Ethics Reform Review: Winners and Losers

As ethics reform officially dies this legislative session after the GOP majority once again ignored calls to place SB-1, the Ethics Reform Bill, on the Extraordinary calendar of this week, let me recap who won and lost on the issue.

So who are the winners and losers? Well besides the public being the biggest loser, as the legislative majority decides “business as usual” is the best approach, here are some of the players and how they fared:

Winners:

Governor Jim Doyle - While the GOP tries to bash Governor Doyle every chance they get, going after his strength (a history of clean government from his tenure as Attorney General to present), they fail in their spin on ethics reform. The Governor has repeatedly called for the legislature to take up SB-1, has said he’d sign the bill and has actively advocated for it. Congressman Mark Green has been, well, silent.

While some push for the Governor to call a special session, it is unlikely that will happen as he has previously called the legislature in for a special session and been ignored. The GOP has steadfastly said it will not allow a vote on SB-1. Further, if backed too far into a corner, the word we hear is that the Republicans will pass a water downed version gutting the enforcement mechanism, thus killing real reform but giving them a vote in their pocket on “reform”. The best way to get real reform is to get rid of the problem legislators this fall.

The State Senate - With a huge bipartisan vote of 28-5, the State Senate passed SB-1. Good job.

Senator Mike Ellis - While I’ve had my battles with Ellis before, there is no question that he has been firm in keeping his bill, SB-1, in a strong form that would provide meaningful reform. Ellis doesn’t care what the Assembly Republican leadership thinks; he wants real reform.

Assembly Democrats - With unanimous support for pulling SB-1, Assembly Democrats proved that the Democratic Party is the party of reform. Democrats voted four times on SB-1, showing their strong effort to see this bill become law.

Good Government Groups - Groups like the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Common Cause, and the League of Women Voters have been steadfast supporters of real reform. Their unified support for SB-1 has helped to provide a stronger voice for real reform. And, due to their hard work, I think they will see a real bill pass next session after some legislators lose their jobs over SB-1.

Losers

The Public - The “business-as-usual” approach of legislative Republicans means no real reform will be in sight in 2006, with a strong likelihood that the practices by legislative leaders that occurred under Scott Jensen will continue by the GOP in the Wisconsin legislature. Once again, the GOP chooses the special interests over the public.

Assembly Republicans - A whole lot of Republican incumbents are going to have to explain why they killed ethics reform at the same time their legislative leadership was being sentenced to jail and prison. My guess is that at least a half a dozen GOP legislators lose this fall just on reform, largely due to their lack of passing a real reform bill. Good riddance.

And, the five GOP members that did vote with Democrats to allow SB-1 up for a vote may have a hard time too. How is it that they voted against letting the bill come to a vote in closed caucus, then voted for debate on the floor, then voted THREE times against the bill as it was amended to other “ethics” bills? Fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice, go find another job.

Speaker John Gard - One of the final acts of Gard’s tenure as speaker was to kill ethics reform. No wonder he’s getting his behind kicked by one of his Democrat opponents. Advice to Gard: You might want to see if there’s a Wal-Mart near Peshtigo hiring next January.


Final thought: The very best way to send a message on the need for real ethics reform is by sending messages to legislators who think everything is fine just the way it is in Madison. November could be a bad month for a lot of incumbent legislators.