After state Sen. Chuck Chvala, D-Madison, Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, R-Waukesha, state Rep. Steven Foti, R-Oconomowoc, and state Rep. Bonnie Ladwig, R-Racine, were charged with official misconduct last week, several political observers declared that the long, slow demise of Wisconsin's reputation for clean government was, at last, complete. And this is certainly true. But in order to reverse the damage done, we must heed the wise advice of the man who was personally responsible for creating the reputation that we desperately need to restore.
\We have long rested comfortably in this country upon the assumption that because our form of government was democratic, it was therefore creating democratic results. Now, there is nothing mysteriously potent about the forms and names of democratic institutions that should make them self-operative. Tyranny and oppression are just as possible under democratic forms as under any other. We are slow to realize that democracy is a life and involves continual struggle. It is only as those of every generation who love democracy resist with all their might the encroachments of its enemies that the ideals of representative government can even be nearly approximated,"" Sen. Robert La Follette said October 1912.
For all of the excitement of the past week, it may seem to some that corruption is no longer a concern in this state. The charges have been filed, the guilty parties will eventually be convicted and the problem will be solved.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
The filing of criminal complaints against senior legislators will make Wisconsin feel a little bit better about itself. And there may be another twinge of joy if and when each of these politicians leave office'either through retirement, resignation, electoral defeat, conviction or recall. But as long as the state's lobbying and campaign finance laws remain unchanged, the corruption of our public policy could, and probably will, continue.
Take lobbying first. Earlier this year, the Legislature tried to pass a bill that would have prohibited legislators from exchanging their votes for campaign contributions from lobbyists. This ""pay-to-play"" bill passed the Assembly 96-0 in January. But when it crossed to the Senate, Chvala'quelle surprise'took a knee and ran out the clock. In the wake of the indictments, Gov. Scott McCallum has decided to call the Legislature into special session immediately after next month's election. The Legislature will then consider a reform package that includes, among other things, a ban on the pay-to-play practice. If the governor's language matches the language that was approved last winter by the Assembly, the full Legislature should pass the ban.
As for the other reforms contained within the governor's proposed ""Corrupt Practices Act,"" I must confess that I cannot offer a complete analysis, since these proposals have not been formally drafted. However, as a preliminary assessment, I can say that the proposed reforms'banning fundraising during the consideration of the State Budget, creating a new agency that would have full authority to enforce ethics and election laws, and a handful of others'make some amount of sense.
And yet, there is one part of the Corrupt Practices Act that makes absolutely no sense at all. The proposed act completely ignores the primary source of corruption in state government'the campaign finance system.
There is no satisfactory excuse for this omission. The people of this state have demanded that their government change the way in which campaigns are conducted. The best example of this sentiment is the result of the campaign reform referenda which were on the ballots in 58 of Wisconsin's 72 counties in 2000 and 2001. Of those voting on the measure, nine out of 10'and 1.67 million overall'voted in support of reform. In response to this clear electoral directive, the Legislature did nothing.
The special session presents a golden opportunity to pass the reform package offered by state Sen. Michael Ellis, R-Neenah. Originally introduced last year, the bill would, among other things, provide public grants to candidates who agree to limit their spending and require issue advocacy groups to disclose the sources of their funding. This single piece of legislation would do more to fix the rotten political culture of this state than any other proposal. It should be brought before the special session and passed, without another moment of delay.
If La Follette was right when he said that ""democracy is a life,"" then the events of the last week indicate that Wisconsin's government is one step from the grave. But our democracy is, thankfully, not dead yet. It may thrive again, in time, provided that every Wisconsinite'and, by connection, each of us'heed La Follette's call and actively defend our government against the threat posed by corruption.
This is no time for any of us, as citizens of this great state of ours, to sit on the bench. We need to get into the fight. And it starts two weeks from now, at the polls.
