MADISON, Wis. (AP) - In a hearing room two floors above the state Assembly chamber where he was once its most powerful member, one of the most influential and divisive figures in Wisconsin political history took another step toward his return to public life this week with five simple words.
“My name is Scott Jensen.”
With that, for the first time since he resigned in 2006 amid a scandal that led to a misdemeanor conviction that bars him from ever seeking public office, the former speaker of the state Assembly testified at a public hearing.
Jensen is one of three former Assembly speakers behind a powerful lobbying force that advocates for expanding school choice in Wisconsin. Normally content to work the hallways and private offices of the Capitol where he once wielded power as Assembly speaker between 1995 and 2002, Jensen’s decision to offer testimony on an accountability bill shows how much is at stake.
“I think it was very important to communicate how committed the American Federation for Children was to a serious accountability system,” Jensen said Friday when asked why, after three years as a lobbyist, he decided to speak publicly.
But he says stepping out of the shadows isn’t a sign that he’s come full circle since the caucus scandal broke in 2002, leading to years of legal fights afterward.
“That’s reading too much into it,” Jensen said.
Four other lawmakers were charged in the caucus scandal, which involved using state resources and workers to illegally campaign for legislative candidates.
“What he and others did really undermined confidence in clean government,” said Jay Heck, director of the watchdog group Common Cause Wisconsin. “But time marches on and Scott Jensen is back in the Capitol.”
Jensen was convicted of three misconduct in office felonies in 2006, sentenced to 15 months in prison and banished from even stepping foot in the Capitol for five years. He appealed, and in 2010 Jensen agreed to a deal in which those charges were dismissed. His 2006 misdemeanor conviction involving a violation of the public trust remains.
Just weeks after the plea deal in January 2011, Jensen registered as a lobbyist. His only client is the American Federation for Children. The group has tremendous influence.
It spent $1.1 million to help Republican Gov. Scott Walker defeat the 2012 recall effort. Since 2010 the group has spent an estimated $4.4 million on voucher supporters in Wisconsin, based on a tally by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
Jensen’s group and other school choice advocates are trying to reach a deal on school accountability measurements to help bolster their argument that the voucher program should be allowed to grow.
Two other former Republican Assembly speakers, John Gard and Jeff Fitzgerald, lobby for School Choice Wisconsin.
Jensen said passing a bill this year does make the expansion argument easier. But finding agreement in the Legislature - and among the various interest groups advocating for public and choice schools - has been elusive.
The Senate Education Committee plans to vote Tuesday on a narrow bill that would simply report voucher and charter school data on the current report cards used by public schools. An Assembly bill that would close poor-performing public schools and not allow future voucher students to attend bad private schools does not appear to have support to move forward.
Jensen’s testimony, for information only, came on that bill.
Committee members, of which only three of the 11 had served with Jensen, appeared surprised to see him.
“Thank you for your testimony. I haven’t seen you in a long time,” said Democratic Rep. Sondy Pope.
Jensen didn’t miss a beat.
“You’re looking good,” he told Pope, adding with a smile: “I can’t say the same about myself.”
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