Democrats are raising questions about the Wisconsin Legislature’s “GOAT” committee.
It stands for Government Accountability and Transparency. The committee has yet to hold any hearings, but co-chair Representative Shae Sortwell is making records requests of all 72 counties and the state’s 50 largest cities regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. There’s nothing illegal about that, but committee member Representative Mike Bare says Sortwell is acting on his own
“Without any task before the Committee for one committee member to act on behalf of the full committee without anybody else knowing and without their consent, seems like a little bit of an overreach and abuse of that statute,” Bare said.
Sortwell’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos established the GOAT committee.
“My hope is that we see what they find. I don’t know why anybody would be concerned. I mean I am the subject of open records request at least weekly. It’s not always the funnest part of your job but it’s part of what makes Wisconsin government open,” Vox said.
Representative Bare says an initial meeting for the GOAT committee has yet to be scheduled.
