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Sunshine Week is organized by the News Leaders Association to promote open government.(Photo: News Leaders Association)

Its the gift that keeps on giving for Wisconsin Republicans. A decade ago, they secretly carved up the state in agerrymander so extreme that even 10 years later many voters are disenfranchised.

It was a neat trick: Take power from the people, give it to yourself,send the people the bill. The cost of redistricting a decade ago:$3.5 million, most of it going to high-priced lawyers.

Congressional and legislative lines will again be adjusted starting this yearto account for changes in population. This time, that work should be done in public.

OPINION: Ten years ago, when Wisconsin legislators drew voting maps in secret, it cost taxpayers $3.5 million. We need a more open process.

In his budget proposal, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers urges that the process be conducted in the open, that legislative records be retained for 10 years, and that legislative action on redistricting comply with Wisconsins open meetings law.

True transparency would help ensure fairer maps, but I wouldnt stop there. The entire process needs to be reformed. In Iowa, a nonpartisan state agency draws up the maps for an up-or-down vote in the legislature. That has resulted in less partisanship and better government in our neighbor to the southwest. For years, bills to do something similar in Wisconsin have failed to get a hearing.

RELATED: Tired of elections that don't seem fair? Iowa has a better way

RELATED: Documents were deleted from Republicans' redistricting computers

Gerrymandering got its name from Elbridge Gerry, governor of Massachusetts, who signed into law a redistricting plan in 1812 designed to keep his party in power. The Boston Gazette called it "The Gerrymander: A New Species of Monster."(Photo: FILE)

Gerrymandering drawing legislative boundaries to subvert the redistricting process is as old as the republic. Crafty political operatives, Democratand Republicanalike, have done it.

But rarely has the redistricting been as corrupted as it was in 2011 when Republicans went for the kill.

They set up shop across from the state Capitol and drew up highly partisan maps in a clandestine process so secretive that even their own lawmakers had to sign a document vowing they wouldnt talk about the maps. There was strong evidence that documents related to redistricting were withheld from the public or destroyed.

Republican leaders wanted to keep these things from you for a reason: They feared that voters would revolt if they knew the exact contours of their work.

Gerrymandering transfers power from citizens to legislative leadership from you to people like Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. It gives more power to well-heeled donors, too, the people Vos and others beg money from.

It gives Republicans who toe the line complete job security. Coddledin safe districts, the only way they canlose is if a well-financed opponent decides to take them on in the primary.

Many voters have no real choice.

It's Wisconsin-nice machine politics, perhaps not quite as crude as in Chicago but leading to the same place: corruption.

Its one big reason government doesnt work very well in Wisconsin. Its a reason the Legislature sat on its hands last year without offering a comprehensive COVID-relief bill. Or why Republicanlegislators could keep fighting a sensible mask mandate for months during the deadliest pandemic in a century, even though large majorities of voters in Wisconsin favor mask-wearing.

But you cant really blame these Republicans. Why should they care? They know they cant be held accountable.

In 2018, the Journal Sentinels Craig Gilbert found that the GOP gerrymander was so skillful that even though the sitting Republican governor, Scott Walker, lost by about a percentage point to Evers, he still carried 63 of the states 99 state Assembly districts. Gilbert found that 64 of the 99 districts were more Republican than the state as a whole.

In other words: Nearly a decade later, Republicans still enjoyed a baked-in 64-35 advantage in the state Assembly.

Thats some cake. And they got to eat it, too.

RELATED: Scott Walker's eight years as governor ushered in profound change in Wisconsin

Their gerrymander locked in a conservative revolution in Wisconsin that began with the Tea Party wave election of 2010. With their power secure, Republicans could do almost anythingthey wanted.

They could try to gut the state open records law on the Fourth of July in 2015 a move turned back by an infuriated public. Or, in the same bill, sneak in language that made it easier for a foreign pipeline company to use the state's power to condemn private property languagesuggestedby the company's lawyers.

And, as Walker was leaving office, they could limit the power of his Democratic successor.

There is no modern parallel in Wisconsin for such a broad use of raw political power.

Now, Republicans are ready to slice thecake again. They have agreed to spend $1 million or more this year in taxpayer dollars for the legal battles to come. If they have their way, theyll keep the process just as secretive.

That shouldnt happen. This process should be open, records should be kept, and any redistricting actions should comply with the state open meetings law.

"There should be statewide pressure on our state elected officials to conduct redistricting with a maximum amount of transparency," says Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, which advocates for open government. (Disclosure: I am a member of the council).

Demand better. Tell elected officials that you believe in transparency and expect it from them.

Put an end to this corruption.

David D. Haynes iseditor of the Ideas Lab and leader of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Editorial Board. Learn more about the Editorial Board and its members. Email: david.haynes@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidDHaynesor Facebook.

Sunshine Week was launched in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors now News Leaders Association and has grown into an enduring initiative to promote open government. Sunshine Week this year is March 14-20. Learn how you can get involved atnewsleaders.org/sunshine-week-about

If you want to contact your lawmakers, you can find them here.

Here's how to contact the leaders of the Assembly andSenate:

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), (608) 266-9171, rep.vos@legis.wisconsin.gov

Senate Majority Leader Senator Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg),(608) 266-2056, Sen.LeMahieu@legis.wisconsin.gov

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Opinion: A decade ago, Wisconsin Republicans locked in their power through gerrymandering. Open up this secretive process to the public. - Milwaukee...