Robin Vos, R-Rochester, is co-chair of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee and has vast license to shape Wisconsin’s priorities. Some say Vos’ position makes him especially susceptible to special interests seeking to influence the process through campaign contributions. But Vos insists that’s not happening.
Tag: wisconsin legislature
Posted inEconomy, Government
Should raw milk sales be legalized?
For farmer Brian Wickert, the raw milk bill is about having the freedom to live without interference from the government. But for health officials in America’s Dairyland, it’s about potentially exposing unsuspecting citizens to disease-causing bacteria. At the crux of this debate is the age-old question: How much should government protect its citizens from possible hazards?
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
A timely topic, a search for the truth
Editor’s note: The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is debuting a column called Money & Politics. Written by Bill Lueders, the Center’s Money and Politics Project director, the column will cover a wide range of topics related to money and politics, tied into contemporary events. And it will invite readers into a process of discovery, […]
Posted inGovernment, Money & Politics, Open records
Center posts state officials’ statements of economic interest online
The public is invited to examine the first online archive of top state officials’ 2011 financial disclosure forms, now posted on WisconsinWatch.org, the website for the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.
Posted inWisWatch Blog
Lawmakers shouldn’t meet in secret
When it passed the Open Meetings Act, the Legislature reserved for itself a unique exception: Members of the same party in the Senate and Assembly can meet secretly whenever and wherever they want.
Posted inWisWatch Blog
A new transparency tool in town
Opengovernment.org, a promising new tool that tries to scrape pretty much everything you could want to know about the Wisconsin state legislature.
Posted inHealth & Welfare, Justice & Safety
16 die, but boating safety stalls in Legislature
Despite the continued concern over preventable boating accidents and fatalities, Wisconsin lawmakers tried but failed in the last session to pass new laws mandating life jackets for children and cracking down on intoxicated boating.
Posted inWisWatch Blog
Reporter’s shield law = step forward for Wisconsin
Last month, as the current legislative session ground to a close, Wisconsin became the 39th state to pass a shield law for news reporters.
Posted inGovernment
State employees misused state credit cards, auditors say
Auditors released a report Wednesday documenting state employees’ misuse of state credit cards on 131 charges totaling nearly $75,000, including a fox fur stole, pricey airline tickets to Europe and $16,686 in inappropriate purchases by a state worker who subsequently resigned.
Posted inEnvironment, WisWatch Blog
Investigative reports, news and updates
News and notes: New tools for monitoring environmental data in Wisconsin; the governor’s campaign contributors favor keeping him in control of DNR; DOJ hosts free seminars on government sunshine; and tax revenue was down last year.
Posted inGovernment
Doyle chided; lawmaker offers to track receipts
The offer by Rep. Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha) comes after a collaborative report on Gov. Jim Doyle’s failure to properly document his spending.
Posted inGovernment
Republican legislators want hearings into travel by Doyle, others
In response to reporting by the Center, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and University of Wisconsin-Madison students, Republican lawmakers are asking for hearings on travel by state elected officials.