MADISON - Local governments in Wisconsin would be able to set up election boards to regulate the amount of money candidates spend in campaigns, under a bill that passed a key committee Thursday.
The bill would allow cities and towns to set their own campaign finance regulations. The bill's sponsor, Democratic Representative Mark Pocan of Madison, says there are a number of local governments who've already said they'd like to put in place stricter reforms than what the state has. Pocan says hopefully from local restrictions, state lawmakers can learn some best practices and duplicate them at the state level.
But administering those practices may drive up the cost of local elections. John Reinemann, of the Wisconsin Counties Association, says monitoring campaign spending might be too expensive right now for communities that are facing mounting deficits. He says if local governments are more involved in regulating elections, it needs to get into the business of overseeing elections. He says there would be more staff demands at a time when counties don't have a lot of money.
All the Democrats on the Assembly's Elections and Campaign Reform voted for the bill, while all three Republicans opposed it. The bill now needs to pass the Rules Committee, before going to the full Assembly.
