February, 05 , 2010

Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan (D-Janesville) spent more than $5,000 on campaign travel over six months but did not disclose who the payments went to, as required by law.The campaign finance report Sheridan filed with the state this week shows he reimbursed himself $5,608 between July and December for travel that had little or no explanation.Sheridan recently acknowledged he had dated Shanna Wycoff, a lobbyist for the payday loan industry. Sheridan announced in the fall he had softened his stance on regulating payday lenders, but he has insisted this week that dating Wycoff has had no influence on his views on the issue.

An aide to Sheridan said late Thursday that his campaign will amend his report to provide more detail.Legislators and other candidates for office are required to report what hotels and airlines received any payments, said Reid Magney, spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, which oversees the state's election laws."They should disclose who was being paid - that's the idea of disclosure," Magney said.Rebekah Sweeney, a campaign aide to Sheridan, said Sheridan told the board he would amend his report as soon as possible.

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