Wednesday October 12, 2016
1. What you need to know about voting in Wisconsin before and on November 8th
2. U.S. Supreme Court's decision to to review Walker illegal campaign coordination case
(John Doe II) does not exonerate Walker & allies
3. Sign the petition demanding non-partisan redistricting reform in 2017
4. Jay Heck and Bert Zipperer on the Assault on Democracy in Wisconsin since 2011
1. Election Day, November 8th is now less than four weeks away! If you haven't been focusing yet,
now is the time to do so. Barring any last-minute, court-ordered changes to Wisconsin's current voting laws (and we will alert you immediately if there are any), here is what you need to know to vote – and how you can get involved to help others do the same:
Early, absentee voting is available now!
See our guide to voting with an early, absentee ballot – in person or by mail, and then VOTE.
Important: If you're voting by mail with an absentee ballot,
make sure the witness who signs your ballot certificate envelope includes their address with
street number, street name and municipality. Due to a recent change in Wisconsin's voting law, if this information is not included, your absentee ballot will NOT be counted.
You must be registered to vote at your current address. If you are not or you're unsure if you are,
see this information on voter registration options and deadlines.
When you vote, you will need to present one of the acceptable forms of photo ID for voting pictured left. (Click image to enlarge)
For more information about voter photo ID – and how to get a free ID if you don't have an ID acceptable for voting –
see our downloadable voter ID fact sheet. Or visit:
Bring It to the Ballot.
If you do not have an acceptable ID for voting and need help getting one, contact one of these two
Voter ID Hotlines: (608) 729-7720 or (414) 882-8622.
Are you (or do you know) a college student voting in Wisconsin?
Here are "Three Things College Students Need to Do To Vote in Wisconsin."
Do you need a ride to the polls?
As we did in 2014, CC/WI is currently identifying and recruiting organizations and individuals statewide willing to give free rides to the polls on Election Day and/or during the early voting period.
If you would like to be a part of this effort to help folks get to the polls, let us know by email or phone (608-658-2109) and we’ll add you to our list of drivers within your community.
Want to help protect the integrity of the November 8th election?
Sign up and receive training to be a poll worker. Municipalities across the state are shorthanded and are looking for folks who can work at their polling place. Contact your local municipal clerk for more information.
Or volunteer to be an election observer. Our longtime coalition partners at the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin are training nonpartisan poll observers across the state to watch for signs of voter disenfranchisement and intimidation, and to monitor the way new election laws and procedures are being applied. Sign up now using the League’s online Election Observer Volunteer Form.
Please take some time now, prepare and then VOTE. And then help make sure every eligible voter you know is able to do the same!
2. Last week, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) said they would not be considering the appeal of a case that the Wisconsin Supreme Court wrongly dismissed in July of 2015 – the so called "John Doe II" case involving the illegal campaign coordination of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker with outside "independent" special interest groups, primarily Wisconsin Club for Growth, during the tumultuous recall elections of 2011 and 2012.
For those closely following this situation, the decision by SCOTUS not to take the case was not at all surprising. SCOTUS typically takes less than 2 percent of the cases that reach it for consideration and with the current 4 to 4 ideological deadlock created by the vacancy on the court by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February, SCOTUS has been particularly reluctant to take any controversial cases, which John Doe II certainly was.
But just because SCOTUS didn't take the case doesn't mean there wasn't illegal activity in Wisconsin by Walker and others. It just means that SCOTUS takes very few cases and is avoiding controversial cases like this one in particular, until the current vacancy on the court is filled.
The release of secret documents from the case by the British newspaper, The Guardian, in mid-September makes it abundantly clear that Walker was much more involved in illegal campaign fundraising and coordination from the very beginning of his first term in office, than was previously known. The documents also demonstrated just how compromised and corrupted the conservatives on the Wisconsin Supreme Court were when they declared that previously illegal campaign coordination in Wisconsin was legal and by ending the investigation by five district attorneys (two of them, Republican) and a Republican special prosecutor in that July 2015 decision.
For more on the SCOTUS decision and CC/WI's take on it go here, here and here.
For more on The Guardian newspaper document revelations see CC/WI Director Jay Heck on Capital City Sunday and on MSNBC.
3. Ending partisan gerrymandering 
of state legislative and congressional districts in the upcoming 2017-18 legislative session is a top political reform priority as the next redistricting process in 2021 nears.
If you have not done so already, please sign our on-line petition in support of the non-partisan "Iowa model" for Wisconsin. We have well over 2,000 signatures so far and are trying to get as many as possible to deliver to the Wisconsin Legislature in 2017.
4. Finally, to listen to a wide-ranging interview about all of these important political reform issues, here is a recent conversation between Jay Heck and former Madison Alder, Bert Zipperer on WORT-FM.
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Jay Heck, Executive Director
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
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For Release: Monday - October 19, 2015
Massive Assault on Democracy and Accountability
of Politicians to Citizens Begins Tuesday
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, hyper-partisan majority Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly are poised to attempt to ram through measures that would:
1) Cripple the ability to effectively investigate and prosecute political corruption by state legislators and state-wide elected officials, including the Governor.
2) Eviscerate and destroy the non-partisan state agency charged with enforcement of state elections, campaign finance law, ethics and lobbying law.
3) Deregulate, almost completely, campaign finance law so that formerly illegal campaign coordination between candidates with outside special interest groups will be permitted (encouraged) and codified into law, far more secret money from outside of Wisconsin will influence our elections, and much more money will flow into the coffers of legislative leaders in the Capitol to quash dissent and hasten the possibility of further corruption and scandal.
This massive, coordinated blitzkrieg on democracy and transparency commences on Tuesday, when the Assembly will debate Assembly Bill 68, partisan legislation that would exempt politicians from being able to be investigated for misconduct in public office, bribery of public officials, theft, all violations of campaign finance laws, all election law offenses, corrupt means to influence legislators, extortion, private interest in public contract, lobby law violations, criminal violations of state ethics rules, false swearing, and those additional crimes that may occur when a John Doe investigation is underway, such as perjury, bribery of a witness, and tampering with public records. It is astonishing that such legislation was even contemplated, let alone about to be rammed through the Wisconsin Assembly.
Long-time (1968-2004) Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann, who investigated and prosecuted former Democratic State Senator Chuck Chvala of Madison during the infamous Legislative Caucus Scandal in 2002, has said he and other prosecutors would not have been able to uncover the corruption in the Capitol had this ill-advised and obviously self-serving legislation been the law at that time. McCann, a long-time member of the Common Cause in Wisconsin State Governing Board since retiring as D.A. in 2004, wrote this opinion-editorial against AB 68, which appears in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
For a more detailed explanation from McCann about what what is so wrong with this measure, how the John Doe process works, and why the Republicans are so intent on changing it, go here.
On Wednesday, the Republican legislative leaders in the Assembly have tentatively scheduled for a vote, Assembly Bill 388, the completely unjustified legislation premised on a long sequence of unsubstantiated charges, false premises and fabricated events, in order to destroy the non-partisan Government Accountability Board. Common Cause in Wisconsin has long opposed this legislation, which would replace six non-partisan, retired judges with 12 partisan hacks who will, instead, act at the bidding of partisan legislative leaders and the Governor. And the ability of the GAB to investigate corruption will be eviscerated. This legislation will ensure that Wisconsin's elections, campaign finance law, ethics and lobbying law will be enforced – not according to the law or for the public interest – but instead for narrow, partisan political advantage and to shield corruption.
We have already said a lot about the need to preserve the GAB, as is, and you can review it here, here, here, and here.
Here is Jay Heck's testimony against AB 388 delivered last week at the Capitol legislative hearing.
Also on Wednesday, the Assembly is scheduled to vote on Assembly Bill 387, the massive and secret hyper-partisan Republican re-write of Wisconsin's campaign finance law that was unveiled for the first time only 12 days ago and was made even worse that it was, as introduced, during a committee executive session on the legislation on October 15th. In short, Assembly Bill 387 will allow much more secret money from outside of Wisconsin to influence our elections and dictate our public policy-making process. It will codify into law formerly illegal campaign coordination and allow legislative leaders to collect unlimited money for their legislative campaign committee "slush funds," which they control and which will guarantee virtual complete dictatorial power over rank and file members and allow far more secret money to influence everything that happens in the State Capitol. Scandal should follow in the not-too-distant future.
To review why this legislation is so horrific for Wisconsin, go here, here, here, and here.
Here is Jay Heck's testimony against AB 387 delivered at the October 13th Capitol legislative hearing.
We must fight these measures now! Even if you have already done so, and particularly if you have not done so yet:
Call or email your State Senator AND State Representative TODAY and demand they oppose all three bills: AB 68, AB 388 and AB 387. (If you don't know who your state legislators are, go here.)
Spread this post far and wide. Act now!
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
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For Release: Friday - September 4, 2015
The GAB, John Doe Law and Campaign Finance Transparency and Limits
Likely GOP Targets in September
Labor Day traditionally marks the end of the Summer season in Wisconsin. It may also mark both the beginning of the end of the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board (GAB), established less than nine years ago, and the carving out of a huge exemption for political corruption from being investigated using Wisconsin's unique "John Doe" law, which predates statehood in 1848.
Republicans, controlling both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature, are bound and determined to make these hyper-partisan measures their central focus for the September floor session, while ignoring economic, educational, environmental and numerous other serious concerns of Wisconsin citizens. Maintaining and consolidating partisan political control, not addressing the real-life concerns of Wisconsin citizens, is apparently the priority of Republicans. In addition to destroying the GAB and John Doe law, Republicans are expected to also ram through the Legislature their partisan rewrite of Wisconsin's campaign finance laws, once considered among the best in the nation, and likely to be among the worst soon.
As we reported to you in our
August 13th release, the GAB has been sentenced to death by Governor
Scott Walker, Assembly Speaker
Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and State Senate Majority Leader
Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).
CC/WI played a key role in establishing the non-partisan GAB, together with former Republican State Senator Mike Ellis (R-Neenah), and the GAB passed in both chambers of the Legislature with virtually unanimous bipartisan support in January of 2007. But now, Republicans want complete control of all decisions about elections, campaign finance, ethics and lobbying in Wisconsin. It's that simple.
It is possible that the GAB could be saved in the State Senate, where 12 of the current 19 Republican Senators voted to establish the nonpartisan GAB in 2007, when they were either in the State Senate or Assembly. If just three of those 12 remained consistent and voted against making the GAB partisan, as Fitzgerald and Vos (who both voted for a non-partisan GAB in 2007) want to do, the GAB could be preserved in its current form.
Meanwhile, in late August, an Assembly committee voted along party lines to advance revisions to the long-standing John Doe law, that would essentially exempt political corruption from being investigated by the John Doe, which was effectively utilized to uncover political corruption during the 2001-2002 Legislative Caucus Scandal. Republicans don't like that the John Doe was used to uncover crimes in Scott Walker's office when he was Milwaukee County Executive, sending six persons to jail, or that it was utilized to investigate illegal campaign coordination between Walker's 2011-2012 recall campaigns with outside special interest groups. So, in the form of Assembly Bill 68, they want to exempt any political crimes that they might commit from being investigated utilizing the effective and efficient John Doe investigatory process.
Oh, by the way, the GOP is fine with keeping the John Doe process in place for any crimes that non-politicians might be investigated for. Just not them.
Earlier this year, former long-time Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann, who prosecuted former Democratic State Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala for felony misconduct in public office in the Legislative Caucus Scandal of 2001-2002 (charging Chvala with 20 felonies, including extortion), testified against Senate Bill 43, the identical companion legislation to Assembly Bill 68. McCann, a current member of the Common Cause in Wisconsin State Governing Board, made a compelling case against this special carve out exemption for politicians, which you can read in full, here.
Senate Bill 43 and Assembly Bill 68 are likely to be scheduled and rammed through the Legislature in September by majority Republicans, unless they come to their senses first. Or, are pressured by their constituents to leave the John Doe process as is. The latter scenario is more likely to occur than the first, at this point. But only if citizens raise their collective voices and are heard (and heeded).
Finally, Republicans are secretly preparing legislation in which they are completely rewriting Wisconsin campaign finance law. This legislation could be unveiled and put on a fast track for consideration and passage this month. It is widely expected that they will codify into law the use of secret money by outside special interest groups so that citizens will have no clue who is trying to influence their vote. Contribution limits are expected to be at least doubled, but will effectively be made meaningless because it is expected the GOP will legalize the currently illegal practice of coordination and collusion between a candidate's campaign with an outside special interest group for issue advocacy. Only communications that utilize "express advocacy" or explicit terms like "vote for" or "defeat" will be subject to illegal coordination, terms which most campaign communications currently don't use now anyway. So, virtually complete deregulation of all limitations and unlimited secret special interest money is likely to be encouraged under the expected Republican rewrite.
In March, CC/WI Director Jay Heck testified before a joint committee of the Legislature with very different recommendations that would strengthen, not weaken transparency, and limit the influence of money in our elections, not increase it. You can read his complete testimony here.
On Monday, September 14th, CC/WI has organized a free public forum in Wausau for citizens to attend and hear about the battle over preserving the nonpartisan GAB and why it is so critical for Wisconsin.
If you are anywhere near Wausau (or even if you're not!), please join us for what will be an informative, interesting and lively discussion.
Next week, on Tuesday, September 8th, legislative supporters of nonpartisan redistricting reform legislation, 
Senate Bill 58, will launch the effort to advance the measure with the goal of having it passed, enacted into law, and be in place before the next redistricting process occurs in 2021. The "launch" will occur at 1:30 PM in the Assembly Parlor of the State Capitol in Madison. State Senator Dave Hansen (D-Madison) and State Representatives Dave Considine (D-Portage), Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) and Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) and possibly others will join CC/WI Co-Chair and former Republican strategist and adviser Bill Kraus to discuss the effort.
And then on the following day, September 9th, Hansen, Considine and Spreitzer will be joined by State Representative Eric Genrich (D-Green Bay) and by CC/WI Board Member Roger Utnehmer of Sturgeon Bay for a press conference at the Brown County Court House in Green Bay at 11:00 AM. Reform advocates and supporters of ending gerrymandering are welcome to attend both events!
Finally, Scott Walker's controversial proposals to try to do away with the "Wisconsin Idea" as part of the University of Wisconsin System mission statement, his very substantial, proposed cuts to the UW budget, and his advocacy for ending tenure have brought national attention as he runs for the Presidency. In this recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Walker's policies are examined and CC/WI's Jay Heck provides political analysis.
We at Common Cause in Wisconsin wish you a happy, relaxing and safe Labor day weekend! We will be back very soon with further updates.
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
Read More...
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Common Cause in Wisconsin Reform Update
Thursday - August 13, 2015
1. 24 Current GOP State Legislators Supported the establishment of the non-partisan,
independent Wisconsin Government Accountability Board in 2007. Now?
2. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm's strict adherence to the rule of law
may have prevented Scott Walker's defeat in 2012 recall election.
3. Redistricting Reform Petition now exceeds 1,000 signatures! Have you signed it?
1. Earlier this year, Governor
Scott Walker, State Senate Majority Leader
Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker
Robin Vos declared all out war on the non-partisan Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) because they hate that the GAB has done exactly what it was established to do in 2007 – respect and adhere to the law governing Wisconsin's election, campaign finance, ethics and lobby law.
Walker, Fitzgerald and Vos particularly despise the fact that the six retired judges that comprise the GAB voted unanimously in 2012 to authorize an investigation into possible illegal campaign coordination between Scott Walker's campaign during the recall election, with outside special interest groups (Wisconsin Club for Growth and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce).
Never mind that the law against such coordination was very clear at that time and the GAB decision was completely in accordance with established law.
What really irks Walker, Fitzgerald and Vos is that the GAB is not controlled by them and has not done their bidding. And so now, this Fall, the Republican majority will move in September to eviscerate the independence and non-partisanship of the GAB and attempt to ram through their own legislation that will make the GAB a partisan tool firmly under their control. In doing so, the GOP will seek to dictate the outcome of Wisconsin elections, campaign finance law, ethics and lobbying law and manipulate it in such a way that they will gain permanent political power and control in the clean, honest, accountable and nationally-admired state formerly known as Wisconsin.
CC/WI worked very closely with legislators – primarily Republicans – in devising and working to advance and establish the GAB, which finally occurred during a Special Session of the Legislature in January, 2007 when it was enacted into law. The GAB replaced the discredited, hyper-partisan State Elections and State Ethics Boards, that had utterly failed to uncover, identify, investigate and prosecute the rampant corruption that was occurring under the Capitol Dome during the late 1990's and that culminated in the Legislative Caucus Scandal and the criminal charging of top State Senate Democratic and Assembly Republican leaders in 2002.
Both Republicans and Democrats in the Wisconsin Legislature fully realized the need for a strong, non-partisan state agency that had the ability to independently investigate corruption in state government. And after months of negotiations, in which CC/WI was intensely involved, the GAB was approved by a unanimous 33-0 vote in the State Senate and by a 97 to 2 vote in the State Assembly. Every Republican legislator in both chambers supported establishing the GAB.
But now, Fitzgerald and Vos – who both voted for the GAB – have reversed their position because they cannot tolerate the fact that the GAB doesn't do their partisan bidding. Now, they think they have the votes to destroy what they helped create just eight years ago – even if they have absolutely no justification for doing so.
Here is the complete listing of the 24 Republicans who voted to establish the GAB in 2007 and are still in the Legislature. Half of the 12 current GOP State Senators who voted for the GAB back then, were in the State Assembly at that time. And then there are 12 other GOP State Representatives then and now.
Assuming no Democratic State Senators or State Representatives are stupid enough to support the Republican plan to destroy the GAB, these 24 Republicans need to be reminded that they should not abandon their 2007 support for a non-partisan entity that enjoys the confidence of the vast majority of Wisconsin citizens and the admiration of national experts on American elections.
Contact them, as well as your own State Senator and State Representative. Tell them to keep their partisan hands of the non-partisan GAB!
2. The integrity of Milwaukee County D.A. John Chisholm in adhering to the John Doe secrecy
order in 2012 may have saved Scott Walker from defeat in the 2012 recall election. And yet Chisholm has been viciously and vilely attacked by Walker minions for doing what he is supposed to do to uphold the rule of law. Both former Milwaukee County D.A. E. Michael McCann, now on the CC/WI Board, and CC/WI Director Jay Heck comment in this excellent Brendan Fischer article about the very latest in the John Doe controversies that will not die, despite the herculean effort of Walker, his minions, the four impossibly compromised and conflicted conservatives on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the Wall Street Journal editorial board and many other guardians of the corrupt status quo.
3. CC/WI is again playing a lead role in promoting and advancing non-partisan redistricting reform in Wisconsin this year. The "roll-out" of the legislative component will begin in earnest next month (stay tuned for details!). Our petition to state legislators urging them to support redistricting reform legislation, Senate Bill 58, which is modeled after Iowa's terrific, non-partisan redistricting process, recently passed the 1,000 mark!
Please urge your family, friends and neighbors who have not yet done so, to sign the petition and help us reach our 5,000 signature goal! Thank you.
Savor these spectacular Wisconsin Summer days while they are with us still!
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
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For Release: Thursday - July 16, 2015
As expected, a highly compromised Wisconsin Supreme Court majority has issued a highly flawed decision today ending the John Doe investigation of possible illegal coordination between Governor
Scott Walker and his 2011-2012 recall campaign with outside special interest groups. The decision should be appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
Unless it is successfully appealed, the decision could conceivably now lead to unlimited coordination between outside spending groups with candidate committees and effectively render contribution limits meaningless in Wisconsin. Unlimited money, much or most of it secret and from outside of Wisconsin, could now flow into Wisconsin and be coordinated by candidates with outside groups to influence the outcome of our elections. Wisconsinites would be relegated to the sidelines watching helplessly as unlimited, secret special interest money dictates the outcome of our elections and seizes complete control of our state government.
No federal court decision has ever permitted the type of candidate-outside group coordination that this completely compromised ruling seems to permit. Four of the justices of the court were the beneficiaries of dark money spent in their behalf and which was the heart of this case. They should have recused themselves and did not. The decision can and should be appealed.
Furthermore, by halting the investigation, Wisconsinites and the rest of the American people will never know if Scott Walker and his campaign engaged in illegal activity during 2011-2012 – information that is vital for the future of the state and nation.
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
Read More...
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Common Cause in Wisconsin Reform Update
Thursday - April 16, 2015
1. Starkly contrasting visions about what state campaign finance laws should look like.
2. Passage of constitutional amendment to demote current Chief Justice of Wisconsin
Supreme Court is part of a larger partisan plan.
3. "John Doe" investigation of illegal campaign coordination between Walker 2012 campaign against recall, with Wisconsin Club for Growth (WCG), to be decided by a
majority of state supreme court justices who are beneficiaries of support from WCG.
4. Scott Walker's shifting views on campaign finance reform (from very bad to worse).
5. Needed: The Constitutional right to vote.
1. One thing that everyone in Wisconsin can agree on is that our campaign finance laws are seriously outdated and need major revision. But there are stark differences of opinion about what campaign finance law ought to look like. Late last month, CC/WI Director
Jay Heck was invited to appear before the combined State Senate and Assembly committees with jurisdiction over campaign finance law in order to tell legislators what CC/WI thinks ought to be included in a rewrite of state campaign finance law. Jay's
testimony is here. You can also see the entire hearing on
Wisconsin Eye (Jay's testimony begins at 01:38:54) and read the
Associated Press article about the hearing
here.
Bill Lueders of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism wrote this excellent article about the hearings, which appeared in many newspapers around the state in recent weeks. What the new campaign finance law will look like is not yet known, but when it is ready, it will likely be quickly unveiled and then rammed through the Legislature – which is increasingly how the majority party in the Legislature "gets things done," when they want to get something quickly behind them. Stay tuned for that.
2. On April 7th, Wisconsin voters re-elected Ann Walsh Bradley to the Wisconsin 
Supreme Court in one of the less expensive elections for a seat on the high court in recent years. Big outside money largely stayed out of the Bradley contest with Rock County Circuit Judge James Daley. Instead, most of it, including more than half a million dollars from Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), went to pass a constitutional amendment to change the way the Chief Justice of the Wisconsin State Supreme Court is selected, primarily to demote current Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson. The amendment passed fairly narrowly and it is part of a much broader partisan political agenda that has been playing out over the last four years on a wide array of issues.
Mary Bottari, of the Center for Media and Democracy, wrote this excellent analysis of this ongoing partisan plan to dominate Wisconsin politics, with plenty of input from CC/WI.
3. On April 17th, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will begin to consider whether or not the "John Doe II" investigation of possible illegal campaign coordination between Governor Scott Walker's campaign and WCG and WMC during the 2012 recall election, ought to continue or not. There will be no oral arguments in open court, which is highly unusual. The case is further complicated by the fact that four of the seven justices were the beneficiaries of hundreds of thousands of dollars of outside spending by WCG and WMC.
Recently, Jay Heck spent an hour on The Kathleen Dunn program on Wisconsin Public Radio's Ideas Network to talk about and explain what the John Doe investigation is all about, and to discuss money in politics in general.
4. When Scott Walker was first elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 1993, one of the first committees he chaired was the Campaigns & Elections Committee, with jurisdiction over campaign finance law. Back in that era, Walker proposed and backed some measures that would not be viable today because of more recent court decisions and also because he has moved even further to the right and now opposes disclosure, for example. Walker has been consistent in always backing and pushing campaign finance measures that provided his political party a partisan advantage and/or weakened the Democrats. He has never been a supporter of meaningful bipartisan campaign finance reform – the only kind that really matters.
Earlier this week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published this article about Walker's campaign finance views then and now, which includes Jay Heck's observations. Jay also appeared on The Devil's Advocates radio program on Monday to talk about Walker's shifting positions on this issue.
5. Do you have a constitutional right to vote? Most Americans probably think that they do (or should). But the right to vote is not explicitly stated anywhere in the U.S. Constitution and many citizens (including us) think it needs to be.
Wisconsin U.S. Congressman Mark Pocan (D-Madison) has introduced a constitutional amendment that would accomplish this and here are the details.
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
Read More...
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Common Cause in Wisconsin Reform Update
Monday March 16, 2015
1. Bill to Kill John Doe Investigation of Scott Walker and Investigate Any Political
Corruption Passes Senate Committee on 3 to 2 Vote
2. Non-Partisan Redistricting Reform Legislation Introduced with Bipartisan Support
and Has 47 Co-Sponsors Already
3. Wausau Talk on The Advance of Corrupting Money in Wisconsin Politics
4. Forum on Legislative Caucus Scandal and Need to Preserve and Protect the
Wisconsin G.A.B. in Madison Tuesday Evening
1. Legislation that would severely cripple the long-established "John Doe" process for investigation of many crimes, including political corruption, in Wisconsin,
Senate Bill 43, received a public hearing last Wednesday before the State Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. We have coined this measure the "Political Corruption Protection Act of 2015," or the "PCP" bill, for short. Like the PCP drug, this legislation is toxic, dangerous, mind-altering and ought to be avoided and made illegal. How ironic that it was considered before a committee dealing with "public safety." This measure is anything but safe.
Former Milwaukee County District Attorney and current CC/WI Board Member
E. Michael McCann, who utilized the John Doe process to prosecute former State Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Chvala (D-Madison) and ultimately convict Chvala of two felonies during the 2001-2002
Legislative Caucus Scandal, said enactment of this legislation
will permanently end the John Doe investigation of the 2012 recall election of Gov. Scott Walker and the nation will want to know why Walker allowed that to happen as he runs for President. It would also prevent the John Doe process to be used in the future to investigate political corruption in Wisconsin.
For other news accounts of McCann's comments and of the hearing go
here and
here. Earlier,
CC/WI said this.
To view (on
Wisconsin Eye) the public hearing, McCann's testimony (starts at 01:33:30) and the questioning by Committee Senators, go
here – and to read McCann's written testimony, go
here.
On the day after the hearing, the State Senate Committee passed Senate Bill 43 on a party-line vote with Republican Senators Van Wanggaard of Racine, Leah Vukmir of Wauwatosa and Frank Lasee of DePere voting for this misguided measure. Democratic Senators Fred Risser of Madison and Lena Taylor of Milwaukee voted no. The measure could be scheduled for a vote by the full State Senate at any time. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said last week he was inclined not to consider the measure in the Assembly until after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on whether the John Doe investigation of Walker's 2012 recall campaign could proceed. If the Court were to vote for the John Doe to proceed (unlikely but possible), you can be sure that Vos will ram this measure through the Assembly and send it to Walker for signature in record time. The national fallout that would ensue if that happens would likely be tumultuous.
2. Legislation with bipartisan support that would replace Wisconsin's current hyper-partisan, secretive and expensive redistricting process 
with a widely heralded non-partisan, fair and cost-effective redistricting modeled after Iowa, was introduced two weeks ago. Senate Bill 58 is identical to the anti-gerrymandering measures that gained substantial support during the 2013-2014 legislative session, including the endorsement of 19 daily Wisconsin newspapers. The main author of Senate Bill 58 is State Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and the measure already has 47 co-sponsors! CC/WI has a listing of all the co-sponsors on our website, which you can view here. We will constantly update that listing, so check back often to see who is on and who isn't.
There will be much more on the redistricting reform legislation in the weeks ahead when it is officially "rolled out." Senate Bill 58 also appears to be immune from a constitutional challenge now before the U.S. Supreme Court, which is a great relief. For more on this, go here.
In related news, at the federal level, Wisconsin U.S. Representative Reid Ribble (R-DePere) introduced bipartisan congressional redistricting reform legislation last week. Ribble has been a strong supporter of ending gerrymandering and faults it for increasing the bitter partisanship and polarization that overwhelms Wisconsin and national politics today.
3. Last Thursday evening, CC/WI Director Jay Heck was in Wausau at the UW Center for Civic Engagement to talk about how campaign money has ruined Wisconsin elections and the public policy-making process over the years. There was a great turnout of many concerned and engaged citizens who were looking to find out what happened in our state, which not long ago, was a national model for clean, honest accountable state government.
The Wausau Daily Herald covered the event and you can read about it here. Thanks to former State Representative Mandy Wright and her colleagues for organizing a great event!
4. This Tuesday evening, March 17th (St. Patrick's Day!) Jay will be part of a panel discussing the 2001-2002 Wisconsin Legislative Caucus Scandal and how that led to the creation of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) in 2007. The GAB is now 
under assault by the Republican leaders in the Wisconsin Legislature. The panel, which also includes former Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager (2003-2007), will discuss why the GAB must be protected and preserved and not be brought under the thumb of partisan legislative leaders and political hacks. Matt Rothschild, the director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, will moderate. For details go here.
If you are in Madison, we hope to see you there!
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Jay Heck, Executive Director
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
Read More...
Intro only...
For Release: Wednesday - March 11, 2015
One of the most distinguished and longest-serving district attorneys in the nation,
E. Michael McCann, will testify on Wednesday at a public hearing on legislation that would severely cripple the long-established "John Doe" process for investigation of many crimes, including political corruption, in Wisconsin.
Senate Bill 43 is before the State Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety at a
public hearing on this and another measure on March 11th beginning at 10:00 AM in Room 411-South of the State Capitol.
McCann was elected District Attorney of Milwaukee County in 1968 and served in that capacity for 38 years, until the end of 2006. His office utilized the John Doe process to investigate and ultimately criminally charge former State Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Chvala (D-Madison) with 20 felonies, including extortion, in October of 2002 in the Capitol Legislative Caucus Scandal, in which five other top legislative leaders of both political parties were also charged and ultimately forced from office.
McCann has served on the Common Cause in Wisconsin State Governing Board since 2008. He will testify against Senate Bill 43.
CONTACT:
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686
Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org
Read More...
Intro only...
When you vote, you will need to present one of the acceptable forms of photo ID for voting pictured left. (Click image to enlarge)
of state legislative and congressional districts in the upcoming 2017-18 legislative session is a top political reform priority as the next redistricting process in 2021 nears.
