Records show lobby spending went down

February 20, 2015 11:30 am Leave a comment

Gov. Scott Walker speaks during a tour of Gamber Johnson on Feb. 4 in Stevens Point. Walker raised $30.4 million and spent $32.4 million in the last six months of 2013 and all of 2014, nearly twice the roughly $17 million raised and spent during the 18-month period by his unsuccessful Democratic challenger, Mary Burke. (AP Photo/Stevens Point Journal, Nathan Vine)

The numbers are in, let the crunching begin.

Lawmakers’ per diem boost draws boos

January 30, 2015 3:03 pm Leave a comment

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (right) discusses new rules on debate times with Majority Leader Jim Steineke (left) and Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Tyler August on Jan. 7 in Madison. The Assembly increased per diem payments for members who visit the Capitol for official business. (AP file photo by Scott Bauer)

In 2012, state Assembly leaders proposed raising the per diem payments for members who go to the Capitol on official business.

Tagged with: Bill Lueders Peter Barca Robin Vos Wisconsin Democracy Campaign

State spending on outside service contracts rising

January 16, 2015 10:53 am Leave a comment

Bill Lueders is the Money and Politics Project director at the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.

Each year, as state law requires, the Wisconsin Department of Administration produces a “Contractual Services Purchasing Report.”

Tagged with: Bill Lueders Scott Walker

Walker forecasts end to sky-high spending in races

January 9, 2015 11:29 am Leave a comment

Gov. Scott Walker’s prediction regarding the vast sums spent in the recent gubernatorial elections can be summed up with: This, too, shall pass.

Tagged with: Bill Lueders elections Mary Burke Scott Walker

State records describe power plant saga

December 12, 2014 3:05 pm Leave a comment

The town of Carlton is disputing the state Department of Revenue's decision to accept a lower equalized value for the closed Kewaunee Power Station. Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Resources Services Inc. shut down the nuclear power plant in 2013 after it was unable to find a buyer for the plant. (AP photo submitted by Dominion Resources Services Inc.)

Here’s one overlooked virtue of government transparency: More often than not, it shows public officials acting with good intentions.

Tagged with: Bill Lueders Dominion Resources nuclear power

New tool helps track congressional assets

November 28, 2014 9:39 am Leave a comment

Rep. Tom Petri, R-Wis., speaks May 3 at the Republican Party of Wisconsin State Convention in Milwaukee. According to the MapLight database, a new tool to track assets or members of Congress, Petri led the state’s congressional delegation with assets of between $16 million and $69 million in 2013. He is leaving Congress after 36 years, but his conflicts related to those assets have put him in the hot seat. (AP photo by Jeffrey Phelps)

Congressional members and candidates must disclose their personal financial assets as a check on possible conflicts of interest.

Tagged with: Bill Lueders Gwen Moore Mark Pocan Paul Ryan Reid Ribble Tom Petri

Vos’ attacks on accountability board draw return fire

November 21, 2014 1:32 pm Leave a comment

State Rep. John Nygren (left) co-chairman of the Legislature's budget committee, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos share a laugh before a news conference Nov. 5 in Madison, Wis. Vos is a vocal critic of the state's Government Accountability Board. (AP file photo by Scott Bauer)

Few people in Wisconsin have been more forceful than Robin Vos in demanding changes to the state’s Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections, campaign finance, ethics and lobbying.

Tagged with: Bill Lueders GAB Robin Vos

GOP dominates in cash, turnout

November 14, 2014 3:46 pm Leave a comment

Supporters cheer as they watch election results on TV Nov. 4 during Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker's campaign party in West Allis. Gov. Scott Walker and the Republicans not only won more votes but they also raised more money. (AP photo by Morry Gash)

Gov. Scott Walker and the Republicans rode to victory in the Nov. 4 elections because they got more votes. Period.

Tagged with: Bill Lueders Scott Walker

Wisconsin lags on renewable energy

October 10, 2014 11:37 am Leave a comment

Dane County Regional Airport’s new Airfield Maintenance Building has a 58,000-square-foot garage topped with 376 photovoltaic panels that are capable of producing as much as 135,000 kilowatt hours of electricity in a year. Similar new solar electric projects, according to Renew Wisconsin, a nonprofit advocacy group, have fallen since Gov. Scott Walker took office in 2010.

Matt Neumann needs only one word to describe Wisconsin’s recent record on renewable energy: “rotten.”

Tagged with: Bill Lueders Matt Neumann Michael Vickerman solar SunVest Solar wind

State comes clean on alleged scandal

September 26, 2014 11:13 am Leave a comment

Every scandal needs a name. This one is Dispensergate.

Tagged with: Bill Lueders

The Daily Reporter – WI Construction News & Bids Wisconsin's Construction Authority

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