Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin said on Monday that he wanted to eliminate the state’s Government Accountability Board, a nonpartisan agency that oversees elections, ethics, campaign finance and lobbying. In 2012, the board voted unanimously to approve an election to recall Mr. Walker, the first governor in the state’s history to face such a challenge, and it later authorized an investigation into allegations of violations by the governor’s campaign in that election. Mr. Walker would replace the board with “something completely new that is truly accountable to the people of the state of Wisconsin,” he told reporters after a bill-signing ceremony.
… Kevin J. Kennedy, the board’s director and general counsel, said in a statement that the agency, established in 2008, had been praised as a national model for administering laws that govern campaign finance and elections.
“Policy makers and elected officials should be bragging about and taking credit for the structure and accomplishments of the G.A.B., and ensuring that it has the resources to continue its statutory responsibilities,” Mr. Kennedy said. “Unfortunately, it has become more expedient to use the G.A.B. as a political target than to honestly assess its performance.”
Full Article: Scott Walker Proposes Shutting Wisconsin Ethics Board – The New York Times.