State Sen. Jennifer Shilling
Press Release

Legislative Republicans propose dismantling of Accountability Board

“Given the recent attacks on open record laws, high-profile criminal investigations and repeated instances of cronyism, it’s clear that we need more government accountability, not less.”

By - Oct 7th, 2015 11:43 am

MADISON – In an effort to distract from stagnant family wages and recent business closings, legislative Republicans have proposed eliminating the non-partisan state Government Accountability Board and replacing it with a group of hand-picked political appointees. By moving away from the successful non-partisan oversight structure and allowing Gov. Walker and legislative leaders to appoint political cronies, the Republican proposal would make it more difficult to investigate elected officials accused of state ethics and campaign violations.

“No one has ever come up to me at a grocery store or gas station and suggested that we need less accountability and more partisanship in our state,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse). “At a time when we continue to see business closings and stagnant family wages, eliminating accountability and opening the door to more political corruption is the last thing that Republican leaders should be focused on. Rather than trying to cover-up political corruption and shield Gov. Walker from more scandals, we should focus on issues that will actually improve the lives of hardworking Wisconsin families – like restoring school funding, reducing student loan debt and increasing retirement security.”

“Given the recent attacks on open record laws, high-profile criminal investigations and repeated instances of cronyism, it’s clear that we need more government accountability, not less,” added Shilling. “Rather than dismantling the non-partisan Government Accountability Board, legislative Republicans should fix Gov. Walker’s scandal-plagued WEDC which has supported the outsourcing of Wisconsin jobs and handed out millions of taxpayer dollars to well-connected Republican campaign donors.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.

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