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Assembly Democrats postpone golf fund-raiser

Madison Assembly Democrats canceled a June 15 fund-raiser Monday after being bombarded with criticism for scheduling the campaign event despite promises in February to eliminate fund raising during budget deliberations.

Assembly leaders passed a rule in February barring fund raising until they gave the state budget to Gov. Jim Doyle. But they scheduled a $1,000-per-golfer fund-raiser for the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, saying the ban applied only to personal campaign committees.

The Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee is a group controlled by legislative leaders that helps bankroll the most competitive races.

Assembly leaders on Friday defended the fund-raiser at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells but postponed the event Monday after the Journal Sentinel and others reported on the plan. They haven't set a new date for the event.

In a joint statement, Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan of Janesville and Majority Leader Thomas Nelson of Kaukauna said the fund-raiser did not violate the ban, but they wanted to remove any doubts about the effectiveness of the ban.

''Just as it is critical that we have a strong ban in place, it is also critical that people have full faith and confidence in the ban," they said in their statement, adding that they had a "deep commitment to campaign finance reform."

Assembly Democrats announced they were canceling the fund-raiser as they wrapped up a seven-hour closed-door meeting to discuss the state budget they hope to take up this week. The budget closes a record $6.6 billion shortfall over two years by cutting aid to state and local government and raising taxes by $2 billion.

''Now they seem to understand that's bad politics," said Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin. "I applaud them for making the decision to cancel it. It demonstrates they're responsive to what the public thinks."

Common Cause and other good-government groups cheered the Assembly in February for passing the ban, saying it removed the appearance that legislators would sell their votes to special interests. But those same groups said in recent days legislators looked like hypocrites for scheduling the fund-raiser.

They said the fund-raiser may have technically complied with the ban, but it violated the intent of the ban, which says: "It is the goal of the Assembly to effectively eliminate campaign fund raising during the budget period by members of the Assembly."

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and Common Cause warned leaders in February that if they hosted a fund-raiser for the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee before the budget was signed they would be blasted.