Michigan Donors Get State Contract

Republican Gov. Scott Walker accepted $42,500 last October from five first-time donors who are owners and executives of a Michigan company that won a contract in 2016 with the state of Wisconsin worth $6.2 million a year.

The company, J & B Medical Supply, of Wixom, Mich. has supplied diapers for children and adults enrolled in the state’s Medicaid and BadgerCare Plus programs since 2010. J & B’s latest contract agreed to in 2016 runs through 2018 with two one-year renewals that could extend it through 2020.

The contributions to Walker last Oct. 18 came from four members of the Shaya family and a company executive, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign found. Charlene Shaya, Mary Shaya and Abu Sheikh each contributed $12,500 to Walker – the governor’s largest individual contributions during the last four months of 2016. Two others, Julian Shaya and Stephen Shaya, contributed $3,000 and $2,000, respectively, to the governor.

Walker’s campaign report, which covered the last four months of 2016, did not identify any of the five contributors as being with J & B Medical Supply because campaign finance laws were changed in 2015 to provide less information to the public about big campaign donors. Previous state law required candidates to identify the employers and occupations of individuals who contributed more than $100 annually. Now, candidates only have to identify a large contributor’s occupation.

Walker’s report identified Charlene and Mary Shaya each as an “MD,” Sheikh as a “CFO,” and Stephen Shaya as a “Physician.” Julian Shaya, whose last name was incorrectly spelled “Shaga” in Walker’s report, was identified as a “VP.”

Matthew Rothschild is executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign