Big Money Bulletin 203 South Paterson Street, Suite 100 Madison, WI 53703-3689 608 255-4260; www.wisdc.org Inside Highlights of Our Annual Gathering Dear Friend, Page 2 Rally for Fair Maps If you missed our annual celebration on May 17, which we held Victory in Court virtually, let me fill you in. Anti-Voter Bills Bruce Murphy, the editor of Urban Milwaukee, was kind enough to Page 3 applaud our work. He noted that the data we compile on campaign Tourism Lobby Weighs In contributions is unassailable and easy for journalists to use. He also Out of State $ complimented our advocacy: “We would have less democracy and less Gilkes’ Favor to Walker transparency” if we weren’t around, he said. State Rep. Francesca Hong got serious fast. “We have obstructionist Republicans in Wisconsin working more toward fascism than democracy,” she said, right off the top. She assailed the “complacency” in the State Capitol, and acknowledged that it’s a “frustrating and incredibly racist” place to work. But she added: “Through people power, we can fight back.” For my part, I noted that the past year was a year to forget, but that we can’t forget it, and that we must remember how close we came to losing our democracy on Jan. 6. There are powerful people in Washington and in Wisconsin who want us to forget, or worse, want us to June/July 2021 mis-remember what we saw with our very own eyes. Edition No. 125 I pledge to you, we’re not going to let anyone normalize the anti- democracy movement. www.wisdc.org I hope to see you in person at next year’s celebration! Rally to Ban Gerrymandering Victory in Court On May 17, 300 demonstrators gathered on On April 29, a Dane County judge voided the the State Street side of the Capitol for a rousing pricey contracts that Speaker Robin Vos and rally to end gerrymandering. The rally was Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu had signed with sponsored by the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition, two law firms to help them in any legal battles over which we’re a big part of. the upcoming redistricting. Rep. Deb Andraca and One law firm out of Washington, D.C., started Sen. Jeff Smith unveiled getting paid $30,000 a month in January and was their bill to give us slated to get $200,000 a month starting in July. And independent, nonpartisan Vos and LeMahieu hired former Wisconsin Deputy redistricting. Attorney General Kevin St. John at $375 an hour. "This bill is not about any Circuit Court Judge Stephen Ehlke issued a party," said Rep. Andraca. summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs in the "It's about establishing a case of Waity, et al, vs. Vos and LeMahieu. The law process that gets firm of Pines Bach brought the case on behalf of politicians out of the map- Madison Teachers, Inc. The Wisconsin Democracy making process Campaign, represented by Law Forward, filed an altogether." amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs. Added Sen. Smith: “The “Hiring lawyers to prepare for anticipated system is broken but we can fix it.” litigation is not within the core power of the legislature,” Judge Ehlke wrote. “Here, no Contact your legislators and urge them to institutional interests of the legislature are support LRB21-0756 (bill number not yet formally implicated, and no ‘official, employee, or body’ has assigned) and demand a public hearing for the bill. been sued.” Driver’s Licenses for the Our amicus brief made the argument that even Undocumented if Vos and LeMahieu had already been sued for rigging the maps, the taxpayers shouldn’t have to On May 6, Voces de la Frontera held a rally at foot the bill. “The interest advanced by the contracts the Capitol urging the Joint Finance Committee is not public in nature, but is narrowly partisan,” our (JFC) not to remove from the state budget the brief said. “It follows that the public-purpose proposal from Gov. Tony Evers that would allow doctrine prohibits the expenditure entirely--not undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses. merely in absence of a pending legal action.” Our newest employee, Racial Equity and Economic Justice Our Testimony on Anti-Voter Bills Advocate Cely Flores, addressed, the crowd in the Capitol. Matt Rothschild testified several times over the past two months “Everyone runs a red light or rolls at hearings in the Capitol on a raft of anti-voter bills. Said Rothschild: through a stop sign once in a “This effort reinforces a pernicious lie and feeds a dangerous mass while,” she said. “That shouldn’t delusion” about what happened during the Presidential election. Re- give the police the right to have ferring to the insurrection on Jan. 6, Rothschild told the Republican you deported because you were legislators who introduced the bills: “You’re playing with fire here.” driving without a license.” Please contact your legislators and urge them to vote no on these The JFC refused to hear from bills: SB203/AB192, SB204/AB201, SB205/AB179, SB206/AB180, a representative of Voces, and SB207/AB173, SB209/AB177, SB210/AB170, SB211/AB178, SB212/ removed the proposal. AB198, and SB213/AB194. Special Interest Follies The Tourism Lobby Weighs In Out-of-state GOP Donors Tourism and restaurant interests oppose two biparti- Deluged Wisconsin Legislators san bills that would repeal current state law and allow pub- Wisconsin legislators accepted near- lic schools to begin the school year before Sept. 1. ly $1.9 million, or $1 of every $4, in large The post-Sept. 1 start date became law in 2000 after individual contributions from outside Wis- heavy lobbying and generous campaign contributions consin in 2020. throughout the 1990s by business, tourism, and restaurant Nearly half of it came from one Illi- interests. Tourism and other special interests sought the nois couple. Richard and Elizabeth change to keep teenaged employees through the Labor Day Uihlein, of Lake Forest, Ill., contributed weekend and make more money. $918,000 to GOP legislators and the Re- The latest measures, Assembly Bill 188 and Senate publican legislative campaign committees. Bill 182, would allow school boards to start the school year Behind the Uihleins was another Illi- before Sept. 1 beginning with the 2022-23 school year. The noisan, John Shaffer, of Chicago, founder latest bills were authored by Republican Sen. Alberta Dar- of HSA Commercial Real Estate, who con- ling, of River Hills, and GOP Rep. Dan Knodl, of German- tributed $202,000, including $102,000 to town. the Republican Assembly Campaign Com- Similar legislative proposals went nowhere in previ- mittee and $100,000 to the Committee to ous sessions after tourism, business, and restaurant interests Elect a Republican Senate. opposed them. Rounding out the top three out-of- Between January 2016 and December 2020, business, state contributors was Alice Walton, of tourism, and restaurant interests contributed $4.46 million Bentonville, Ark., an heir to the Walmart to current legislators, including nearly $3.6 million to GOP Stores fortune. Walton is a longtime sup- lawmakers who control the Assembly 61-38 and the Senate porter of voucher schools in Wisconsin 21-12. and across the country. Walton contribut- ed $50,000, including $25,000 each to the The Republican Assembly Campaign Committee re- Republican Assembly Campaign Commit- ceived $1,060,000, and the Committee to Elect a Republi- tee and the Committee to Elect a Republi- can Senate $931,000 from these special interests. The two can Senate. Democratic campaign legislative committees combined re- ceived about a quarter of what the two Republican commit- tees got. Keith Gilkes Does a Favor for Walker A group created to support former GOP Gov. Scott Walker’s short-lived 2016 presidential bid filed its final fundraising and spending report on Monday. The group, Our American Revival, continued to raise money after Walker’s 10-week run for President ended in mid-2015 to pay bills. The latest report showed the group raised $30,000 and spent $58,265 between Jan. 1 and May 7. The report showed Madison-based Derive Technologies LLC contributed $30,000 to the group on May 6. The registered agent for Derive Technologies, LLC, is Keith Gilkes, who ran Walker’s 2009 campaign for governor and served as his chief of staff. He also ran Walker’s SuperPAC, the Unintimidated PAC, when Walker was running for President. Big Money Bulletin 203 South Paterson Street, Suite 100 Madison, WI 53703-3689 608 255-4260; www.wisdc.org State Rep. Hong Speaks Out—Page 1 Fair Maps Gain Momentum—Page 2 Out of State $ Flows In—Page 3 We Need Your Support! “We, the People, aren’t getting what we The Wisconsin Democracy want. And we aren’t getting what we Campaign relies on your support in want because of gerrymandering. This is order to track and expose big the very money in our politics and to definition of a advocate for pro-democracy dysfunctional reforms. Most of our funding democracy.” comes from individuals like you. So please make a tax-deductible gift today. You can donate -- Matt Rothschild, online on our website, speaking at the wisdc.org, or just put a check May 17 rally in the envelope we’ve to ban included inside. gerrymandering Thanks so much for supporting our urgent work! .