Only Chance for Campaign Finance Reform in 2005

(MADISON) - Earlier this month, Senate Bill 46--the Bipartisan Comprehensive Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2005--was formally introduced in the Wisconsin Legislature by that entity's leading reform proponent, Sen. Michael Ellis (R - Neenah), together with Wisconsin's longest serving legislator, Sen. Fred Risser (D - Madison) and others. It is strongly supported by the largest nonpartisan reform advocacy group in the state, Common Cause in Wisconsin (CC/WI).

Senate Bill 46 offers the best opportunity for the consideration and passage in both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature of a comprehensive campaign finance reform measure since 1977. It is also the only comprehensive campaign finance reform measure introduced thus far in this session and it the only realistic vehicle in which to being about an overhaul of Wisconsin's thoroughly corrupted and ineffective campaign finance law in time for the upcoming 2006 elections.

Chance for the actual consideration and passage of Senate Bill 46 in both houses of the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature with bipartisan support are buoyed the impressive bipartisan array of legislators who have cosponsored the legislation at its introduction. In addition to Senators Ellis and Risser, Senate Bill 46 is cosponsored by Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), the State Senate Majority Leader. Also cosponsoring the measure is Rep. Dean Kaufert (R-Neenah), the CO-Chair of the powerful Joint Committee on Finance, the Legislature's budget writing panel. Sen. Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point), who won her seat in 2003 despite the fact that her primary opponent spent a record $425,000 against her, has also cosponsored and strongly supports Senate Bill 46. Rep. Stephen Freese (R-Dodgeville), the Speaker Pro Tempore of the Assembly and the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections--through which any campaign finance reform measure must clear in order to be considered in the Assembly--is a cosponsor as is Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls), a survivor in the most expensive legislative election in Wisconsin's history in which more than $3 million was spent in 2000. The State Senate President, Sen. Alan Lasee (R-DePere), Rep. Sheryl Albers (R-Loganville) and Rep. Josh Zepnick (D-Milwaukee) round out the bipartisan list of cosponsors. Many other legislators have indicated to CC/WI their support for Senate Bill 46 as well.

After three consecutive legislative sessions in which either one or both legislative chambers refused to consider proposed comprehensive campaign finance reform measures, Sen. Ellis, together with CC/WI and others last year constructed a package of reforms that might have actually been considered and passed in both the Republican-controlled State Senate and the Assembly with bipartisan support. But the 2003-2004 legislative session ended in March of 2004 before the revised reform package could be brought to the legislature for consideration. This package, with some revisions, is back in the form of Senate Bill 46. While this measure does not do all that CC/WI, Sen. Ellis and others serious about securing campaign finance reform this year would like or believe is necessary to satisfactorily reform Wisconsin's campaign finance reform laws, it lays a solid foundation upon which further reform can be built and it vastly improves Wisconsin's current, dismal campaign finance code. Senate Bill 46 would:

• Increase the current and inadequate $1 check off for public financing on the state income tax form to $5 with a partisan option to make checking off the money (which would not increase tax liability or decrease the refund) more attractive.
• Create an additional source of funding for candidates through the creation of a Public Integrity Endowment (PIE) to be set up and administered through the State Elections Board. Individuals, unions, corporations, foundations and anyone else interested in cleaning up state government could contribute to the PIE and be eligible for a 100 percent tax credit. (There is currently no additional source of public funding other than the $1 check off).
• Provide candidates with increased funding for public grants if they agree to abide by revised spending limits and provide complying candidates with additional public funding equal to the amount over the spending limit that their non-complying opponent spends up to three times the spending limit. (There is currently no such provision in place).
• Provide candidates who are the targets of outside spending by independent expenditure groups or those who run so-called "issue ads" (that depict a candidate 60 days or less before the general election or 30 days or less before the primary) with public funding matches up to three times the spending limit. (There is currently no such provision in place).
• Require the disclosure by issue ad groups of how much they are spending against targeted candidates. (Currently no disclosure whatsoever is required of these groups).
• Prohibit campaign fundraising by legislators and statewide elected officials from the date the biennial state budget is introduced until it is enacted into law. (Currently fund raising is rampant during the budget period).
• Abolish legislative campaign committees which legislative leaders have utilized to decrease the independence of legislators and which have created, at the very least, the appearance of corruption through the solicitation for campaign contributions in return for the consideration of pending legislation.(Currently, LCCs collect hundreds of thousands of dollars of special interest money).
• Limit transfers of much of the out of state campaign money into Wisconsin that currently flows into this state and limits special interest committee transfers. (Currently hundreds of thousands of dollars of out of state money flows into Wisconsin and money moves freely between special interest groups).

These are sweeping and significant reforms that CC/WI strongly believes are worth fighting for and their enactment into law would mark a significant step forward in cleaning up Wisconsin. If they were in place we would have a vastly improved (even if not perfect) political environment. We emphatically disagree with those who have said that no reform is better than this reform--and there are those who are saying just that.

Would CC/WI prefer that the source of funding for all of the provisions of Senate Bill 46 be "sum sufficient" general purpose revenue rather then an enhanced check-off and the establishment of the Public Integrity Endowment? Of course we would! So would Senators Ellis, Risser and other supporters of this measure. The hard cold reality is that legislation with "sum sufficient" funding has not and will not be scheduled and considered in the Assembly. And the present configuration of the Assembly is even less friendly to this type of pubic financing than was the case from 1999-2004 when CC/WI and Sen. Ellis pressed for sum sufficient public financing for comprehensive reform.

When you continually smash your head against a brick wall, you had better begin to think about a way to get around the wall or risk having your brains spill out on the ground.

The same applies to full disclosure. CC/WI stands second to no group in advocating for full disclosure of the donors of so-called issue ad groups. In 2000-2001, CC/WI--alone among reform groups in Wisconsin--worked to get a full disclosure and regulation rule through the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules and then passed in the then-Democratic controlled State Senate. We were successful but the measure failed to pass in the Republican-controlled Assembly twice in early 2001. Since then, there are more Republicans in the Assembly so the chance of getting a full disclosure bill through that chamber is even more remote. At least Senate Bill 46 requires issue ad groups to disclose how much they are spending -- a vast improvement over the status quo where they are required to disclose nothing. Yes, full disclosure is a "backbone" of reform but the "all of nothing" approach to secure it has not worked. And, there is more than just that one failed way to get to full disclosure--a fact which some opponents of Senate Bill 46 refuse to admit or acknowledge.

There is much more to be said about this reform measure and to rebut those who knock Senate Bill 46 because it isn’t their idea of perfect reform. But in order for reform to become reality you have to do more than just pontificate from your office. You have to actually go into the Capitol, talk to legislators and round up the votes to get reform passed. And there must be some give and take or you end up with absolutely nothing. CC/WI is in the Capitol advancing the cause of reform rather than attempting to undermine the reform efforts of others. And we resent those who insist upon making perfect reform the enemy of good reform and who attempt to characterize Senate Bill 46 as being totally unworkable and ineffective. They are absolutely wrong.

If U.S. Senators Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and John McCain of Arizona had not made some concessions and demonstrated a willingness to compromise on some of the provisions of their original legislation introduced in 1995, the McCain-Feingold law--the most sweeping reform measure of federal elections since 1974--would never have been enacted in 2002. And so it is with state reform.

Fortunately, four of Wisconsin’s daily newspapers have weighed in on behalf of Senate Bill 46 and none have come out against it. Why would they? This is the single best opportunity to actually get reform accomplished in decades!

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin's largest daily paper, issued a strong and powerful warning to legislators and to the Governor regarding support for Senate Bill 46: "The next gubernatorial and state legislative races are more than a year away. It's not too early, however, to begin considering some criteria for who gets your vote. Chief among the criteria is who, this year, fails to support an eminently reasonable compromise on campaign finance reform that will soon come before the state Legislature."

"Simply, any politician who does not vote for this measure will have, for all practical purposes, chosen sides. He or she will be for special interest politics that amount to legal bribery, for reelection at any cost and against cleaner, more accountable government. Those who vote against this reform will be against you, the voter."

Significantly, the Journal Sentinel also warns: "While, generally, we don't believe that any single issue should determine a candidate's worthiness, the position candidates take on this issue will speak volumes." And, "We know that a stalemate in sham pursuit of the "perfect" bill is really just a vote for the status quo."

This entire January 30th Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial is a "must read" for anyone who cares about actually achieving campaign finance reform sooner, rather than later. Access it here: http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/jan05/297102.asp

In their endorsement of Senate Bill 46, the Wisconsin State Journal said "If reformers seek real change, they must heed the lessons of their perennial political whuppings. It would be better now to unite around passage of [Senate Bill 46], and then work to improve it in future years. Read the entire endorsement here: http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/opinion/index.php?ntid=25572&ntpid=1

In its December endorsement of Senate Bill 46, in which it urged by name, Fox Valley legislators to support it, the Appleton Post Crescent said, "Now more than ever Wisconsin needs campaign finance reform. Now more than ever, it could actually happen." The full endorsement, is here:
http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/opinion_19081454.shtml

The LaCrosse Tribune, in its editorial endorsing Senate Bill 46 entitled "It's Time for State Campaign Finance Reform," said "[Sen.] Ellis has a compromise proposal that should get serious consideration in the Legislature." Read it here: http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2005/02/03/opinion/00edit03.txt

A public hearing on Senate Bill 46 has been scheduled to be held on Wednesday, March 2nd at 9:00 AM in Hearing Room 411 - South of the State Capitol in Madison. We urge you to be there to testify, or just show your support for Senate Bill 46.

We will have more on this in the days and weeks ahead.