U.S. Rep. Ron Kind today said the La Crosse Loggers Foundation should be subject to further investigation after his likely GOP opponent acknowledged improper payments from the non-profit to pay a personal debt.

After the state Democratic Party filed a complaint last week, state Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse and owner of the independent La Crosse Loggers baseball team, admitted that the foundation should not have paid some $32,000 to the city of La Crosse as part of a debt repayment plan for renovations to the Loggers' stadium.

"I think everyone is disappointed," Kind said in an interview with WisPolitics. "I've known state Sen. Kapanke for some time, but everyone knows that you cannot be taking money out of a charitable foundation for personal uses."

"I mean, that's just basic. It's fundamental."

Kind declined to join DPW Chairman Mike Tate in calling for Kapanke to suspend his congressional campaign, but he said Kapanke's admission should result in a deeper investigation of the non-profit group.

"The fact that the acknowledged that the initial sum was a lot less than what he was actually doing alone would speak for further investigation or an audit of this charitable foundation at the very least," Kind said.

The La Crosse Democrat, who hosted about 100 guests at a fundraising luncheon in Madison, said his own campaign has been working hard throughout the district on "all things economic."

He said he's focused on loosening credit markets for small businesses, a national manufacturing plan and a state innovation agenda. Kind said he hopes the president's call for passage of the small business loan program bill this week will spur the Senate to action when it returns next month.

"They're going to be the locomotive pull us out of this recession," Kind said of the country's small businesses. "And I'm hearing from too many of them the credit markets are still too tight, they're still too frozen, and they're not working that efficiently."