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1611.52 Clean elections fund grants. (1) Any candidate for a state office, other
17than the office of court of appeals judge, circuit judge, or district attorney, whose
18name is certified under s. 7.08 (2) (a) or 8.50 (1) (d) to appear on the ballot at an
19election may qualify to receive a grant from the clean elections fund by fulfilling the
20requirements of this section.
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21(2) (a) To qualify to receive a basic grant from the clean elections fund, a
22candidate shall obtain and deposit with the state treasurer the number of qualifying
23contributions specified in this subsection, in the amount of $5 each, each of which
24shall be received from an elector of this state and, in the case of a candidate for
25legislative office, an elector of the district in which the candidate seeks office. The
1candidate shall identify the name and address of each elector making a qualifying
2contribution in a report filed with the board as provided in s. 11.06 (1) (a). The
3number of required qualifying contributions for a candidate for each office is:
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1. Governor, 3,000.
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2. Lieutenant governor, 750.
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3. Attorney general, 1,050.
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4. State treasurer, 375.
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5. Secretary of state, 375.
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6. State superintendent, 375.
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7. Justice, 450.
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8. State senator, 150.
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9. Representative to the assembly, 100.
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(b) To qualify to receive a matching grant from the clean elections fund, a
14candidate shall verify his or her receipt of qualifying matching contributions under
15sub. (10).
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(c) In addition to the requirements imposed under pars. (a) and (b), a candidate
17for a state office does not qualify to receive a grant for a general or partisan special
18election unless the candidate is the nominee of a recognized political party for that
19office or the candidate receives at least 1 percent of the total vote cast for all
20candidates on all ballots for the same office at the partisan primary, or at a special
21primary if a special primary is held.
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22(3) Prior to notification that a candidate has qualified to receive a grant from
23the clean elections fund under sub. (5), a candidate may accept seed money
24contributions from individuals. The total seed money contributions accepted by a
25candidate from one contributor, including any seed money contributions made by a
1candidate to his or her own campaign, may not exceed $100. The total seed money
2contributions accepted by a candidate during the candidate's campaign, as defined
3in s. 11.26 (17), may not exceed, in the aggregate, the following amount for the office
4sought by candidate:
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(a) Governor, $50,000.
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(b) Lieutenant governor, $12,500.
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(c) Attorney general, $17,500.
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(d) State treasurer, $6,250.
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(e) Secretary of state, $6,250.
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(f) State superintendent, $6,250.
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(g) Justice, $7,500.
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(h) State senator, $2,500.
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(i) Representative to the assembly, $1,500.
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14(4) A contributor who makes a qualifying contribution may also make a seed
15money contribution in the full amount authorized under sub. (3) or a matching
16contribution in the full amount authorized under sub. (10), or both. A contributor
17who makes a seed money contribution under sub. (3) may also make a matching
18contribution in the full amount authorized under sub. (10).
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19(5) (a) To qualify to receive a grant from the clean elections fund, a candidate
20shall file an application with the board, no later than a time specified by the board
21by rule, in which the candidate shall affirm that he or she has not accepted and agrees
22not to accept after notification of the candidate's qualification a contribution from
23any source other than a contribution required under sub. (2) or a contribution
24authorized under sub. (3), except matching contributions in the amount authorized
25under sub. (10) and except as otherwise provided in par. (b). If the candidate desires
1to receive grant payments by electronic transfer, the candidate shall include in his
2or her application sufficient information and authorization for the state treasurer to
3transfer payments to his or her campaign depository account. The board shall notify
4each candidate who qualifies to receive a grant from the clean elections fund as
5promptly as possible following qualification.
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(b) A candidate who receives a grant at a primary election but does not qualify
7to receive a grant at the succeeding general or special election is not required to
8adhere to his or her affirmation under par. (a) after the date of the primary election.
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9(6) (a) The board shall distribute basic primary election grants from the clean
10elections fund to each candidate who qualifies to receive a grant under this section
11as soon as possible preceding the date on which the primary election is held for the
12office that the candidate seeks or the date on which the primary election would be
13held if a primary election were required to be held.
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(b) The board shall distribute basic grants for the spring, general, and any
15special election from the clean elections fund to each candidate who qualifies to
16receive a grant under this section as soon as possible after the date of the primary
17election for the office sought by the candidate, or the date on which the primary
18election would be held if a primary election were required to be held.
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(c) The board shall distribute matching grants for any election from the clean
20elections fund to each candidate who qualifies to receive a matching grant under this
21section as soon as possible after the date on which the board verifies that the
22candidate is eligible to receive a matching grant. The board shall distribute
23additional matching grants at periodic intervals after initial matching grants are
24distributed as soon as the board is able to verify eligibility for additional grants.
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1(7) A candidate who receives a grant from the clean elections fund shall file
2with the board reports of all disbursements made in the manner provided under s.
311.06 (1) (g), without regard to the amounts thereof.
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4(8) (a) Except as provided in par. (b) and sub. (9), a candidate who qualifies to
5receive a basic grant from the clean elections fund under this section shall receive
6a grant in the following amount for the office sought by the candidate and for the
7election specified:
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(b) If a candidate does not have an opponent who has qualified to have his or
9her name appear on the ballot at the election for which a grant is to be applied, the
10candidate shall receive a basic grant for a primary election equal to the average total
11disbursements made per candidate in primary election campaign periods, as
12determined on a statewide basis by the board from reports filed by or on behalf of
13those candidates in accordance with s. 11.31 (5), for the office that the candidate
14seeks during the 4-year period preceding the date of the primary election, or a basic
15grant for a spring, general, or special election equal to the average total
16disbursements made per candidate in general and special election campaign periods,
1as determined on a statewide basis by the board from reports filed by or on behalf of
2those candidates in accordance with s. 11.31 (5), for the office that the candidate
3seeks during the 4-year period preceding the date of the spring, general, or special
4election, less the aggregate amount of contributions accepted by the candidate under
5sub. (3) except that a candidate for the office of governor shall receive a basic grant
6of $100,000 for a primary election and a basic grant of $200,000 for a general election.
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7(9) (a) In this subsection, "consumer price index" means the average of the
8consumer price index over each 12-month period, all items, U.S. city average, as
9determined by the bureau of labor statistics of the U.S. department of labor.
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(b) The dollar amounts of the grants specified in sub. (8) (a) and the grants
11specified for the office of governor in sub. (8) (b) are subject to a biennial
12cost-of-living adjustment to be determined by rule of the board in accordance with
13this paragraph. To determine the adjustment, the board shall, as soon as possible
14after the end of each odd-numbered year, calculate the percentage difference
15between the consumer price index for the 12-month period ending on December 31
16of the preceding year and the consumer price index for calendar year 2013. For each
17biennium, the board shall multiply the amount of each grant specified in sub. (8) by
18the percentage difference in the consumer price indexes. The board shall then add
19that product to the applicable grant amount under sub. (8), round each sum to the
20nearest multiple of $5, and adjust the amount of each grant to substitute the
21resulting amount. The amount so determined shall then be in effect until a
22subsequent rule is promulgated under this paragraph. Notwithstanding s. 227.24
23(1) (a), (2) (b), and (3), determinations under this paragraph may be promulgated as
24an emergency rule under s. 227.24 without providing evidence that the emergency
25rule is necessary for the public peace, health, safety, or welfare, and without a finding
1of emergency. Notwithstanding ss. 227.135 (2) and (4) and 227.24 (1) (c) and (e) 1d.
2and 1g. and (2) (a), a proposed emergency rule promulgated under this paragraph
3and the statement of the scope of the proposed emergency rule are not subject to
4approval of the governor and the emergency rule remains in effect until the
5nonemergency rule corresponding to that rule takes effect.
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6(10) A candidate who receives notification under sub. (5) that the candidate has
7qualified to receive a basic grant may also qualify to receive matching grants under
8this subsection. A matching grant shall be in an amount equal to 3 times the amount
9of any contribution or contributions up to $25 cumulatively that are received by a
10candidate from an individual exclusive of any seed money or qualifying contributions
11received by the candidate from the same individual. A candidate who receives a
12matching contribution shall separately identify the contribution in the candidate's
13financial reports under s. 11.06 (1). A candidate who receives one or more matching
14contributions after the end of a reporting period for his or her most recent financial
15report may file a special report in the manner prescribed by the board disclosing the
16pertinent information under s. 11.06 (1) in the manner specified in sub. (7) with
17respect to the matching contributions. The candidate shall also include the
18information in his or her next financial report. The board shall make a reasonable
19effort to verify reports of eligibility for matching grants for use at an election if the
20reports are received by the board by the Thursday before the election. The board
21shall not provide matching grants to candidates for use in an election unless the
22board is able to verify eligibility for the grants by 4 p.m. on the Friday before the
23election.
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24(11) Except as provided in sub. (2) (a), a candidate may expend the proceeds
25of grants and other contributions received for any lawful purpose.
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1(12) If a candidate who makes an agreement under sub. (5) does not adhere to
2the agreement, the candidate shall forfeit an amount equivalent to any grant from
3the clean elections fund that is provided to the candidate and the candidate may be
4fined not more than 3 times the amount of any contributions received by the
5candidate in his or her campaign, as defined in s. 11.26 (17), exclusive of the amount
6of any grant or any contributions deposited under sub. (2) or received under sub. (3)
7or (10).
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8(13) No later than the first day of the first month beginning at least 15 days
9after an election at which a candidate receives a grant from the clean elections fund,
10the candidate shall return to the state treasurer any amount of the grant remaining
11in the candidate's campaign depository account, except that a candidate who receives
12a grant at a primary election need not return any amount under this subsection if
13the candidate qualifies to receive a grant at the succeeding spring, general, or special
14election.
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15(14) The board may promulgate rules required to implement this section.
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16Section
39. 14.58 (20a) of the statutes is created to read:
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14.58
(20a) Clean elections fund. Make payment of grants to each candidate
18who is certified under s. 11.52 (5) by the government accountability board as eligible
19to receive a grant from the clean elections fund.
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20Section
40. 20.511 (1) (qa) of the statutes is created to read:
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20.511
(1) (qa)
Clean elections fund grants. From the clean elections fund, a
22sum sufficient to make the grants to candidates required under s. 11.52.
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23Section
41. 20.855 (4) (bc) of the statutes is created to read:
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120.855
(4) (bc)
Clean elections fund supplement. A sum sufficient equal to the
2amounts required to make the grants to candidates required under s. 11.52, to be
3transferred to the clean elections fund.
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4Section
42. 25.17 (1) (aw) of the statutes is created to read:
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25.17
(1) (aw) Clean elections fund (s. 25.426);
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6Section
43. 25.426 of the statutes is created to read:
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725.426 Clean elections fund. All moneys deposited with the state treasurer
8under s. 11.52 (2) or returned to the state treasurer under ss. 8.35 (4) (ba) and 11.52
9(13) and all moneys transferred to the clean elections fund under s. 20.855 (4) (bc)
10constitute the clean elections fund.
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(1)
Notwithstanding section 11.52 (5) of the statutes, as created by this act, a
13candidate for state office who, prior to the effective date of this subsection, has
14accepted one or more contributions other than qualifying contributions under section
1511.52 (2) of the statutes, as created by this act, is not disqualified solely on the basis
16of that acceptance from receiving a grant under section 11.52 of the statutes, as
17created by this act, at an election held after the effective date of this subsection. A
18candidate may use the proceeds of any such contributions to make disbursements for
19any lawful purpose.
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(1)
This act first applies with respect to grants for election campaigns at
22elections for which the nomination paper circulation period begins on or after the
23effective date of this subsection.
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(2) The treatment of section 11.01 (16) (a) 3. of the statutes first applies with
25respect to reporting periods that begin on or after the effective date of this subsection.
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1(3) The treatment of sections 11.31 (9) and 11.52 (9) of the statutes first applies
2to adjustments for the biennium beginning on January 1, 2016.