MADISON, WI (WHBL) - The State Senate is scheduled to take up a bill Friday that would replace what oversees elections and ethics in Wisconsin.
One person who had a hand in crafting the legislation is area senator Devin LeMahieu. He tells WHBL News that there was a need to replace the Government Accountability Board after its role in a John Doe investigation against conservative groups, as well as how it has strayed from its intended duties when it was created in 2007.
"Like checking voter roles for felons, auditing elections after they were done, things like that they didn’t do over that time, where as they did some highly partisan things," says LeMahieu.
The bill has passed the Assembly, but it has been delayed in the Senate due to some Republicans in the chamber hesitant to support the bill as is over the issue of not having judges involved in some way. There is a possible amendment to the bill that would allow two judges on the commission to oversee ethics issues.
LeMahieu says his main goal for the bills is to have both Republicans and Democrats have equal power over who is on them. "When we’re designing the reforms, we figured that the best way to do that is give equal representation from both sides to produce compromise and a commission that can go forward, protecting speech, and protecting free and fair elections."
In the end, LeMahieu wants the Senate to pass the bill before their fall session comes to an end. That is expected to happen given the chamber has scheduled an extraordinary session for this, and a bill focused on changes to state campaign finance laws.