Profile Page

District #31 - Ronald Brown (R)

Wisconsin State Senator

Incumbent	Incumbent Web Page	Personal Web Page	Who funds the incumbent?
~~Ronald Brown (R)~~	Ronald Brown	Brown's Personal Page	Follow the Money

Challenger	Challenger Web Page	Occupation	Contact
Kathleen Vinehout (D)	www.kathleenvinehout.com		PO Box 1274 Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54702 715-495-2451 kathleen@kathleenvinehout.org

For a list of all candidates for state office go the State Elections Board and click on "All Candidates Registered."

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Who won the Fall 2006 Government Ethics Voter Guide Questionnaire distributed by League of Women Voters, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and Common Cause? See all survey questions at the WDC web site. (I) = Incumbent

(Many of those who did not reply simply do not want to go on record as supporting reforms they know they will vote against, and do not want to be held to their word. Others will say Yes and not mean it, or will vote as dictated by their party. It is up to constituents to hold their representatives to their word.)

Senate, District 31	Question 1	Question 2	Question 3	Question 4	Question 5	Question 6
Kathleen Vinehout (Democrat)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ron Brown (Republican) (I)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Vinehout: No response on #7.

Brown: As a freshman State Senator, I chaired the Senate Committee on Government Reform fighting to restore trust and accountability in government. I have actively supported a government accountability board and comprehensive campaign finance reform as measures to clean up the system. I believe in a citizen legislature, where people from all walks of life represent us. My real life experience as fire chief, grandfather, and small business allows me to be strong advocate for my legislative priorities of tax relief, health care reform, and building a favorable climate for Western Wisconsin job growth.

On the issues

F - Universal Health Care

Incumbent has not been supportive of universal health care, and receives significant campaign contributions from the health care community.

F - Campaign Finance Reform

Incumbent has done nothing to move campaign reform forward.

A+ Ethics Reform

Incumbent voted to pass an Ethics Reform bill (SB1).

Incumbent's record on Ethics Reform: Good

Bill - SB1 (11/1/05 Sequence 239)

The Issue

How Senate Voted

Your Representative

Senate Bill 1 - Establish a Government Accountability Board

Introduced by Mike Ellis (R) in the Senate and
Terri McCormick (R) in the Assembly

It was killed by the Assembly Republicans.

This was a vote on whether to bring the ethics bill to the floor and allow a complete up-or-down vote. By voting against an open floor vote the assembly legislators effectively killed the bill and did not have to go on record as officially opposing ethics reform.

Proponents claim: This bill would establish an independent ethics commission to oversee the state legislature and governor.

See www.wisdc.org

Passed by a vote of 28 to 5

Voting for reform:

R = 16*

D = 12

Voting to block reform:

R = 3

D = 2

See entire assembly roll call vote here and the senate roll call here.

+ + + + + + +

* Incumbent voted FOR bringing SB1 to the floor for a vote (this was the vote preferred by reform advocates)

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Opponents claim: It is too intrusive, requiring the disclosure of personal finances.

(Isn't that what ethics is all about? How can they legitimately vote on an issue without disclosing any conflicts of interest?)

Republicans voting against reform were Grothman, Lasee and Reynolds, Democrats voting against reform were Decker and Taylor

Many politicians refuse to answer the questions in the Project Vote-Smart solicitation because they don't want voters knowing where they stand on the issues! They like being able to fudge and evade when being asked about an issue, and having it on record and posted on the web is the last thing they want. Especially when it can be compared to their voting record while in session.

Project Vote-Smart Rating

INCUMBENT REPEATEDLY REFUSED TO PROVIDE ANY RESPONSES TO CITIZENS ON ISSUES THROUGH THE 2004 NATIONAL POLITICAL AWARENESS TEST

Ratings by Interest Groups: http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=MWI57288

Votes by Category:

Wisconsin Conservation Voters

Rated Incumbent at 11% acceptance

Conservation Scorecard on your state senator at:
http://www.conservationvoters.org/scorecard/sc04_sen_name.shtml

See also incumbent's committee scorecard at:
http://www.conservationvoters.org/votetracker/