as the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign that the delay was caused by legislators raising campaign funds from special interest groups who were looking for budget allocations.

“What it looked like was they were using special interests as a fundraising tool,” said Mike McCabe, executive director of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. “There were weeks when they weren’t meeting in July, August and September, but they were holding dozens of fundraisers.”

Assembly leaders, including Pocan, recognize this viewpoint.

“This is a strong public statement that we’re doing this with the interest of the public in mind, not any special interest groups,” Pocan said. “It’s important that the public has the confidence that we’re doing this for them.”

Rebekah Sweeney, spokesperson for Sheridan, agreed with Pocan and said campaign fundraising can be a problem during the budget debates.

“We feel that our focus needs to be on balancing the budget and we want to take away any distractions,” Sweeney said. “Campaign fundraising can be a huge distraction, and we feel that there will be an increased focus on the budget and less on individual interests.”

However, Pocan cautioned the ban would not guarantee the budget will be completed more quickly this year than last, especially considering the state’s $5.4 billion budget deficit.

Another problem for some Assembly members is that the ban will not be voted on, but will be made a rule by the Assembly Committee on Organization and will not apply to the Senate or the governor.

“If we want to give people confidence that there is a clear line of separation between financing and budget, then that has to apply to everyone involved in making that budget,” said Rep. Mark Gottlieb, R-Port Washington. “If this only applies to the Assembly, I don’t see how that is going to help.”

Gottlieb is introducing a bill that would make the rule into law for not only the Assembly, but the Senate and the governor as well.

However, McCabe believes that this is definitely a step in the right direction, saying that if the rule were introduced as a bill, it would not pass both houses before the budget debates begin in February.

“The Assembly deserves credit for showing leadership on this,” McCabe said.