Political advertisements in Wisconsin could be required to display the contact information for their sponsors if a bill looking to increase transparency in elections and campaign finance passes through the Legislature.
Rep. Penny Bernard Schaber, D-Appleton, introduced a bill to mandate groups that bankroll political ads provide a contact number or a website throughout a television commercial or at the beginning and end of a radio ad.
While Bernard Schaber said she is personally passionate about the cause, she added her constituents were a source of inspiration for the bill.
“It’s a bill we put forward from constituent input and from a desire to make sure that we have much more transparent and accountable elections,” she said.
Gillian Drummond, spokesperson for co-sponsor Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, said Larson has heard many Wisconsinites call for the bill and they are responding to constituents’ requests by introducing it to the Legislature.
While sponsors of the bill are arguing that the bill will increase electoral transparency, Michael Wagner, a University of Wisconsin journalism and political communication professor, said the bill could have limited effects.
“On one hand, I think it would make the campaign finance system a bit more open, which I think is a good thing,” he said. “On the other hand, most of these groups wouldn’t have a very hard time putting together a phone number or an email address. If the goal is to provide sunlight to money in politics, this bill doesn’t go far enough to do that.”
However, the bill may not make it to docket of the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections, a crucial step in the bill’s advancement.
Chad Zuleger, spokesperson for committee chair Rep. Kathleen Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, said although Bernier reviews every bill that comes to her desk, he doubts any action would be taken on the bill until the spring session, which begins in January.
Bernard Schaber said she hopes the bill will be put on the docket, even if it may not be during the current session.
“I would hope that they would seriously consider this. I will write them and ask them to give it a hearing,” Bernard Schaber said. “This is a bill that I also proposed in the last session, so it’s nothing new to the Legislature.”
While the bill is currently sponsored by only Democrats in the Senate, there is one Republican sponsor, Rep. Garey Bies, R-Sister Bay, in the Assembly.
Although he said the bill may not go far enough in terms of providing insight into money in politics, Wagner said the idea is a good one to consider.
“I don’t think that the number of people who see a campaign ad call those numbers [displayed on the television] to begin with, but you know, the principle of requiring people to persuade us and give a chance to know who they are is a worthwhile principle for the Legislature to consider,” Wagner said.
Bernard Schaber said she realizes her bill may take work to attract bipartisan support, but said she believes it presents a good idea in principle.
“From my perspective, I don’t see why it shouldn’t [attract support], because it’s really helping our constituents, but it will take a major effort to make sure the bill moves through the Legislative process,” Bernard Schaber said.
