Wisconsin Government Accountability Board

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The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.) was a regulatory agency for the State of Wisconsin which administered and enforced Wisconsin law pertaining to campaign finance, elections, ethics and lobbying. The agency was re-organized, over the opposition of many Democratic legislators, into two separate agencies (Ethics and Elections Commissions) following several controversies.

Composition[]

The Board consisted of six members, all former state judges, who serve staggered, six-year terms. Board members were appointed by the Governor, and served part-time, receiving per diems for each meeting they attended. The Governor of Wisconsin nominated a judge to fill a vacancy from a roster of potential Board members previously selected by a panel of Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges; and nominees were confirmed by the Wisconsin State Senate.[1]

History and controversies[]

The G.A.B. was created as a reform measure after the Wisconsin "legislative caucus scandal" in 2001[2][3] which led to criminal convictions of the state Assembly's highest-ranking Republican (Speaker Scott Jensen), the state Senate's highest-ranking Democrat (Majority Leader Chuck Chvala), and other officials.[4] The G.A.B. was tasked with overseeing elections, ethics and lobbying in the state.[4] The 2007 Wisconsin Act 1, which passed the Wisconsin Legislature on a bipartisan vote in January 2007, merged the State Elections Board and State Ethics Board into the new G.A.B.[5]

The G.A.B. had a nonpartisan structure unique among election boards in the United States, with G.A.B. led by six former judges appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.[2][5] In contrast to the G.A.B.'s nonpartisan model, state election boards in other U.S. states were either partisan (ie., run by elected or appointed partisan officials) or bipartisan.[5] G.A.B. members could not "hold another state or local public office (except as reserve judge), engage in partisan political activities, become a candidate for state or local elected office, make political contributions, or be a lobbyist or employed by a person who employs a lobbyist. They also have limitations on political activities and certain types of contributions both during and 12 months prior to a member's term."[5] The G.A.B.'s structure was praised by some experts.[6]

Law professor Daniel P. Tokaji, who studied the G.A.B., praised the agency's model, concluding in 2013 that "GAB has been successful in administering elections evenhandledly and... serves as a worthy model for other states considering alternatives to partisan election administration at the state level."[7] The Board has the power to investigate independently, without the approval of the legislature.[3] The G.A.B. oversaw a series of recall elections for the state senate in 2011 and for state senate and governor in 2012.[2]

The G.A.B. was consistently criticized by Wisconsin Republicans, such as Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott L. Fitzgerald, and the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity; these critics accused the G.A.B. of unfairly targeting Republicans. Republicans were particularly angry over a G.A.B. investigation into whether Republican Governor Scott Walker's campaign had unlawfully coordinated with the Club for Growth and other "outside" groups during the 2012 recall election.[2][3][4][8][6]

By contrast, Democrats and good-government groups such as the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and Common Cause defended the G.A.B.[2][4][6] In December 2015, Walker signed a bill that dissolved the G.A.B.,[6] effective on June 30, 2016,[2] and replaced it with a separate Wisconsin Elections Board and Wisconsin Ethics Commission.[3]

The legislation dismantling the G.A.B. passed along party lines, with Republicans voting yes and Democrats voting no.[6] Wisconsin's revision to a "bipartisan" rather than "nonpartisan" model increased the power of the Republican-controlled legislature, and also increased deadlocks; while the G.A.B. rarely deadlocked, the Elections Board frequently deadlocked among party lines.[3] The 2015 legislation also restored the practice of allowing state legislators to control funding for investigations into possible misconduct by state officials.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ Shawn Johnson, GAB background: "Once A Symbol Of Bipartisanship, Government Accountability Board Targeted For Overhaul – Republicans Back Bill To Split GAB Into Two Commissions, Wisconsin Public Radio (October 13, 2015).
  2. ^ a b c d e f Katelyn Ferral, As the Government Accountability Board ends, what's the future for Wisconsin campaign finance regulation?, The Capital Times (June 20, 2016).
  3. ^ a b c d e Vanessa Swales, With All Eyes on Wisconsin, Partisan Gridlock at State Elections Commission Frustrates Voters and Local Officials, Wisconsin Watch/ProPublica (October 26, 2020).
  4. ^ a b c d Alan Greenblatt, Government Accountability? GOP Says No Thanks, Wisconsin, Governing (May 2015).
  5. ^ a b c d Performance Report: 2013-2015 Biennial Report of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Mark Sommerhauser, Scott Walker signs bills dismantling GAB, overhauling campaign finance law, Wisconsin State Journal (December 16, 2015).
  7. ^ Daniel P. Tokaji, America's Top Model: The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, 3 UC Irvine L. Rev. 575 (2013).
  8. ^ Jessie Opoien (December 12, 2014). "Wisconsin Republicans critical of G.A.B. in light of nonpartisan audit". The Capital Times.
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