Those giving money to Governors, lawmakers, and other candidates would no longer have to disclose who they work for, under a rewritten campaign finance bill that is rocketing through the Legislature.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said he wanted to make the change to the state's disclosure law because the public can get better information by looking at donors' occupations, rather than their employers. Currently, donors have to list both if they give more than $200.
The change would make it more difficult for the public to track which industries are funneling money into politics. But Vos said he wanted to avoid having businesses targeted for boycotts or harassment if their workers choose to make donations.
The change was one of several Republicans made Thursday to a campaign finance bill they unveiled last week and plan to pass in the Assembly on Wednesday. Another change would give candidates 72 hours instead of 48 hours to report donations of $1,000 or more in the 15 days before an election.
Those bills are motivated in part by an investigation, now shut down, into coordination between Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and conservative groups. The state Supreme Court ended the probe in a 4-2 ruling in July that found candidates and issue groups can work closely together.
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) said the legislation would allow corruption to flourish. "The era of clean, open and transparent government, I declare — mark your calendars — will be over next week," Barca told reporters.
The campaign finance bill would double how much donors can give to candidates, boosting from $10,000 to $20,000 the amount someone can give a candidate for Governor or other statewide office. The amounts would be adjusted for inflation every five years.
It would also keep in place a provision from a court ruling that allows donors to effectively get around the limits by giving as much as they want to political parties and campaign committees controlled by legislative leaders. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa of Milwaukee issued his initial ruling in that case last year and finalized it on Wednesday.
The bill would rewrite other laws that are out of step with court rulings, including the state Supreme Court's decision that said issue groups and candidates can work together.
Democrats protested the fast pace of the legislation. "We're elected to represent and make intelligent decisions, and you are forcing us to go ahead in an unintelligent fashion," Rep. Fred Kessler (D-Milwaukee) told Republicans.
Rep. Joe Sanfelippo (R-New Berlin) accused Kessler of "feigned outrage" and said he was bullying Rep. Kathleen Bernier (R-Chippewa Falls), the committee's chairwoman.
The committee was originally slated to take up a bill that would allow people with Wisconsin identification cards or driver's licenses to sign up online to vote. But Bernier put off a vote on that bill. An aide to Vos said the measure would not be taken up by the Assembly on Tuesday, as had been planned.
While the bill would allow people to register to vote online, they would still have to cast ballots in person or by mail.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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