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Campaign Donors Would No Longer Have To Disclose Employer Under GOP Bill

Change Is Part Of Broader Campaign Finance Overhaul

By
Wisconsin State Capitol
Jake Pfaffenroth (CC-BY-NC-ND)

People will no longer have to list their employers when they give to Wisconsin candidates under a Republican rewrite of the state’s campaign finance laws.

Under the bill sponsored by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, donors would only have to list their occupation. Vos said there is a reason for that.

“Having people say what they do for a living is much more important than saying where they work,” he said.

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Vos said listing employers has led to boycotts in some cases.

But state Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, said some businesses encourage their workers to donate to candidates as a way to get around contribution limits.

“And you get under the radar,” Berceau said. “And depending on the size of the business, it can be a sizeable contribution to a candidate.”

This has been an issue in the recent past: Railroad executive William Gardner pleaded guilty to two felonies in 2011 for illegally funneling donations through his employees to Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign.