Committee Head Doesn't Believe In Wood Expulsion

MADISON, Wis. (WTAQ) - The head of a committee that’s considering the proposed expulsion of State Representative Jeff Wood does not believe it will happen. Assembly Democrat Mary Hubler of Rice Lake said she opposed Wood’s expulsion, after the lawmaker who pushed for it spent an hour testifying before her panel Tuesday. Whitewater Republican Steve Nass said Wood deserved to be expelled, saying he used bad judgment in his 3 OWI arrests over the past 16 months.

Wood, an independent from Chippewa Falls, has agreed to a plea bargain in a drunk driving case in Columbia County. But he’s challenging the allegations that he had excessive medications in his system while driving in Marathon and Monroe counties. Hubler said Wood’s guilt in the Columbia County case might be enough to justify an official reprimand or censure. But she said it would be a “huge embarrassment” if he was expelled, and the latter 2 charges were later dropped. She also doubted that enough members would vote to remove Wood when it gets to the full Assembly. And Hubler said future petitions for expulsion should be signed by at least 15 members, so a single lawmaker cannot use the process to, “throw bombs” at their political enemies.

Nass was the only sponsor of the resolution to remove Wood, who left Nass’s Republican Party 2 years ago over disagreements in philosophy. Under questioning Tuesday, Nass said the question for the Assembly is not innocence or guilt, but whether the conduct was outside the boundaries of a legislator.