SS 116-18

Statement of Scope

Pursuant to wis. stat. § 227.135

wisconsin ethics commission

Rule No.:   ETH Ch. 1

Relating to:   Campaign Finance

Rule Type:   Permanent

1.   Detailed description of the objective of the proposed rule:

The Commission proposes a rule to amend Wis. Admin. Code ETH 1.20 (9), 1.26 (2), 1.26 (6), 1.60 (1) (b), 1.70 (1), and 1.855 (2) to reflect the changes of 2015 Wisconsin Act 117; and create ETH 1.96 to clarify the attribution requirements of s. 11.1303, Stats.

2.   Description of the existing policies relevant to the rule, new policies proposed to be included in the rule, and an analysis of policy alternatives:

The Government Accountability Board previously reviewed the provisions of Wis. Admin. Code ETH 1 as required by 2015 Wisconsin Act 117. In that review, the Board noted several provisions that were inconsistent with the new law, but it did not address other statutory and administrative references within ETH 1 that needed to be updated to harmonize the language with the newly created Chapter 11 or current administrative procedures. This proposed rule would update provisions that currently contain references to the prior version of Chapter 11 as well as references to outdated forms of the Government Accountability Board.

The Commission currently only advises committees as to the language required to comply with s. 11.1303 (2), Stats. However, the Commission regularly receives inquiries regarding the necessity of attributions on certain communications or on items where an attribution cannot be conveniently printed. The Commission also regularly receives inquiries as to the required size of an attribution statement. Wisconsin law currently requires that an attribution statement be “readable, legible, and readily accessible.” This rule will propose standards to better define when an attribution is readable, legible, and readily accessible; as well an exception for certain small items or other communications as allowed by s. 11.1303 (2) (f), Stats.

3.   Detailed explanation of statutory authority for the rule (including the statutory citation and language):

The Commission has general authority for the promulgation of rules to carry out the requirements of Chapter 11. The Commission also has specific authority to promulgate a rule to specify small items or other communications to which s. 11.1303, Stats. does not apply.

s. 11.1303(2)(f), Stats.:

11.1303 Attribution of political contributions, disbursements and communications. 

(2)(f) This subsection does not apply to communications containing express advocacy printed on small items on which the information required by this subsection cannot be conveniently printed, including text messages, social media communications, and certain small advertisements on mobile phones. The commission may, by rule, specify small items or other communications to which this subsection shall not apply.

s. 11.1304(17), Stats.:

11.1304 Duties of the ethics commission. The commission shall:

(17) Promulgate rules to administer this chapter.

s. 19.48(1), Stats.:

19.48 Duties of the ethics commission. The commission shall:

(1) Promulgate rules necessary to carry out ch. 11, subch. III of ch. 13, and this subchapter.

s. 227.11(2)(a), Stats.:

227.11  Extent to which chapter confers rule-making authority.

(2) Rule-making authority is expressly conferred on an agency as follows:

(a) Each agency may promulgate rules interpreting the provisions of any statute enforced or administered by the agency, if the agency considers it necessary to effectuate the purpose of the statute, but a rule is not valid if the rule exceeds the bounds of correct interpretation.

4.   Estimate of the amount of time that state employees will spend developing the rule and of other resources necessary to develop the rule:

The Commission estimates that it will use approximately 0.05 FTE staff to develop this rule. This includes time required for research, rule drafting, preparing related documents, coordinating stakeholder meetings, holding public hearings, legislative review and adoption, and communicating the final rule with affected persons and groups. The Commission will use existing staff resources to develop this rule.

5.   List with description of all entities that may be affected by the proposed rule:

Candidates, candidate committees, political parties, legislative campaign committees, political action committees, independent expenditure committees, conduits, referendum committees, recall committees, and the general public may be affected by the proposed rule.

6.   Summary and preliminary comparison with any existing or proposed federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by the proposed rule:

The Wisconsin Ethics Commission is unaware of any existing or proposed federal regulation that is applicable to this rule.

7.   Anticipated economic impact of implementing the rule (note if the rule is likely to have a significant economic impact on small businesses):

The Wisconsin Ethics Commission anticipates the rule having no economic impact. This proposed rule includes no significant economic impact on small businesses.