Wisconsin Republicans Loosen Lead Paint Laws After Political Donation

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, and the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature allegedly approved a measure that retroactively protects paint makers from liability after a lead producer contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to campaign recall elections for Walker and other Republicans.

Documents that were leaked from a closed John Doe investigation by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin into Walker’s campaign and the possibility of violations in campaign finance law show that Harold Simmons, owner of NL Industries, a company that used to produce the lead formerly used in paint, made three donations totaling $750,000 to the Wisconsin Club for Growth (WCfG) between April 2011 and January 2012, according to The Guardian.

The donations were allegedly used to fund Walker’s recall campaign, but by using third-party WCfG, a tax-exempt organization, the governor was not withheld to the maximum contribution allowed under state law, $43,000.

“Contributions were personally solicited by Governor Scott Walker to WCfG … in order to circumvent the reporting and contributions provisions of Wisconsin statutes,” Robert Stelter, an investigator on the John Doe case, alleged.

The donations made by Simmons were done before and after two laws that benefited the paint industry were approved by the state Legislature. The first in 2011, and the other in June 2013.

A separate donation of $700,000, made by mining firm Gogebic Taconite to WCfG occurred before the GOP-controlled Legislature and Walker approved legislation that streamlined regulations for an iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin.

At least one of the donations given to WCfG had “because Scott Walker asked” printed on the check’s memo line.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was also included in the investigation, having donated $15,000 to WCfG after meeting with Walker in 2012.

Trump has publicly admitted that donations made to politicians result in favors.

“You better believe it… I will tell you that our system is broken. I gave to many people. Before this, before two months ago, I was a businessman,” he said during an August 2015 GOP debate, according to Vox. “I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them, two years later, three years later, I call them. They are there for me. And that’s a broken system.”

While NL Industries did contribute to WCfG, allegedly for Walker and other Republicans campaigns, the leaked documents do not show that Walker attempted to change the law as a favor to the company, according to researchers at The Guardian.

Sources: The Guardian, Vox / Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr