A state political watchdog group says a proposed compromise on ethics reform at the Capitol is a good start. Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Executive Director Mike McCabe says a proposal to merge the State Ethics and Elections Boards marks a promising start to the next Legislative session. He says it's encouraging that lawmakers and the governor have been so willing to meet and hammer out a proposal. Still, McCabe says he'll wait to see the final legislation before signing off on the proposal.
McCabe says he expected to see an agreement on ethics reform in the upcoming session, but he didn't believe it would happen so quickly. He thinks the message sent by voters in November clearly played a role in the Legislature getting an early start on implementing changes.
Lawmakers plan to have an ethics bill ready for a vote by next month.