FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

6/17/13

New data reveals only a small percentage of Wisconsinites stand to gain from doubling of campaign contribution limits

MADISON – As Wisconsin considers a 100% increase in state political contribution limits, new analysis suggests the effect of the proposed increase will not serve the interest of the majority of Wisconsin voters.

United Wisconsin has obtained data developed in preparation for a forthcoming comprehensive report on campaign contribution limits and donor distribution in state politics by the National Institute on Money in State Politics based in Helena, Montana, revealing that during the 2010 election cycle, only 1855 (2.1%) of the nearly 85,000 campaign donors to candidates in Wisconsin state legislative races reached the maximum annual contribution limit allowed by state law.

A similar trend was seen in Wisconsin’s regular 2012 state legislative races when only 2263 (2%) of approximately 112,948 contributors reached the annual maximum contribution limit. Contributions during the special recall elections were not included in this analysis.

“A look at the numbers makes it crystal clear that only a handful of Wisconsinites donate at the maximum level to state political candidates. Raising contribution limits magnifies the voices of this 2% at the expense of the rest of us who cannot afford to give at such high levels,” said United Wisconsin Executive Director Lisa Subeck. “By raising the cap on campaign spending, expect to see the wealthiest donors expanding their influence over our elections – and over our elected officials – while the power divide between the wealthy and the rest of Wisconsin grows.”

In a study released in November, 2010, by researchers at George Mason University, an analysis of data spanning more than 2 and a half decades on the relationship between campaign contributions and the competitiveness of elections found that limits on campaign contributions have a significant effect on the competitiveness of races. The study further concluded that a strong correlation exists between increased campaign contribution limits and decreased competitiveness in elections.

“Pumping more money into elections will dilute public trust and confidence in Wisconsin’s elected officials and serves to dissuade potential candidates from ever running for public office in the first place. Increased contribution limits will allow incumbents to pad their war chests, leaving newcomers unable to compete,” Subeck said. ”Not only will higher contribution limits increase the reliance of our elected officials on big donors for financial support, but this move will also further protect incumbents from competitive elections, diminishing our democratic process.”

Subeck concluded, “In a political system already flooded with big special interest money, the last thing we need is an infusion of even more cash into politicians’ campaign coffers.”

SIGN OUR PETITION CALLING ON THE STATE SENATE TO SAY NO TO INCREASED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION LIMITS!

United Wisconsin is an independent grassroots organization of citizens restoring the Wisconsin tradition of democracy in action. For more information, visit our website at www.unitedwisconsin.com.

WANT TO SIGN THE PETITION? Visit the Wauwatosa Public Library (7735 W North Ave) between 9:30am-4:30pm Monday through Friday and visit our table right inside the main entrance!

Grassroots campaign underway to place referendum on Wauwatosa ballot

WAUWATOSA – Building upon the nationwide movement to get big money out of elections, United Wisconsin members kicked off a petition drive in the city of Wauwatosa this weekend to place a referendum on the ballot calling for the reversal of Citizens United.

The petition drive in Wauwatosa marks the latest city in Wisconsin to go on record in opposition to the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, which granted corporate entities the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections, overturning nearly a century of settled law regarding the financing of electoral campaigns.

“This issue runs far deeper than any partisan issue,” said Wauwatosa Alderman Greg Walz-Chojnacki. “For me, it comes down to the question of whether democracy means ‘one person, one vote’ or ‘one dollar, one vote.’ This referendum is an important opportunity for the citizens of our city to pause and consider the meaning of democracy in America.”

On April 2, 2013, Chippewa County, along with the cities of Fort Atkinson and Whitewater all passed referendums by wide margins calling for the reversal of the Citizens United, joining the cities of West Allis, Monona and Madison, along with Dane and Eau Claire Counties who have taken similar action since 2010.

Petition circulators will have 60 days to collect the nearly3,800 signature goal set by organizers to place the referendum on the ballot in Wauwatosa for the next scheduled general election. According to state statute, placing a municipal referendum on the ballot requires 15% of the total votes from that municipally in the last gubernatorial general election.

Local grassroots community groups, including Grassroots Tosa and Move To Amend- Milwaukee, have joined United Wisconsin in the campaign.

“Spending on our elections is out of control, and has eroded trust in both our elected officials and the very foundation of our country,” said Alan Nichols, United Wisconsin volunteer leader and Grassroots Tosa activist. “When corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money to buy our elections, how are we to trust that those sent to higher office are working for our best interests and not theirs?”

Since the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United, special interest spending on elections has skyrocketed. According to a recent report released by the WISPIRG Foundation and Demos entitled “Billion Dollar Democracy”, total spending on the 2012 election cycle topped $5.2 billion, with over $1 billion coming from outside groups like Super PACS. Even more alarming, nearly 60% of the total Super PAC funding came from just 159 individuals making contributions of at least $1 million.

Currently, 13 states have already called for a constitutional amendment reversing Citizens United, with the state of Maine joining the list earlier this month.

“Unlimited election spending by corporations and wealthy special interests gives them a bullhorn that drowns out the voice of everyday citizens,” said United Wisconsin Executive Director Lisa Subeck. “This movement taking place in Wauwatosa and across our state is an example of the people taking direct action to ensure their voices are heard. We are calling on our legislature to stand up for the principles of democracy and join the growing list of states demanding an end to the corrupting influence of big money in politics.”

The full language of the proposed referendum follows:

Shall the City of Wauwatosa adopt the following resolution:

RESOLVED, the City of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, calls for reclaiming democracy from the corrupting effects of undue corporate influence by amending the United States Constitution to establish that:

1. Only human beings, not corporations, are entitled to constitutional rights, and

2. Money is not speech, and therefore regulating political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we hereby instruct our state and federal representatives to enact resolutions and legislation to advance this effort

WANT TO SIGN THE PETITION? Visit the Wauwatosa Public Library (7735 W North Ave) between 9:30am-4:30pm Monday through Friday and visit our table right inside the main entrance!

Click here to get involved in the campaign!

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United Wisconsin is an independent, grassroots organization of citizens restoring the Wisconsin tradition of democracy in action. For more information, visit our website at www.unitedwisconsin.com.

(Photo courtesy of the Overpass Light Brigade)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

6/5/13

GOP-controlled Budget Committee puts political ideology over best interests of Wisconsinites

MADISON – Stalling until well after midnight to proceed with their final budget deliberations, the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee (JFC) voted in the wee hours of the morning to advance a budget that puts their own right-wing political ideology ahead of the real needs of the people of our state. The budget, which passed JFC on a party line vote, takes public funds that could be put back into the pockets of hard-working residents of our state but instead, shifts that money into tax breaks for the wealthiest Wisconsinites. Taxpayer dollars that should be spent funding our public schools are instead spent on a statewide expansion of Wisconsin’s already failing private school voucher program. And JFC turned down federal Medicaid expansion funds, kicking more than 85,000 low and moderate income Wisconsinites off the BadgerCare health insurance program.

“This budget bill – passed in the wee hours of the morning while the rest of the state was sleeping – fails the people of Wisconsin at every turn. Republican legislators met behind closed doors with special interest lobbyists and each other for more than 9 hours Wednesday before reaching this bad deal on the budget,” said United Wisconsin Executive Director Lisa Subeck. “There is nothing in this bill to create jobs or help struggling Wisconsin families, just more of the same failed ideologically-driven polices of more tax giveaways to the wealthy, more money for a failed private school voucher scheme, and spending more tax dollars to kick needy Wisconsinites off BadgerCare.”

Despite cutting funding for public education by $1.6 billion – the largest cut in state history – in the previous budget, Republicans voted to expand their unaccountable and failed private school voucher scheme statewide at the expense of public education. This expansion serves as a Trojan horse, laying the groundwork for further privatization of Wisconsin schools.

According to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, over 54% of the tax cut package passed by Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee will benefit Wisconsinites making over $100,000 in income annually. Under the plan passed by the JFC, a working family earning $45,000 a year would receive a cut of just $1.60 per week – not even enough to purchase a gallon of milk.

The rejection of federal funding to expand Wisconsin’s BadgerCare program comes at time in which even other Republican-controlled states are moving in the opposite direction. According to a recent report by the RAND Corporation, expansion of the Medicaid program is the best fiscal choice for states to ensure their successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

The health care proposal forwarded b the JFC will lead to $490 million dollars in increased costs to Wisconsin taxpayers over the next 6 years, and will deny access to affordable health insurance to over 85,000 of the state’s most vulnerable residents.

“The blatant disregard for common-sense and reasonable compromise in this budget is astounding. The only thing this budget moves forward is the extreme right-wing ideology of its authors and the special interests that support them,” concluded Subeck. “Any time deals are cut behind closed doors in the dead of night like this, the big money special interests emerge victorious, while the people of Wisconsin are left to suffer the consequences.”

United Wisconsin is an independent grassroots organization of citizens restoring the Wisconsin tradition of democracy in action. For more information, visit our website at www.unitedwisconsin.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

6/4/13

AB 225 represents direct assault on Wisconsin tradition of fair and accessible elections

MADISON – Today, United Wisconsin called on the Committee on Campaigns and Elections to reject Assembly Bill 225, an omnibus bill being fast tracked through the legislature which includes severe curtailments to voting rights and gives special interests even greater influence over Wisconsin’s elections.

“Assembly Bill 225 is a direct assault on our democracy,” said United Wisconsin Executive Director Lisa Subeck. “We need to preserve our long-standing tradition of electoral freedom and ensure wealthy special interests don’t drown out the voices of Wisconsin citizens. Plain and simple, AB 225 is an attack on our voting rights.”

AB 225, introduced late last week by Republican Assemblyman Jeff Stone (R-Greendale), is a veritable laundry list of radical right-wing policies wrapped up in one bill, including

• Re-institutes voter I.D. restrictions even though the law is still under a court-ordered injunction barring implementation.
• Attacks local control over in-person absentee voting by restricting times local clerks can offer access to absentee voting.
• Reduces the time period during which lobbyists are forbidden from making campaign contributions, opening the door to corruption.
• Removes public disclosure requirements on corporate election spending.
• Allows for clerks to discount legal votes for the most minor of clerical errors made by poll workers.

Adding insult to injury, AB 225 is being fast-tracked by Republicans in the State Assembly, offering only one public hearing – just days after the bill was introduced – for citizens to give input on the sweeping implications of the bill.

“At a time when Wisconsin is languishing near the bottom of the nation in job creation, our Legislature should be fast tracking bills that put Wisconsinites back to work. Instead, Republicans have chosen to prioritize a national right-wing agenda by attacking our fundamental voting rights,” said Subeck. “This bill does nothing to address the very real issues concerning Wisconsin residents and should be rejected by the Committee for its brazen attack on our state’s democratic traditions.”

United Wisconsin is an independent grassroots organization of citizens restoring the Wisconsin tradition of democracy in action. For more information, visit our website at www.unitedwisconsin.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

5/30/13

MADISON – United Wisconsin Executive Director Lisa Subeck made the following statement in reaction to news that the 4^th District Court of Appeals has overturned one of the two injunctions blocking the implementation of photo ID requirements for voting in Wisconsin

“Today’s decision by the Court of Appeals is a significant blow to Wisconsin’s longstanding tradition of leadership and innovation in making voting as accessible as possible to its citizens. The right to vote is a basic freedom guaranteed by our state’s Constitution. Though other court action still currently blocks enforcement of this unconstitutional Voter ID law, today’s decision by the 4^th District Court of Appeals flies in the face of ensuring every Wisconsin citizen can access his or her fundamental right to vote.”

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United Wisconsin is an independent grassroots organization of citizens restoring the Wisconsin tradition of democracy in action. For more information, visit our website at www.unitedwisconsin.com.