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State Journal photo/SCOTT SEIDRep. Lolita Schneiders poses with the latest version of the little-known plunder box used by legislators.Inc tio; Ofi Thlt;ciaselleffiothficlt;Fel(ImashijprefallValpantrieproihea1outsingBoxesContinued from Page 1Agle liquor, stationery and stamps out of the Capitol.Today, rumors are tamer: Legislators, it is said, use plunder boxes to hold the grandkids’ toys, or to store blankets at the feet of their beds.Through the Progressives’ reforms of the 1880s, the post-Watergate reforms of the 1970s and into the ethics-conscious 1990s, this curious fixture of the Wisconsin Legislature has survived.“It’s a very hoary tradition here,” Holzhueter said.In the past two years, all 33 members of the Senate automatically received plunder boxes, according to the Senate Chief Clerk’s office.In the Assembly, where members must deduct the expense from their office budgets, 73 of 99 legislators got the boxes, state records show.The boxes cost $150 for the basicBut other lawmakers said the boxes have become anachronistic.Rep. Lolita Schneiders, R-Meno-monee Falls, who has six plunder boxes, at first said they are fine coffee tables and file holders.She complained, however, that the handiwork is uneven.“Sometimes I think they parole the good carpenters too early,” Schneiders said.And when told how much the boxes cost, Schneiders quickly concluded: “It’s not a justifiable expense under current conditions. I think it should be looked at as something that’s past its time.”Rep. Scott Jensen, R-Waukesha, who was elected to the Legislature last January, was amused to find out that he was entitled to a plunder box.He didn’t order one.’s as out of date ... as eight-track tapes and horse-drawn carriages,” Jensen said.Such complaints aren’t new. In 1986, then-Rep. John Merkt, now an aide to Assembly Minority Leader David Prosser, called the boxes “just a plunder of taxpayers’
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