A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently introduced a bill in the state Senate to ban fundraising while the budget is being worked on.
It's debatable whether such a law would have any practical value. But even if it's mostly symbolic, it sends a message to lawmakers to be careful and to voters that legislators need to focus on the work at hand.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign released an analysis Wednesday that contains some telling information about lawmakers' priorities. The report was compiled by analyzing campaign finance records lawmakers submitted to state elections officials.
State lawmakers held more than 100 fundraisers during deliberations on the state budget last year, the report showed.
Critics have contended for years that collecting campaign contributions during budget negotiations creates the impression that lawmakers put items in the spending plan to please donors.
"The average citizen concludes the budget was auctioned off, that legislators are rewarding big campaign donors," said Mike McCabe, executive director of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the government watchdog group that produced the report. "It's extraordinarily unseemly to solicit money from interest groups while making decisions that affect these interest groups."
The study found legislators held at least 103 fundraisers between Feb. 14 and Oct. 23, when they began and ended their budget work.
Of our four local lawmakers, Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, raised the most funds during the period, $48,547.56, which ranks him 16th among all state legislators. He has a $41,753.53 cash balance.
Freshman Rep. Steve Hilgenberg, D-Dodgeville, raised $19,509.61 and has a balance of $20,352.57. Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, raised $18,502.34 and has a balance of $22,001.23; Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, raised $15,120.69 and has a balance of $8,774.11.
The report also found the Legislature met infrequently last year. The Senate convened 18 times, and the Assembly 20 times. Meanwhile, lawmakers held about 160 fundraisers in 2007 - or one about every two days.
The Assembly passed 49 bills in the two-year session that ends next month, while the Senate approved 25, according to the Assembly chief clerk's office. The Assembly passed 296 bills and the Senate passed 240 bills in the 2005-06 session.
"That's just an absolute disgrace," McCabe said. "They couldn't bring themselves to do the work they were elected to do."
John Murray, a spokesman for Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said the Assembly should be judged on the quality of the measures it has passed, not just raw numbers. For example, lawmakers finished the budget and got an extension for SeniorCare, the state's popular prescription drug discount program for senior citizens, he said.
The Legislature also found time to approve a bill permitting heated sidewalks, consider allowing grocery and liquor stores to hand out free beer and debate whether a "holiday" tree at the state Capitol should be renamed a Christmas tree.
By any measure, the last legislative session wasn't a particularly good one unless you're a fund raiser. Shutting off fundraising during budget talks might not have any impact on the total amount of political dollars raised, but it might at least make lawmakers finish a budget more quickly. And that, conceivably, would leave them more time to do other work.
It's debatable whether such a law would have any practical value. But even if it's mostly symbolic, it sends a message to lawmakers to be careful and to voters that legislators need to focus on the work at hand.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign released an analysis Wednesday that contains some telling information about lawmakers' priorities. The report was compiled by analyzing campaign finance records lawmakers submitted to state elections officials.
State lawmakers held more than 100 fundraisers during deliberations on the state budget last year, the report showed.
Critics have contended for years that collecting campaign contributions during budget negotiations creates the impression that lawmakers put items in the spending plan to please donors.
"The average citizen concludes the budget was auctioned off, that legislators are rewarding big campaign donors," said Mike McCabe, executive director of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the government watchdog group that produced the report. "It's extraordinarily unseemly to solicit money from interest groups while making decisions that affect these interest groups."
The study found legislators held at least 103 fundraisers between Feb. 14 and Oct. 23, when they began and ended their budget work.
Of our four local lawmakers, Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, raised the most funds during the period, $48,547.56, which ranks him 16th among all state legislators. He has a $41,753.53 cash balance.
Freshman Rep. Steve Hilgenberg, D-Dodgeville, raised $19,509.61 and has a balance of $20,352.57. Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, raised $18,502.34 and has a balance of $22,001.23; Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, raised $15,120.69 and has a balance of $8,774.11.
The report also found the Legislature met infrequently last year. The Senate convened 18 times, and the Assembly 20 times. Meanwhile, lawmakers held about 160 fundraisers in 2007 - or one about every two days.
The Assembly passed 49 bills in the two-year session that ends next month, while the Senate approved 25, according to the Assembly chief clerk's office. The Assembly passed 296 bills and the Senate passed 240 bills in the 2005-06 session.
"That's just an absolute disgrace," McCabe said. "They couldn't bring themselves to do the work they were elected to do."
John Murray, a spokesman for Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said the Assembly should be judged on the quality of the measures it has passed, not just raw numbers. For example, lawmakers finished the budget and got an extension for SeniorCare, the state's popular prescription drug discount program for senior citizens, he said.
The Legislature also found time to approve a bill permitting heated sidewalks, consider allowing grocery and liquor stores to hand out free beer and debate whether a "holiday" tree at the state Capitol should be renamed a Christmas tree.
By any measure, the last legislative session wasn't a particularly good one unless you're a fund raiser. Shutting off fundraising during budget talks might not have any impact on the total amount of political dollars raised, but it might at least make lawmakers finish a budget more quickly. And that, conceivably, would leave them more time to do other work.
