The Assembly plans to vote November 16 on both bills, the final step needed before they would go to Gov. Scott Walker for his consideration.
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“I think everything’s good”, said Sen. Details were still being worked out and would be released later, he said. One bill would do away with the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board and create two separate commissions to oversee elections, ethics, campaign finance, and lobbying laws. “The tiny little changes that have been made on the campaign finance bill, on the GAB bill, are but a drop of honey on a stinking pile of dung”, he said.
■ After the GAB is split into ethics and elections commissions, include two former judges on the ethics board. As passed by the Assembly, the new commissions each would consist of three Democrats and three Republicans. Leah Vukmir, of Wauwatosa.
Republican critics said the board was out of control and nonpartisan in name only, while its supporters say it was simply enforcing the law and its nonpartisan makeup is a model for the country. Under a proposed Senate change, two judges would be appointed to the ethics panel, along with two members appointed by each party.
Republican senators headed into a closed-door meeting before Friday’s session told The Associated Press they were confident the bills were ready to be voted on, even though the amendments spelling out changes they are seeking still had not been made public. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said senators also expect to retain a requirement to report the employers of most campaign contributors.
“We will put them out as soon as we have them”, she said.
A version of the bill passed by the Assembly would eliminate all reporting on which businesses political contributors work for, but GOP senators want to leave much of that disclosure in place. It is set to clear the state Legislature.
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That is expected to happen given the chamber has scheduled an extraordinary session for this, and a bill focused on changes to state campaign finance laws.
