Ethics Takes Second Hit in Wisconsin

Two days after Assembly Republicans killed ethics reform they created a new way to raise buckets of special interest dollars for the fall elections.

A move to end the legislative session earlier was voted on by party lines Thursday, opening the door to accept special interest monies from lobbyists for the fall elections. The original calendar had a floor period in December that would have banned donations from lobbyists for the fall.

Immediately after that vote, the Republicans put an “ethical” show on by passing a ban on contributions directly from lobbyists.

So two days after the Republicans killed ethics reform and offered their own “package” of reform – a couple of extra reporting periods in odd years for campaign finance reports and making legislative employees who take leaves to pay for their own health insurance – they further dismantled ethics by creating a new way to take in tons of special interest cash.

You can’t take a lobbyist’s personal check, but you can take pocketfuls of checks from their clients, handed to you by a lobbyist. Seriously.

Ah, ethics reform……