MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s nonpartisan elections and ethics oversight board created under a broad bipartisan deal now faces elimination by Gov. Scott Walker and Republican legislators upset with a series of its decisions. They question the Government Accountability Board’s involvement in a secret investigation into Walker and other conservative groups that the Wisconsin Supreme Court earlier this month declared unconstitutional. Even former Republican Sen. Mike Ellis, who helped broker the broad bipartisan compromise that created the board eight years ago, says changes are needed. But Jay Heck, director of the government watchdog group Common Cause in Wisconsin, says complaints about the board are overblown. And board director Kevin Kennedy says the GAB’s work has been “professional, unbiased, and nonpartisan.”
