SB111: Bill Text

SB111, s. 2 Section 2. 11.01 (5m) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,11,17 11.01 (5m) "Conduit" means an individual who or an organization a committee which receives a contribution of money and transfers the contribution to another individual or organization committee without exercising discretion as to the amount which is transferred and the individual to whom or organization committee to which the transfer is made.

SB111, s. 3 Section 3. 11.01 (9m) of the statutes is created to read:

SB111,11,23 11.01 (9m) "First-time candidate" means a candidate who seeks a particular state office for the first time and who has not previously been a candidate for any other national, state or local office in a jurisdiction or district which includes at least one-third of the residents who reside in the jurisdiction or district in which the candidate seeks office, as determined by the board.

SB111, s. 4 Section 4. 11.05 (14) of the statutes is created to read:

SB111,12,11 11.05 (14) Presumption concerning certain communications. Whenever any person publishes, disseminates or broadcasts, or causes to be published, disseminated or broadcast, any communication that includes a reference to a clearly identified candidate for an office to be filled at a general, spring or special election, during the 60-day period preceding that election or during the 30-day period preceding any primary for that election, and the communication is substantially directed toward the electorate at that election, it is presumed that the communication is made for the purpose of influencing the election or nomination for election of that candidate, unless the person making the communication or causing the communication to be made establishes, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the communication was not made for that purpose.

SB111, s. 5 Section 5. 11.06 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,12,18 11.06 (1) (a) An itemized statement giving the date, full name and street address of each contributor who has made a contribution in excess of $20, or whose contribution if $20 or less aggregates more than $20 for the calendar year, together with the amount of the contribution and the cumulative total contributions made by that contributor for the calendar year and, if the contributor made the contribution through a conduit, the identity of the conduit.

SB111, s. 6 Section 6. 11.06 (1) (d) and (L) of the statutes are amended to read:

SB111,12,22 11.06 (1) (d) An itemized statement of other income in excess of $20, including interest, returns on investments, rebates and refunds received and a separate statement of earnings received, including interest and returns on investments.

SB111,12,25 (L) A statement of cumulative totals for the calendar year of contributions made, contributions received, and disbursements made, including transfers of funds made to or received from other registrants, and earnings received.

SB111, s. 7 Section 7. 11.06 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,13,12 11.06 (2) Disclosure of certain indirect disbursements. Notwithstanding sub. (1), if a disbursement is made or obligation incurred by an individual other than a candidate or by a committee or group which is not primarily organized for political purposes, and the disbursement does not constitute a contribution to any candidate or other individual, committee or group, the disbursement or obligation is required to be reported only if the purpose is to expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or the adoption or rejection of a referendum or if the disbursement is made or the obligation is incurred for the purpose of making a communication specified in s. 11.05 (14). The exemption provided by this subsection shall in no case be construed to apply to a political party, legislative campaign, personal campaign or support committee.

SB111, s. 8 Section 8. 11.06 (11) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,13,16 11.06 (11) (c) A contribution of money received from a conduit, accompanied by the information required under par. (a), is considered to be a contribution from the original contributor for purposes of s. 11.26 (1) and (4).

SB111, s. 9 Section 9. 11.10 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,14,9 11.10 (1) Each candidate in an election shall appoint one campaign treasurer. Except as provided in s. 11.14 (3), each candidate shall designate one campaign depository account within 5 business days after the candidate receives his or her first contribution and before the candidate makes or authorizes any disbursement in behalf of his or her candidacy. If a candidate adopts a preexisting support committee as his or her personal campaign committee, the candidate shall make such designation within 5 business days of adoption. The person designated as campaign treasurer shall be the treasurer of the candidate's personal campaign committee, if any. The candidate may appoint himself or herself or any other elector as campaign treasurer. A registration statement under s. 11.05 (2g) or (2r) must be filed jointly by every candidate and his or her campaign treasurer. The candidate does not qualify for ballot placement until this requirement is met. Except as authorized under s. 11.06 (5), the campaign treasurer or candidate shall certify as to the correctness of each report required to be filed, and the. The candidate who appoints a campaign treasurer bears the responsibility for the accuracy of each report acts of the treasurer for purposes of civil liability under this chapter , whether or not the candidate certifies it personally.

SB111, s. 10 Section 10. 11.12 (1) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,14,15 11.12 (1) (c) Where a disbursement is made in support of more than one candidate, the person making the disbursement shall be apportioned reasonably among apportion the disbursement as contributions to the candidates who benefit from the disbursement. This paragraph does not apply to any disbursement made by a political party from a grant received under s. 11.50 (2s) (b).

SB111, s. 11 Section 11. 11.14 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,15,5 11.14 (1) Except as authorized in sub. (3) and as required by s. ss. 11.16 (5) and 11.50 (2s) (h), all funds received by a campaign or committee treasurer, group treasurer, candidate or other individual shall be deposited by the treasurer in a single separate campaign depository account designated in accordance with s. 11.16 (3). Except as authorized in sub. (3), the depository account shall be established by every candidate no later than the time prescribed in s. 11.10 (1), and by every other individual or treasurer no later than the 5th business day after becoming subject to a registration requirement under s. 11.05 and before making any disbursement. The depository account may be established with any financial institution as defined in s. 705.01 (3) which is authorized to transact business in this state. The individual or treasurer shall deposit all funds received in the campaign depository account no later than the 5th business day commencing after receipt. This subsection does not apply to a contributor committee or group which is exempt from registration under s. 11.05 (8).

SB111, s. 12 Section 12. 11.14 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,15,12 11.14 (2) After Except as otherwise provided in s. 11.50 (2s) (h), after deposit in the campaign depository account, funds may be transferred by the individual or treasurer to any other account which is identified under s. 11.05 (3) (L). Funds deposited in other accounts may not be directly disbursed but shall be returned to the depository account for purposes of disbursement. Disbursements shall be made only in accordance with s. 11.16 (3).

SB111, s. 13 Section 13. 11.16 (1) (d) of the statutes is renumbered 11.16 (1) (d) (intro.) and amended to read:

SB111,15,16 11.16 (1) (d) (intro.) This subsection does not apply to disbursements any of the following:

SB111,15,18 1. Disbursements and obligations which are exempted from reporting under s. 11.06 (2).

SB111, s. 14 Section 14. 11.16 (1) (d) 2. of the statutes is created to read:

SB111,15,22 11.16 (1) (d) 2. Disbursements made or obligations incurred by a political party from the proceeds of a grant received under s. 11.50 for a purpose specified in s. 11.50 (7) (c).

SB111, s. 15 Section 15. 11.21 (15) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,16,4 11.21 (15) Inform each candidate who files an application to become eligible to receive a grant from the Wisconsin election campaign fund of the dollar amount of the applicable disbursement limitation under s. 11.31 (1) or (1m), whichever is applicable, adjusted as provided under s. 11.31 (9), which applies to the office for which such person is a that candidate. Failure to receive the notice required by this subsection does not constitute a defense to a violation of s. 11.27 (1) or 11.31.

SB111, s. 16 Section 16. 11.21 (17) of the statutes is created to read:

SB111,16,11 11.21 (17) On or before February 15 and August 15, notify the campaign treasurer of each candidate who and personal campaign committee which owes a tax under subch. XIII of ch. 77, based on any continuing or termination report that was filed with the board covering the period ending on the preceding December 31 or June 30, respectively. The notice shall include an identification of the specific form prescribed for payment of the tax.

SB111, s. 17 Section 17. 11.22 (11) of the statutes is created to read:

SB111,16,18 11.22 (11) On or before February 15 and August 15, notify the campaign treasurer of each candidate who and personal campaign committee which owes a tax under subch. XIII of ch. 77, based on any continuing or termination report that was filed with the filing officer covering the period ending on the preceding December 31 or June 30, respectively. The notice shall include an identification of the specific form prescribed for payment of the tax.

SB111, s. 18 Section 18. 11.24 (1s) of the statutes is created to read:

SB111,16,24 11.24 (1s) No candidate or personal campaign committee may make a contribution to any person, committee or group subject to a registration requirement under s. 11.05 except to dispose of residual contributions at the time of filing a termination report. No candidate or personal campaign committee may accept a contribution made in violation of this subsection.

SB111, s. 19 Section 19. 11.24 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 11.24 (5).

SB111, s. 20 Section 20. 11.24 (4) of the statutes is created to read:

SB111,17,14 11.24 (4) No committee identified under s. 11.05 (3) (c) as a special interest committee, including a committee serving as a conduit, and no individual who is a conduit may make a contribution to an incumbent partisan state elective official or to the personal campaign committee or support committee authorized under s. 11.05 (3) (p) of that official for the purpose of promoting that official's nomination or reelection to the office held by the official during the period beginning on the first Monday of January in each odd-numbered year and ending on the date of enactment of the biennial budget act and thereafter during any legislative floorperiod, including any special or extraordinary session floorperiod. This subsection does not apply to a contribution made to an individual who is a candidate for state office at a special election or to the personal campaign committee of such an individual during the period commencing on the date that the special election is ordered and ending on the date of the special election.

SB111, s. 21 Section 21. 11.25 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,17,21 11.25 (2) (a) No Except as provided in par. (b) or as otherwise specifically provided by law, no person, committee or group may make or authorize a disbursement or the incurrence of an obligation from moneys solicited for political purposes for a contributions received by that person, committee or group for any purpose which is other than a political, except as specifically authorized by law purpose.

SB111, s. 22 Section 22. 11.25 (2) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,18,11 11.25 (2) (b) Notwithstanding par. (a), a A registrant may accept contributions and make disbursements from a campaign depository account for the purpose of making expenditures in connection with a campaign for national office; for payment of civil penalties incurred by the registrant under this chapter , other than civil penalties incurred personally by a candidate or candidate's campaign treasurer; or for payment of the expenses of nonpartisan campaigns to increase voter registration or participation. Notwithstanding par. (a), a personal campaign committee or support committee may accept contributions and make disbursements from a campaign depository account for payment of inaugural expenses of an individual who is elected to state or local office. If such expenses are paid from contributions made to the campaign depository account, they are reportable under s. 11.06 (1) as disbursements. Otherwise, such expenses are not reportable under s. 11.06 (1). If contributions from the campaign depository account are used for such expenses, they are subject to s. 11.26.

SB111, s. 23 Section 23. 11.25 (4) of the statutes is created to read:

SB111,18,21 11.25 (4) If a candidate dies or ceases to be a candidate, and the candidate's personal campaign committee thereafter files a statement under s. 11.06 (7) indicating its intent to operate as an independent committee, the committee may not make any disbursement to advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate in an election that is derived in whole or in part from contributions received by the committee prior to the date on which the committee files the statement under s. 11.06 (7) in an amount or value exceeding the maximum contribution that the committee is permitted to make to that candidate in any campaign under s. 11.26 (2).

SB111, s. 24 Section 24. 11.26 (1) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,19,2 11.26 (1) (intro.) No individual, except an individual serving as a conduit, may make any contribution or contributions to a candidate for election or nomination to any of the following offices and to any individual or committee under s. 11.06 (7) acting solely in support of such a candidate or solely in opposition to the candidate's opponent to the extent of more than a total of the amounts specified per candidate:

SB111, s. 25 Section 25. 11.26 (1) (a), (b) and (c) of the statutes are amended to read:

SB111,19,5 11.26 (1) (a) Candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, state superintendent or justice, $10,000 $5,000.

SB111,19,6 (b) Candidates for state senator, $1,000 $500.

SB111,19,7 (c) Candidates for representative to the assembly, $500 $250.

SB111, s. 26 Section 26. 11.26 (2) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,19,15 11.26 (2) (intro.) No committee, including a committee serving as a conduit, other than a political party committee or legislative campaign committee , may make or transfer any contribution or contributions to a candidate for election or nomination to any of the following offices and to any individual or committee under s. 11.06 (7) acting solely in support of such a candidate or solely in opposition to the candidate's opponent to the extent of more than a total of the amounts specified per candidate:

SB111, s. 27 Section 27. 11.26 (2) (a), (b) and (c) of the statutes are amended to read:

SB111,19,19 11.26 (2) (a) Candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, state superintendent or justice, 4% of the value of the disbursement level specified in the schedule under s. 11.31 (1) $1,000.

SB111,19,20 (b) Candidates for state senator, $1,000 $500.

SB111,19,21 (c) Candidates for representative to the assembly, $500 $250.

SB111, s. 28 Section 28. 11.26 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,20,2 11.26 (4) No individual, except an individual serving as a conduit, may make any contribution or contributions to all candidates for state and local offices and to any individuals who or committees which are subject to a registration requirement under s. 11.05, including legislative campaign committees and committees of a political party, to the extent of more than a total of $10,000 in any calendar year.

SB111, s. 29 Section 29. 11.26 (9) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 11.26 (9) and amended to read:

SB111,20,11 11.26 (9) No individual who is a candidate for state or local office may receive and accept more than 65% 25% of the value of the total disbursement level for candidates other than first-time candidates, as determined under s. 11.31 (1) and adjusted as provided under s. 11.31 (9), for the office for which he or she is a candidate during any primary and election campaign combined from all committees subject to a filing requirement, including political party and legislative campaign committees and committees serving as conduits.

SB111, s. 30 Section 30. 11.26 (9) (b) and (c) of the statutes are repealed.

SB111, s. 31 Section 31. 11.26 (10) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,21,4 11.26 (10) No candidate for state office who files a sworn statement and application to receive a grant from the Wisconsin election campaign fund may make contributions of more than 200% of the amounts specified in sub. (1) to the candidate's own campaign from the candidate's personal funds or property or the personal funds or property which are owned jointly or as marital property with the candidate's spouse, unless the board determines that the candidate is not eligible to receive a grant, the candidate withdraws his or her application under s. 11.50 (2) (h), or s. 11.50 (2) (i) applies. For purposes of this subsection, any contribution received by a candidate or his or her personal campaign committee from a committee which is registered with the federal elections commission as the authorized committee of the candidate under 2 USC 432 (e) shall be treated as a contribution made by the candidate to his or her own campaign. The contribution limit of sub. (4) applies to amounts contributed by such a candidate personally to the candidate's own campaign and to other campaigns, except that a candidate may exceed the limitation if authorized under this subsection to contribute more than the amount specified to the candidate's own campaign, up to the amount of the limitation.

SB111, s. 32 Section 32. 11.26 (12m) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,21,8 11.26 (12m) For purposes of this section subs. (1) and (4), a contribution of money received from a conduit identified in the manner prescribed in s. 11.06 (11) (a) shall be considered a contribution received from the original contributor.

SB111, s. 33 Section 33. 11.26 (13) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,21,12 11.26 (13) Except as provided in sub. (9), contributions Contributions received from the Wisconsin election campaign fund are not subject to limitation by this section.

SB111, s. 34 Section 34. 11.31 (1) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,21,18 11.31 (1) Schedule. (intro.) The following levels of disbursements are established with reference to the candidates listed below. The levels are subject to adjustment under subs. (1m) and (9). Except as provided in sub. (2), such levels do not operate to restrict the total amount of disbursements which are made or authorized to be made by any candidate in any primary or other election.

SB111, s. 35 Section 35. 11.31 (1) (a) to (d) of the statutes are amended to read:

SB111,21,20 11.31 (1) (a) Candidates for governor, $1,078,200 $3,500,000.

SB111,21,21 (b) Candidates for lieutenant governor, $323,475 $1,125,000.

SB111,21,22 (c) Candidates for attorney general, $539,000 $750,000.

SB111,21,24 (d) Candidates for secretary of state, state treasurer, justice or state superintendent, $215,625 $350,000.

SB111, s. 36 Section 36. 11.31 (1) (de) of the statutes is created to read:

SB111,22,1 11.31 (1) (de) Candidates for justice, $400,000.

SB111, s. 37 Section 37. 11.31 (1) (e) and (f) of the statutes are amended to read:

SB111,22,5 11.31 (1) (e) Candidates for state senator, $34,500 total in the primary and election, with disbursements not exceeding $21,575 for either the primary or the election $100,000.

SB111,22,8 (f) Candidates for representative to the assembly, $17,250 total in the primary and election, with disbursements not exceeding $10,775 for either the primary or the election $50,000.

SB111, s. 38 Section 38. 11.31 (1m) of the statutes is created to read:

SB111,22,12 11.31 (1m) Disbursement level for first-time candidates. The disbursement level for a first-time candidate is 110% of the amount specified in sub. (1) for any other candidate, adjusted as provided under sub. (9).

SB111, s. 39 Section 39. 11.31 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,23,3 11.31 (2) Limitation imposed. No candidate for state office at a spring or general election who files a sworn statement and application to receive a grant from the Wisconsin election campaign fund may make or authorize total disbursements from the campaign treasury in any campaign to the extent of more than the amount prescribed in sub. (1) or (1m), whichever is applicable, adjusted as provided under sub. (9), unless the board determines that the candidate is not eligible to receive a grant, the candidate withdraws his or her application under s. 11.50 (2) (h), or s. 11.50 (2) (i) applies. No candidate for state office at a special election who files a sworn statement and application to receive a grant from the Wisconsin election campaign fund may make or authorize total disbursements from the campaign treasury in any campaign to the extent of more than the amount prescribed under sub. (1) or (1m), whichever is applicable, adjusted as provided under sub. (9), for the preceding spring or general election for the same office, unless the board determines that the candidate is not eligible to receive a grant, the candidate withdraws his or her application under s. 11.50 (2) (h), or s. 11.50 (2) (i) applies.

SB111, s. 40 Section 40. 11.31 (2m) of the statutes is repealed.

SB111, s. 41 Section 41. 11.31 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB111,23,11 11.31 (3) Gubernatorial campaigns. For purposes of compliance with the limitations imposed under sub. (2), candidates for governor and lieutenant governor of the same political party who both accept grants from the Wisconsin election campaign fund may agree to combine disbursement levels under sub. (1) (a) and (b), adjusted as provided under sub. (9), and reallocate the total level between them. The candidates shall each inform the board of any such agreement.

SB111, s. 42 Section 42. 11.31 (3m) of the statutes is repealed.

SB111, s. 43 Section 43. 11.31 (4) of the statutes is repealed.