Madison - Thirty state legislators failed to comply with the state elections law requiring them to disclose the occupation and employer of all contributors who give more than $100, a review of campaign finance reports by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign revealed.

During the most recent reporting period covering the last six months of 1999, lawmakers accepted 132 contributions of over $100 without disclosing the donor's occupation and the name and address of the donor's employer as the law requires (see table below). In 404 other instances, only an occupation was listed for the contributor. The contributions in question represent nearly a third of the 1,845 contributions of more than $100 that were made to legislators in the six-month period.

Many of the contributors whose occupations and employers are not disclosed are well-known political operatives or people who have a long history of making political contributions, WDC Executive Director Gail Shea said.

"Legislators know who these people are. They just are not taking the disclosure law seriously. And in some cases, it's apparent they are deliberately trying to conceal important information about who is donating to their campaigns," Shea said.

Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen's report shows he received 50 contributions totaling $9,400 -- or 22 percent of his individual contributions over $100 -- from 49 people for whom he listed no occupation or employer. Senator Alberta Darling received 14 contributions totaling $7,950 but failed to disclose complete information about the donors. Senator Alice Clausing, who chairs the Senate committee dealing with campaign finance reform legislation, accepted seven contributions worth $4,600 without listing the donors' occupation or employer. Five of Clausing's improperly reported contributions came from out of state, including three donors from New York and one from Chicago who each gave $1,000 and one from Houston who gave $200.

Among the contributors for whom Jensen listed no occupation or employer were Charles and Juanita Vogel of Onalaska and Ronald and Joyce Wanek of Arcadia, each of whom gave Jensen $500, as well as Todd and Karen Wanek of Arcadia, who each gave $250. They are owners and top executives of Ashley Furniture, which last year received a special exemption in the state budget bill for a plant expansion on wetlands. Jensen also listed no occupation or employer for $125 contributor William Koslo, an Arcadia attorney who represents Ashley Furniture in litigation over the exemption.

Some of the 404 contributions with only an occupation listed for the donor appear to legitimately omit employer information because the contributor is listed, for example, as "retired" or as a "homemaker." In other cases, however, the reporting is misleading.

Senator Clausing listed one $1,000 donor, Carl Neuman of New York, as a "physician." State Ethics Board lobbying reports show that a Carl Neuman at the same New York address is president of the Peoples Lottery Foundation, Inc. Ethics Board documents indicate the firm's lobbying interests are the "ability to make lottery loans and assignments."

Representative John Townsend received three $500 contributions from members of the Sadoff family, who run Badger Liquor, but did not disclose any business association. The occupation for one of them, Thomas Sadoff, was reported as "housewife." The Sadoffs are among liquor industry interests who gave generously to candidates from both parties and waged a successful campaign to get a proposal inserted in the state budget bill making it more difficult for liquor distillers to change distributors.

Representative Joan Spillner did not list the occupation or business owned by Badger Liquor President Ronald Sadoff, who gave her $500. Another liquor interest, Metropolitan Liquor Co. President James Alevizos, gave Representative Timothy Hoven $150 but was listed on Hoven's report only as "self-employed" with no company name.

The WDC review also revealed:

• Speaker Jensen received contributions of $125 each from four Northern States Power Company employees but did not identify the donors' employer, even though he had the information because the contributions were made through NSP's conduit, which sent him a letter identifying the contributors.

• Representative John Gard, co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, didn't report the occupation and employer of Doctor Crants, who gave him $250. Crants is president of Corrections Corporation of America in Nashville, Tennessee, which owns prisons leased by Wisconsin to house prisoners out of state.

• Senator Darling did not disclose the occupation or business association of Darshan Dhaliwal, a wealthy Mequon petroleum dealer who gave Darling $1,000 and has donated thousands to candidates in both parties since the early 1990s. Darling also did not disclose the required information about $900 contributor Carol Taylor of Waukesha, a longtime GOP supporter and donor together with her husband Don, or $250 donor Lynne Broydrick, a public affairs consultant for a lobbying firm owned by her parents, William and Cynthia Broydrick.

Shea said these problems could easily be solved by a change in the disclosure law requiring contributions over $100 to be returned to the donor if the required information is not provided. There is no excuse for failing to meet the current law's disclosure requirements, she added, noting that 70 members of the legislature received at least one contribution over $100 and properly reported all of them.

Shea pointed to Representative Jerry Petrowski, Senator Roger Breske and Representative Jean Hundertmark, who raised large amounts in over-$100 donations and disclosed the required information in every single case. Petrowski reported $24,938 in contributions of more than $100, while Breske had $16,692 and Hundertmark had $14,080.

"Petrowski, Breske and Hundertmark took in a lot of money in large chunks, but they all fully complied with the disclosure law. If they can do it, so can the others," Shea said. "If some legislators fail to fully disclose to the public who these big donors are, they shouldn't be able to keep the contributions."