Who pays the state's bills?
The public does.
Who has to live under the laws passed by the Legislature?
The public.
That's why the public deserves a front-row seat whenever our state leaders are debating how to spend tens of billions of dollars of our money.
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But state lawmakers in recent weeks have conducted a slew of state budget meetings behind closed doors. Lawmakers huddle in secret with their partisan pals to plot strategy, count votes and cut deals. Then, after hashing out the messy details in the dark, they emerge with agreements the public is supposed to swallow.
Assembly Bill 143 seeks to end this offensive practice. It would rescind the Legislature's special exemption from Wisconsin's open meetings law.
AB 143 would prevent groups of Democrats and Republicans in each house from meeting in secret as partisan groups, often when a majority of senators or representatives are present.
City councils and town boards can't get away with such secrecy. They'd be charged with holding illegal meetings.
Yet the Legislature routinely closes the door on the public's right to know while putting together the public's $62 billion state spending plan.
A handful of lawmakers, led by Reps. Cory Mason, D-Racine, and Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, are pushing AB 143 despite strong opposition from many colleagues, especially their leaders.
Co-sponsors of AB 143 include Reps. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, Roger Roth, R-Appleton, Jeff Wood, I-Bloomer, and Sen. Alan Lasee, R-De Pere.
Only strong support from the public will force public hearings and votes in both houses of the Legislature on this sensible, good-government bill.
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Contact your lawmakers today and tell them to open up to the light of day what are known as "legislative party caucuses" -- meetings in which all members of one political party or the other in one house or the other often meet in secret.
Phone the legislative hotline for help in reaching your senator or representative to convey your support for AB 143. Call 800-362-9472 between 8:15 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. on weekdays.
AB 143 will put the public back at the forefront of huge public decisions including the massive state budget.
-- Copyright (c) 2009, The Wisconsin State Journal/Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
