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6/8/2009
Sen. Ellis says Assembly fundraising 'ban' exposed as sham
Democratic leaders in the state Assembly are having a hard time justifying an upcoming $1,000-per-person golf outing in light of their highly touted ban on fund raising by individual representatives during state budget deliberations, state Senator Michael Ellis said today.
“People recognize the hypocrisy of this so-called ban, Ellis said “It doesn’t matter whether the money goes directly to representatives – what the “ban” affects – or whether it gets funneled to them through a “legislative campaign committee” -- what the “ban” allows. In the end it’s still a shakedown of the special interests at a time when those interests have an enormous stake in the state budget.”
Ellis said the exemption for legislative campaign committees is more than just a loophole as some critics are now contending.
“As I warned when this so-called reform was adopted, this is worse than a loophole. It’s a big step backward into the bad old days of the caucus system when legislative leaders controlled everything and used campaign cash to keep the members in line.
“The legislative campaign committees exempted by the Assembly rule are not simply outside entities. They are under the direct control of the legislative leadership. Stripping away the ability of individual legislators to raise their own funds while exempting the legislative campaign committees only served to give leadership – like Majority Leader Tom Nelson and Speaker Mike Sheridan, who crafted the ban – a monopoly on campaign cash during the critical budget period.”
“In February, Tom Nelson called this “monumental reform.” Next week, as a billed star of this $1,000 golf outing, he will be one of the beneficiaries of this reform when the committee he controls collects the cash and then determines who to reward when election time rolls around.”
Ellis, a long-time champion of comprehensive campaign finance reform, reiterated what he has said all along: There should be a complete ban on fundraising on the part of individual legislators, the governor and the legislative campaign committees from the day the budget is introduced until the day it is enacted into law.
Mike Ellis is a Republican and represents the residents of the 19th Senate District.
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| 2009 |
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• Rep. Huebsch: Wisconsin is proof government health care isn’t the answer
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• TODAY - hearing on Campaign Finance Reform
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• Make cuts only AFTER you're elected....
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• Mark Rahmlow: "We're Broke."
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