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Senate Passes Issue Ad Disclosure Bill

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Kreitlow authored bill to help protect families from sex offenders also passes

MADISON – Legislation that would force special interest groups to reveal their funding sources was passed by the State Senate today by a vote of 26-7. Senate Bill 43 requires any special interest group that spends money in a political campaign in Wisconsin to disclose who their donors are and how much they’ve donated. Similar legislation was also passed by the State Senate last year. SB 43 is the second major campaign finance reform bill passed this session, following the Impartial Justice Bill, authored by Senator Pat Kreitlow (D-Chippewa Falls), which was signed into law last fall.

“It’s a fundamental belief in our democracy that the public has a right to know where the money funding political campaigns is coming from – that’s why every single candidate for public office has to disclose who their donors are and how much they’ve donated,” said Kreitlow. “Issue ads are usually some of the sleaziest, most blatantly dishonest ads in every campaign. This bill closes a gaping loophole in campaign finance law that has allowed special interest groups to avoid that public disclosure and deny voters the chance to know who was really behind these ads. It’s no surprise that some special interest groups are playing fast and loose with the facts again, this time in their effort to keep their sordid activities out of the public’s view.”

The Senate also passed Senate Bill 325, legislation that adds a parental notification requirement to sex offender chaperone arrangements. These arrangements are part of the Department of Corrections monitoring program for sex offenders, helping to ensure that they abide by the terms of their release, but currently the law does not require a non-custodial parent to be notified if the other parent intends to become a sex offender chaperone. This legislation does not change the terms of chaperone agreements beyond this notification, and simply ensures that parents have the full information they need to make decisions to protect the safety of their children.

“We need to do everything we can to make sure that parents are given all the information they need to protect their children,” said Kreitlow. ‘This bill adds a simple requirement to this successful program to ensure that parents are well informed about their children’s safety and I am proud to see this bill move through the Senate.”

Both Senate Bill 43 and 325 must be passed by the State Assembly before becoming law.