Madison

- Campaign finance reports posted on a new state electronic reporting system for Governor Jim Doyle and other statewide officeholders, legislators and political action committees are riddled with erroneous information, a review by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign shows.

WDC reviewed about four dozen campaign finance reports for candidates and political action committees from 2006 to present and found nearly all had erroneous information including incorrect cash balances and spending and fundraising totals. In addition, campaign expenses including travel, staff payroll, political advertising, postage and printing are described as “data conversion” in reports being put on the new system from July 2008 and before.

The original 368-page campaign finance report filed by Doyle last July showed individual and committee contributions and other income totaling $906,000 and expenditures totaling $234,090 for the first six months of 2008. (See original July 2008 summary page.)

A version of that same report on the new electronic reporting system is only nine pages and shows Doyle’s campaign raised only $2,959 in the first six months and $624,895 for the year. Both totals, which should be identical, are wrong. The report also shows Doyle spent nothing in the first six months and $292,175 for the year – again both figures should be the same but both are wrong. (See July 2008 summary page from GAB’s new campaign finance reporting system.)

Doyle’s year-end 2008 report on the new reporting system was also incorrect because it showed he raised $624,895 for the entire year. Doyle actually raised more than $1.5 million last year. (See January 2009 summary page.)

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Jason Stein – jstein@madison.com

In introducing his budget last week, Gov. Jim Doyle said he had “identified” $25 million for a state program aimed at ensuring a college education for students who stay straight and study hard.

But what the Democratic governor’s budget plan doesn’t do is either spend that money or set it aside for the Wisconsin Covenant program.

Instead, the phantom appropriation would require all of the money for the college guarantee program be returned, unspent, to the state’s main account at the end of the two-year budget in June 2011.

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$89 million of stimulus money for Wisconsin unemployment benefits has strings attached.

A Wisconsin State Journal editorial.

There is good reason for lawmakers to be suspicious of the $89 million Congress has offered Wisconsin to help fund unemployment benefits.

As welcome as the aid would be during the economic downturn, it comes with strings attached.

To receive the money the state would have to expand the scope of unemployment insurance in ways that could raise the cost of creating jobs in the future.

Nonetheless, it’s too soon to reject the money, as a few states have threatened.

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