Last year we succeeded in passing new ethic regulations into law. The new GovernmentAccountability Board (GAB), governed by retired Judges, was created. It essentially merged the functions of the Wisconsin State Elections Board and the Wisconsin Ethics Board into a single agency to provide oversight of elected officials in their campaigns and in their conduct as they serve in public office.
The GAB will oversee administration and enforcement of Wisconsin’s campaign finance, elections, ethics and lobbying laws. This merger allows citizens more transparency of the campaign and legislative processes.
Lobbying is also tracked, both in time spent lobbying on legislation and money spent employing lobbyists. Lobbyists must register to let the public know which bills they are working for and against. Any citizen can visit the GAB web site (http://gab.wi.gov/) to see which of these lobbying groups is spending money, for or against any particular piece of legislation. The GAB also has rules about what lobbyists can and cannot give legislators and their staffs. Wisconsin has among the strictest regulation in this area.
The Wisconsin legislature has taken steps in recent years to regain its reputation for clean, open and ethical government. I am proud of my efforts with Senator Robson to restore civility and decorum to the State Senate and was honored to present about ethics at the National Conference of State Legislators.
I strongly support these efforts and intend to continue advocating for clean and open government, one that you and I can be proud of.
