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Epic Won't Deal with Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Backers June 27, 2008, 9:47 AM MARK PITSCH
Epic Systems Corp., the Verona-based electronic medical records company, is threatening to pull its business from local vendors who support the state's largest business lobby over a political disagreement with the group. In a statement to the State Journal, the company cited concern over Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce's spending this year on behalf of state Supreme Court candidate Michael Gableman, estimated at $1.8 million, as a reason for working only with vendors whose officials oppose WMC's agenda. "We believe that what we tolerate is what we stand for, and as corporate citizens, we stand for the preservation of the foundation of the judicial system," said the statement, attributed to the Epic Management Team. "… After careful consideration, we made a decision to try to work only with vendors that do not support WMC with its current management. This was not a decision we made lightly, but believe it is the right thing to do." James Buchen, vice president of government relations for WMC, praised Epic as a "great Wisconsin success story" and said the company's leaders have a right to participate in the political process however they choose. "The business community is not monolithic," Buchen said. "There are some liberal business leaders and some conservative business leaders and the beauty of the system is everyone gets to express their point of view. Certainly the management team at Epic has a different take on politics and policy from the WMC leadership. That's their perspective and however they want to act on it is their business." Howard Schweber, a professor of law and political science at UW-Madison, said he's never heard of another situation in which a business threatens not to work with another company based on an election campaign. "The bitterness of the election and the bare-knuckle, anything-goes attitude has seeped past the election cycle," Schweber said. Schweber said while he shares Epic's views of WMC's role in the judicial campaign, he disagrees with the company's "secondary boycott" of vendors who may support the business group. "Putting pressure on a person or business not to associate with another person or business is ethically dubious in my mind," he said. "If people have the power to coerce others to remain silent or change their views, that's a threat to personal liberty." Schweber also said it's possible some Epic vendors who may be members of WMC also opposed the role the group played in the state Supreme Court campaign but still want to remain a part of the business group. CEO's donations The Epic statement was drafted by company founder and chief executive officer Judy Faulkner, executive vice president Carl Dvorak and chief administrative officer Steve Dickmann. Each declined to be interviewed. The statement says Epic has never belonged to WMC, and the company is politically neutral. But Faulkner has contributed heavily to Democrats, including Gov. Jim Doyle and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's online campaign donor file. WMC funded ads opposing Falk in 2006 when she ran for attorney general. The democracy campaign's donor file doesn't show contributions for Dvorak or Dickmann. Faulkner also donated $24,000 to One Wisconsin Now Action, a liberal political group that is now essentially defunct, according to its 2006 tax filing. OWN Action is affiliated with the liberal advocacy organization One Wisconsin Now, which monitors the business group's lobbying and political activities under the banner WMC Watch. Gableman, a Burnett County judge, won a narrow election victory in April over Justice Louis Butler, who was appointed to the state's high court by Gov. Jim Doyle in 2004 and was seeking re-election. The democracy campaign has estimated that outside groups such as WMC, the Greater Wisconsin Committee, Club for Growth Wisconsin and Coalition for America's Families spent $4.3 million on television ads in the race. Of the third-parties that paid for ads, WMC spent the most, the democracy campaign said, all on behalf of Gableman. Buchen called the figure "a reasonable estimate." The liberal Greater Wisconsin Committee spent $1.5 million on behalf of Butler, the democracy campaign said. Leaders consulted The Epic statement said it believes judicial elections "should be of the highest integrity" and that various media reported the campaign "was a travesty of ethics and many analyses pointed to WMC as a responsible party." Epic's officials then consulted with a politically diverse group of industry leaders around Dane County to assess the accuracy of the reports before deciding to work only with vendors that don't support WMC, the statement said. The statement didn't identify the leaders consulted or say whether the company had dropped any vendors yet. Buchen disputed the characterization that WMC was at the center of ad spending in the Supreme Court race. But he defended ads by outside groups such as his, saying they are constitutionally protected, provide information to voters campaigns sometimes don't and can lead to higher voter turnout. WMC is the state's largest business lobby, representing nearly 4,000 companies. The group's agenda focuses on lowering taxes and reducing business regulation and liabilities through reform of the legal system. It has become increasingly active in political campaigns in recent years by purchasing unregulated political ads in the weeks leading up to elections. The ads don't urge a vote for or against a particular candidate, but they are designed to inform voters on issues related to a candidate. WMC's ads on behalf of Gableman touted him as a tough-on-crime judge and prosecutor, and criticized Butler as supporting decisions benefiting criminal defendants.
Epic Expansion Contractor Withdraws from WMC June 27, 2008, 9:21 PM 608-252-6145
The contractor for Epic Systems Corp. 's $200 million expansion in Verona has withdrawn its membership in the state 's largest business lobby, and the company 's leader has resigned from the business group 's board of directors. The June 9 decision by David Cullen, chief executive officer of J.P. Cullen & Sons. of Janesville, to withdraw from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce came after Epic decided to work only with vendors who don 't support the business lobby.
Cullen wouldn't address questions about whether his resignation from WMC 's board was related to Epic 's decision. Epic officials also wouldn't comment.
But James Buchen, vice president of government relations for WMC, said he believes Cullen and his company wouldn 't have pulled out of WMC if the contractor hadn 't been working for Epic. He said the lobbying group will continue its political activities, including spending up to $1 million on unregulated political ads in state legislative races this fall. "There clearly is an organized campaign to go after our board, but the board at the last meeting unanimously reaffirmed the fact that the organization should be committed to speaking out on policy and politics as it affects the business community, " Buchen said. No companies doing business with Epic other than Cullen have resigned from the business lobby, he said.
High court race
In a June 9 letter to WMC, Cullen said "corporate restructuring and analysis " required him to step down from the WMC board and to withdraw his company from the group. Cullen, a frequent contributor to political campaigns, mostly to Republicans, added he still supports "the ideals of the organization to promote a healthy business climate for Wisconsin " and that he will continue to "advocate for sensible public policies that will benefit both the businesses and people in our great state. " The company had more than $112 million in revenue last year, according to the Business Journal of Greater Milwaukee. In a statement this week, Epic officials said they decided to work only with companies that don 't support WMC after the business group spent about $1.8 million on unregulated political ads in support of Supreme Court candidate Michael Gableman. Gableman, a Burnett County judge who ran as a law-and-order conservative, won a narrow election over Justice Louis Butler, who was appointed in 2004 by Gov. Jim Doyle. The company made the decision about a month ago, before Cullen 's letter to WMC, Epic said. Epic, which had more than $500 million in revenue last year, issued another statement Friday, saying that the decision was made by a diverse group of people with varying political viewpoints. "The outcome of the election was never the issue, " the statement said. "The issue was the process, which lacked integrity. This is an ethical decision, not a political decision. "
Liberal criticism
Epic 's decision not to work with supporters of WMC comes as liberal groups have stepped up their criticism of the business lobby over its political activities, which include repeated calls for lower taxes and unregulated ads for conservative candidates like Gableman. The liberal group One Wisconsin Now this year launched WMC Watch, which monitors the business lobby 's political activities and seeks to show the financial impact on the state of the policies WMC supports such as tax cuts for corporations and environmental deregulation. "Given their enormous influence and the cost of their corporate agenda to the people of Wisconsin, it 's essential this information finds the light of day, " said Scot Ross, executive director of OWN. Paul Soglin, a consultant and Madison 's former mayor who also worked at Epic for four years, has been trying to get businesses to withdraw from WMC. He said he met with Cullen in recent months to discuss that possibility for J.P. Cullen. "Epic did not coerce or bully Cullen out of WMC, " Soglin said. "Cullen was ready to jump. What Epic did was highlight the issue. My guess is there 's a lot of other companies ready to do the same thing. "
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