GAB deserves support, not demolition

It is clear that some of our lawmakers just don’t fancy the idea of government accountability. Governor Scott Walker has joined the chorus of those calling for an end to Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board. This board oversees elections and ethics laws in the state. It often issues ruling that some lawmakers don’t like, so they think the answer is just to get rid of the agency. Instead, Walker and others would prefer a board that is comprised of their political appointees, otherwise known as partisan hacks. That would be a mistake. The Government Accountability Board was created on the heels of the legislative scandal in 2008 which sent some of our lawmakers, from both political parties to jail for campaigning on the taxpayer’s dime. And every single member of the current legislature who was in office voted in 2008 to create this birpartisan board comprised of retired judges. These people work for us, not a political party. And Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board has been hailed as a national model as it is independent of partisan politics. The GAB should be celebrated, not dismantled. And the state should give them more funding, because its clear these rascals in Madison are giving the board plenty of ethics issues to review.