February 9, 2012

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Lawmakers pledged secrecy in redistricting process

February 7, 2012 By

Newly released court documents show Republican state lawmakers were required to sign non-disclosure agreements when they drafted new legislative redistricting maps. Internal memos also reveal staff of GOP legislative leaders told lawmakers to ignore public comments during the process.

The release of the documents comes just two weeks before a federal court will take up a legal challenge against the new maps, which were approved last summer by majority Republicans.

Latino group Voces de La Frontera uncovered the activity and filed a complaint Monday in Dane County court claiming a violation of the Open Meetings Law. “It really makes a mockery of our democratic process,” said Voces executive director Christine Neumann-Ortiz. 

Neumann-Ortiz levels charges against “all actors” including the Government Accountability Board, which implemented the law, and Michael Best & Friedrich, a law firm hired by Republicans to consult on the redistricting. She says Act 43 should not be implemented as the “entire process is corrupt.”

A contact to Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald’s office went unreturned.

Filed Under: Elections, Legislature, News

Barca blasts redistricting secrecy

February 7, 2012 By

The Assembly’s top Democrat is blasting Republicans for acting in secret, in drafting new maps for voting districts in Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Republican legislators were made to vow secrecy over redistricting. Minority Leader Peter Barca of Kenosha says the revelations are scandalous. “Clearly, they were flagrantly misleading the public, it a minimum,” says Barca. “That part’s very unseemly, of course. But the part that is equally striking is that they were told to ignore public comments that were made by their leaders, that wouldn’t necessarily resemble what was actually happening.”

AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (1:10) [Read more...]

Filed Under: Elections, Legislature, News

Senate will have own mining bill (AUDIO)

February 7, 2012 By

The state Senate’s mining committee will consider its own rewrite of Wisconsin mining laws. State Senator Neal Kedzie chairs that chamber’s mining committee and says the Assembly-passed mining bill may be a starting point — but the Senate wants to consider changes. “Obviously, we’ll be having a look at whether or not contested case hearings get reinserted in one shape or another,” says the Elkhorn Republican. Kedzie concedes that’s “a tough issue,” since such hearings were deliberately left out of the Assembly bill. “They should be justified, they shouldn’t be frivolous. So we will look at seeing what is the fairest way to allow for public input, and to potentially raise concerns when they’re necessary and legitimate.”

AUDIO: Senator Neil Kedzie (5:30) [Read more...]

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Legislature, News

Bill tackles campaign disclosure rules

February 7, 2012 By

State lawmakers are considering a bill that would prevent election officials from passing rules that require third party groups to report the money they spend on political advertising.

The bill is in response to a Government Accountability Board rule that would have required corporations spending over $25 on a political message to report the expense. A legislative rules committee recently blocked it from taking effect, which state Representative Jim Ott (R-Mequon) says was necessary because they believed the proposal went “way beyond” current campaign finance laws.

State government watchdog groups argue the proposal is overkill. Jay Heck with Common Cause in Wisconsin says lawmakers could have just raised the threshold for triggering a report, rather than making it so corporations can completely hide their political spending. He says the proposal is a “surface to air missile” that will keep the public from knowing where large third party expenditures are coming from.

Supporters of the bill say the previous rule could have been interpreted to mean a person who spends their own money to put up a large sign for a candidate or prints flyers to pass around their neighborhood could have been required to register with the state. Heck and others say the rule was specifically targeted at large special interest groups that spend millions on ads and direct marketing campaigns during election season, and the move by Republicans is meant to prevent the GAB from passing rules again. Heck says it will just to keep the public in the dark during the recall and general elections later this year.

The proposal is being considered by the Assembly elections committee.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:03)

Filed Under: Legislature, News

Bill allows police to access juvenile records (AUDIO)

February 2, 2012 By

Legislation being considered at the Capitol would allow law enforcement improved access to juvenile court records. Governor Jim Doyle vetoed similar legislation in 2008 – citing privacy concerns. In Milwaukee in 2010, 18-year-old Markus Evans shot and killed 17-year-old Jonosha Alexander just before Christmas. Evans had a lengthy juvenile record, including time served for shooting his cousin in the back. An investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed Evans had received light punishment in the juvenile justice system, despite a string of violent incidents “What I think Markus Evans learned, was he could get away with it, and there were no consequences.” says Senator Alberta Darling, the bill’s author.

AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (1:20) [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Legislature, News
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