What do you make of caucus meetings?
Freshman Rep. Debra Kolste, D-Janesville, has signed on as a co-sponsor of a bipartisan proposal from Reps. Cory Mason, D-Racine, and Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah. They’re seeking co-sponsors during this Sunshine Week—a national initiative to promote open government and freedom of information—to fix a gap in this state’s open meetings law.
Wisconsin has one of the strongest open meetings laws in the country. It creates a presumption that governmental bodies must meet in open sessions. Yet the law allows exemptions, and one of these allows our state legislators in Madison to huddle behind closed doors in separate Republican and Democratic caucus meetings.
Doesn’t erasing this exemption make sense? Does this legislation stand a chance of passing?
We’ll share our perspectives in our editorial Friday.
Greg Peck can be reached at (608) 755-8278 or gpeck@gazettextra.com. Or follow him on Twitter or Facebook
Mar 15, 2013 at 9:52 p.m.
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What happened to the good old days when caucuses of good old boys were informally held in bars across the street?
Mar 15, 2013 at 11 a.m.
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We all know that caucus' are where the "magic" happens.ELIMINATE the ability to rehearse the story behind closed doors and end caucuses. Those who have nothing to hide...hide nothing!
It's disappointing to see bad bills crop up over night with a 48-hour public response time only to see it go to the floor and pass on a partyline vote with hours of worthless debate that comes too late for impact.
Hooray for legislators who wish to SERVE the public they represent, and do so OPENLY. Nice job Rep. Kolste!
Mar 14, 2013 at 7:18 p.m.
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I think we'll end up seeing black smoke from the rotunda on this issue.
I'm just sayin'...
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