Wanted: Transparency for Wisconsin Budget

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 1:40 PM

State Representative Rich Zipperer, who heads up the Taxpayer Protection Caucus in the Wisconsin Assembly, penned a column outlining the need for transparency that ran in several publications across the state this past weekend.

Indeed, the state has slowly but surely fallend behind a number of states that have embraced transparency in government finance both as a concept as well as in practice.

Rep. Zipperer is one of a few reform-minded lawmakers who want to change that:

It's a simple premise: If the state is going to tax you to pay for something, you should at least be able to find out how those dollars are spent.

Thanks to the Internet, achieving this is easier than ever. And in a traditional home of open government like Wisconsin, one would think transparency in government spending here would be a no-brainer, right?

Apparently, the answer is no.

Historically, the Badger State has been known for good government. But in recent years, with budgets full of unaccounted earmarks, millions spent on no-bid contracts and closed-door meetings resulting in deals with special interests, our state's reputation has lost much of its luster. And now, legislative leaders are standing in the way of proposals to bring needed sunshine into this process.

Earlier this year, a group of reformed-minded legislators, including Rep. Bill Kramer, Leah Vukmir, Brett Davis and I, introduced the Taxpayers First Agenda. This includes the Earmark Transparency Act, the Checkbook Disclosure Act and the Truth-in-Budgeting Act.

These bills entail common-sense reforms that would go far in making government finances more accountable to Wisconsin taxpayers. Unfortunately, as Rep. Zipperer points out, it has so far been an uphill battle:

Although some of these proposals passed the Assembly with bipartisan support last session, legislative leaders haven't afforded them the time of day this year. Since being rolled out in February, only one has had a public hearing.This is especially discouraging because the issue nationally has not been partisan. As a U.S. senator, Barack Obama championed online disclosure of federal expenditures, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi changed the rules to require greater earmark transparency. Divergent watchdog groups, such as Americans for Tax Reform and WisPIRG, have publicly advocated for items within the Taxpayers First Agenda.

Still, the Democratic leaders of the Assembly and Senate have thus far refused to bring our proposals up for a vote. With only months left in the session, I hope they will join our efforts to not only talk about open government, but to bring real change to how the state operates.

We hope so, too.

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