For Immediate Release: April 19, 2006

Watchdog Group Calls On "Jensen Ten" to Demand Ethics Reform Vote

Ten legislators who were mentioned in the trial of former Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen should demand an up or down vote on SB 1, a bill to strengthen oversight of ethics and campaign finance rules, according to TheRestofUs.org. The non-partisan citizen watchdog group delivered letters to each legislator today asking them to go on record in support of a roll call vote.

"Now is not the time to be sweeping ethics problems under the carpet by dodging a vote on the only reform proposal that stands a chance of passing this year," said Derek Cressman, director of TheRestofUs.org. "Citizens deserve to know where their representatives stand on the issue of cleaning up corruption in government."

The organization will be posting responses from the ten legislators on its website: www.TheRestofUs.org. Those legislators are:

1) Garey Bies. A state worker testified that he worked full time on Bies's 2000 campaign and the campaigns of three other candidates while having 50-80% of his time paid for by Wisconsin taxpayers.

2) Don Friske. Three witnesses mentioned doing illegal campaign work for Mr. Friske's 2000 campaign. Friske has said that he knew state workers were helping him, but thought that they were volunteering their time. The treasurer for Friske's campaign testified that she was surprised to be opening enexpected checks from other legislators and special interests that had been solicited by Scott Jensen. Later, the treasurer was asked to send funds back to party leaders with threats that if they didn't pay up now they would get no help in future campaigns.

3) Scott Gunderson. He was mentioned at least twice by government aides in the trial as someone they helped. He said that he couldn't remember because "That's a long dang time ago."

4) Steve Kestell. He testified at the trial that he asked Jensen staffer Sherry Schultz for advice on fundraising and help in filing campaign finance reports.

5) Judy Krawczyk. A party caucus staffer testified that he designed a campaign brochure titled "Let Judy be your Voice" while on the government payroll. Krawczyk says she was not complicit in the crime and just made a dumb mistake in getting swept up in the scandal saying, "If I'm guilty by association, stand me on the courthouse steps and put a dunce cap on my head." A state worker testified that he worked full time on her 2000 campaign and the campaigns of three other candidates while having 50-80% of his time paid for by Wisconsin taxpayers.

6) Gabe Loeffelholz. His treasurer testified at the trial that Jensen's staffer Sherry Schultz helped her after a meeting for campaign treasurers that was set up by a state employee. Schultz later called the treasurer to assure her that special interest PAC checks were on the way.

7) Phil Montgomery. Had a state worker living in his basement working full time on campaigning while mostly on the government payroll.

8) Mark Pettis. A current legislative staffer testified that Jensen's staff assisted her in fundraising when she was working on Pettis's campaign in 2000.

9) Jerry Petrowski. Prosecutors entered his campaign finance records as evidence in the Jensen trial.

10) Jeff Stone. Prosecutors entered Stone's campaign finance filings as evidence in the Jensen trial. One piece of evidence indicated that Jensen's staffer Sherry Schultz, who was convicted at the same trial, sent Stone a fax in 1999 that assisted him in fundraising. It began "Here are the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce names for you . . . ." One witness admitted to working on Stone's 1998 special election campaign while on the payroll of the taxpayer-funded Assembly Caucus -- an outfit that is supposed to only do policy research for political parties. Stone admitted it was possible that state employees aided his 1998 campaign on the government's dime, but that we was unaware of it.

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More information is available at http://www.therestofus.org/wisconsin/jensenten.htm

TheRestofUs.org is a non-profit, non-partisan web-based organization that works to educate citizens about the role of money in politics and what they can do about it. Our recent activity has included submitting an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court supporting Vermont's mandatory spending limits, backing four unsuccessful ballot initiatives in Ohio in November 2005 with the Reform Ohio Now coalition, and watchdogging California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's fundraising for the November 2005 special election.

A copy of the letter we sent to the ten legislators follows:

Dear Assemblymember,

In this cynical age, it is hard to believe that unethical behavior could continue to shock us.

Yet as the likes of Scott Jensen and Jack Abramoff head off to jail, corruption continues unchecked in Wisconsin. As one of ten legislators who were explicitly mentioned at former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen's trial as having either participated or benefited from the activities that Mr. Jensen was ultimately found guilty of, citizens would expect that you would be leading efforts to clean up Wisconsin's government.

There is a whole litany of needed reforms to restore faith in our government ranging from reducing the role of big campaign contributions to improving how we administer elections. Much is needed and Senate Bill 1 is the least of these things, simply establishing an honest process to enforce existing campaign finance and ethics laws. But SB 1 is ready to go forward now, an important first step and demonstration of good faith that legislators understand the problem and want to do something about it. Yet unbelievably there is a chance that the bill may not receive a full vote in the Assembly.

Given the public support for reform, it is simply unacceptable that legislators such as yourself would not go on record with a yea or nay vote on this very basic issue of government integrity. While we hope you will eventually support this important legislation, we call upon you now to publicly demand that Assembly Speaker John Gard and Majority Leader Mike Huebsch schedule a vote on SB 1 during the next floor session. If legislators then want to smother reform in its cradle, they should at least have the courage to do so with a recorded vote in front of their constituents.

TheRestofUs.org is a non-partisan watchdog organization that tracks the role of money in politics and lets citizens know what they can do about it. We will be posting the responses, or lack thereof, from the ten Wisconsin legislators who were named in the Jensen trial to demand a recorded vote on SB 1 on our website http://www.TheRestofUs.org. To add your name to the list of legislators publicly asking for a vote on SB 1, please fax the enclosed form to 608-237-2116.

Thank you,

Darren Gouran - Wisconsin Spokesperson

Derek Cressman -- Director