Thursday, May 04, 2006

Call a special session

The latest on the murder of SB1 is that the Assembly voted late Tuesday to block an effort to bring it to the floor for a vote. Now we are asking the Governor to immediately call the Legislature into a special session on Senate Bill 1, creation of a Government Accountability Board. If you'd like to sign the letter, please email Bev Speer with your name and the name of your organization no later than Friday morning at 9 a.m.


According the The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign,

Two legislators who were initially recorded as voting "yes" – Representatives Frank Lasee of Green Bay and Al Ott of Forest Junction – later asked to have their votes changed to "no."

There was evidence of violent arm-twisting to ensure the ethics reform legislation was not taken up. Several Republican sponsors or self-proclaimed supporters of SB 1 – including Representatives Steve Freese of Dodgeville, Eugene Hahn of Cambria, Dean Kaufert of Neenah and Terry Musser of Black River Falls – voted to kill their own bill.

Assembly Republican leader Mike Huebsch and Senate Republican leader Dale Schultz were signaling they plan to alter the legislative calendar – a move that will allow state lawmakers to begin soliciting campaign donations from lobbyists.

Last year, majority Republicans extended the legislative session through December 2006 to block Governor Jim Doyle from raising the state's minimum wage. However, by doing so they unwittingly hindered their ability to collect campaign contributions from lobbyists. They later reached a deal with Doyle allowing a modest increase in the minimum wage, but now have to change the calendar to allow lobbyists to give to their campaigns in the months before this fall's elections.

Don't let this go. It's very important for our future. Do you want Wisconsin to be the next FLOHIDO????

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