Gov. Scott Walker’s administration has found another novel method to deny the public access to government records.
In at least two recent cases, the administration says it doesn’t have to keep certain “transitory” records and therefore can’t release records it doesn’t have.
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Read More… from Wisconsin Governor finding new way to deny public records
Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Justice say the agency is responding faster to open record requests.
A DOJ news release Tuesday says the agency took an average of 20 days to close a request this year, down from 59 days last year. Since the agency's new Office of Open Government opened in June, the average response time has been 16 days. Continue…
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Read More… from Wisconsin DOJ handling open records requests faster, response time down from 2014
So much for the Wisconsin Senate sticking up for good-government principles.
The Republican-run Senate caved last weekend to the Assembly’s demands for weak oversight of state election and ethics rules.
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Read More… from EDITORIAL: Tell Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to veto two bad bills
Wisconsin watchdog groups and Democratic lawmakers say there's a better way for the state to rewrite its campaign finance laws than the one Republicans are poised to pass on Monday.
The bill Republicans will likely send to the governor's desk would allow unlimited donations to political parties and let candidates coordinate fundraising and strategy with outside groups that keep their donors secret.
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Wisconsin Senate Republicans would restore much of the reporting of campaign donors' employers, under changes planned to a broad campaign finance bill they will take up Friday.
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Read More… from Wisconsin Senate would restore much of reporting on campaign donors’ employers
The Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill last week that would dramatically reduce voters' ability to know which corporations, unions and wealthy individuals are funding state campaigns. The Senate is expected to vote on a companion bill (SB 292) shortly.
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Read More… from Editorial: Wisconsin Legislature should reject secrecy bill
Follow the money. That's one of the key lessons in politics, right?
Follow the money, and you'll find answers. Follow the money, and you'll see who's influencing whom. Follow the money, and you'll be able to connect special interest donors to the legislators whose votes can benefit them.
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Read More… from Editorial: Wisconsin bill would make it harder to follow the money
Our duly elected representatives in the state legislature are busily selling off both Wisconsin’s land and its reputation for honest and open government. Meanwhile, we are watching football and hunting ducks and texting our friends; we won’t notice until it is too late that some of the things we value most about Wisconsin are gone forever. Continue…
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Read More… from Editorial: 3 bills in the legislature threaten Wisconsin values
Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who gave up his quest for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination last month, signed into law on Friday a measure that limits a longstanding tool against political corruption that has been used in investigations of Mr. Walker and his allies.
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Read More… from Wisconsin Governor signs bill limiting political corruption inquiries
Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature are pushing a bill that would change the state’s so-called John Doe law, which allows for criminal investigations — like two that were related to Gov. Scott Walker — to be done in secret.
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