What Happened to McCormick's Ethics Bill Assurances?
It doesn't surprise me that the state GOP decided not to bring the Ethics Reform Bill up for a vote.
What surprises me is that the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is reporting that the bill was killed "overwhelmingly" by a vote of all Assembly Republicans. Apparently only two from the Assembly GOP voted to bring it to the floor: Rep. Terri McCormick (R-Appleton) and Rep. Sheryl Albers (R-Reedsburg).
I mean, we all knew Speaker John Gard wanted it dead, but a vast majority of the GOP Assembly caucus? Evidently even Rep. Stephen Freese (R-Dodgeville) -- who earlier in the night threatened to leave his position as speaker pro term if the bill wasn't brought to the floor -- had a change of heart.
And it was just this past Monday when McCormick released a press statement claiming she personally received word from enough Assembly Republicans to ensure the bill would pass if brought up for a vote.
What happened?
Either Gard must be a pretty persuasive guy or McCormick was fed some big fat li(n)es earlier this week by her colleagues.
Side-Note: How fitting that a bill designed to strengthen the democratic process was killed in the most undemocratic of ways: behind closed doors.
What surprises me is that the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is reporting that the bill was killed "overwhelmingly" by a vote of all Assembly Republicans. Apparently only two from the Assembly GOP voted to bring it to the floor: Rep. Terri McCormick (R-Appleton) and Rep. Sheryl Albers (R-Reedsburg).
I mean, we all knew Speaker John Gard wanted it dead, but a vast majority of the GOP Assembly caucus? Evidently even Rep. Stephen Freese (R-Dodgeville) -- who earlier in the night threatened to leave his position as speaker pro term if the bill wasn't brought to the floor -- had a change of heart.
And it was just this past Monday when McCormick released a press statement claiming she personally received word from enough Assembly Republicans to ensure the bill would pass if brought up for a vote.
What happened?
Either Gard must be a pretty persuasive guy or McCormick was fed some big fat li(n)es earlier this week by her colleagues.
Side-Note: How fitting that a bill designed to strengthen the democratic process was killed in the most undemocratic of ways: behind closed doors.
posted by Seth Zlotocha at Friday, April 28, 2006
2 Comments:
When you have Steve Freese who threatened to leave his job as Speaker Pro-Tem if the bill didn't go through change his mind at the last minute, it makes you wonder.
Exactly. When considered with how the death penalty referendum passed in the Assembly, not a very democratic session for the GOP leadership.
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