On the Assembly floor earlier this week and in today’s weekly Democratic radio address, Wisconsin Democrats are calling for complete transparency on open records at Scott Walker’s failed flagship jobs agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation — and asking Attorney General Brad Schimel to do the same.
A resolution offered by Assembly Democrats requested that the governor and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) submit a report to the legislature that provides full records and documentation on any unsecured WEDC loans, WEDC loans issued over concerns of underwriters, or WEDC loans where underwriting documentation is missing or was not complete. The resolution failed on a party line vote. Assembly Democratic Leader Peter Barca renewed the call for accountability today in his weekly radio address.
But as legislative Republicans are blocking the release of basic accounting information, Wisconsin Democrats are calling on Attorney General Brad Schimel to facilitate the release of the full records and documentation requested of WEDC through his Office of Open Government.
A letter from Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning to Attorney General Schimel states that, “Unfortunately, because of the many documented issues at WEDC and the appearance of preferential treatment to Gov. Walker’s political allies, the people of Wisconsin have questions about whether the public officials and employees in question operated under the highest moral and ethical standards. Only complete access to the documents available may restore their full faith and confidence in these public officials and employees. I trust that you still believe, as you have stated previously, that ‘we shouldn’t be looking for things we can deny’ to the public.”
A copy of the letter sent from Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning to Attorney General Schimel is available here.
“I first want to thank Democrats in the legislature for standing up for Wisconsin’s traditions of good, clean government,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning said Thursday. “I then want to invite Attorney General Brad Schimel to join Democrats in calling for the greatest possible release of information regarding the public’s business. We await the assistance of the Office of Open Government in providing complete access to the WEDC documents in question.”
