David Crowley said if elected governor he will move to bar Wisconsin elected officials from trading stocks or participating in prediction markets and stop regulators from working for the utilities they oversaw.

The Dem gubernatorial nominee also said he would move to end an exemption allowing lawmakers to delete legislative documents and correspondence that would otherwise be subject to public records laws.

Speaking outside the state Capitol early this afternoon, Crowley said his policy proposals, which he said would be part of his first state budget, would help restore public faith in government and dismantle what he called “legalized corruption.”

“The ability for elected officials to profit off their office with zero consequences is legalized corruption,” the Milwaukee County executive said. “And then they have the power to hide their corruption from anyone trying to shine a light on the truth.”

Crowley did not cite any instances of corruption in state government, saying his policy platform was a “proactive” response to public corruption in places like Washington, D.C.

Under Crowley’s proposal, lawmakers who own individual stocks would have to place them into a blind trust, while wagering on prediction markets would be banned outright.

Lawmakers would be allowed to invest in mutual funds and index funds, per a campaign spokesperson.

State law bars lawmakers from using their position for personal gain and they are currently required to file an annual statement of economic interest.

Crowley’s prediction market prohibition would also bar state employees from using insider knowledge to inform bets placed in prediction markets – a ban already in effect under an executive order signed by Gov. Tony Evers.

Several bills currently before Congress seek to restrict lawmakers’ trading and wagering habits, including a partial stock trading ban and a ban on wagering on political or policy issues, both authored by U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville.

Crowley also said he would seek to bar Wisconsin energy and utility companies from hiring former Public Service Commission members or lawmakers who oversee utility regulation for at least two years after those public officials leave office.

Some former commissioners have gone on to work for utility companies after their service on the state utility board.

“If you are auditioning for your next job, I would highly encourage you not to apply if I’m the next governor,” Crowley said.

A GOP-led bill introduced earlier this year would have required former commissioners to wait three years after leaving public office to take a job with an investor-owned utility or transmission company.

Some state lawmakers have also sought as recently as this year to remove the rule exempting them from records retention laws. Crowley was party to one such effort as a member of the Assembly in 2019.

In a statement, GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany said he agreed with Crowley that Wisconsin needed strong policies to root out fraud and corruption but that he would go further.

“We should modernize OpenBook Wisconsin so taxpayers can easily search how their money is being spent, set clear response-time standards for open records requests, create agency dashboards that disclose contractors and violations, and strengthen ethics rules to prevent legislators from subcontracting for lobbying entities,” Tiffany said.

He also repeated his pledge to audit “all of state government.”