But it also means legislators won't have to go on record for or against amendments to strengthen the ethics law. It also would require the commission to issue formal advisory opinions, upon request, within 60 days. Legislators say they have gotten contradictory advice from the commission over the telephone, and it's come back to haunt them when there's no record of that advice. Because some violations dated back to 1990, it's unclear whether his case would have ever come to light. The bill also would allow candidates a way out of fully disclosing the identity of contributors.
Many candidates already neglect to report that information altogether.
State legislators say they can't always know who the contributor works for. Federal law does. And the bill would give the public more information about special interests, who already give more than anyone else to political campaigns. Spotlight asked Walker, the House majority leader, why legislators couldn't tackle ethics in a meaningful way. He asked what we meant.