AB353: Bill Text

AB353,19,5 (2) (a) To qualify to receive a basic grant from the clean elections fund, a candidate shall obtain and deposit with the state treasurer the number of qualifying contributions specified in this subsection, in the amount of $5 each, each of which shall be received from an elector of this state and, in the case of a candidate for legislative office, an elector of the district in which the candidate seeks office. The candidate shall identify the name and address of each elector making a qualifying contribution in a report filed with the board as provided in s. 11.06 (1) (a). The number of required qualifying contributions for a candidate for each office is:

AB353,19,6 1. Governor, 3,000.

AB353,19,7 2. Lieutenant governor, 750.

AB353,19,8 3. Attorney general, 1,050.

AB353,19,9 4. State treasurer, 375.

AB353,19,10 5. Secretary of state, 375.

AB353,19,11 6. State superintendent, 375.

AB353,19,12 7. Justice, 450.

AB353,19,13 8. State senator, 150.

AB353,19,14 9. Representative to the assembly, 100.

AB353,19,17 (b) To qualify to receive a matching grant from the clean elections fund, a candidate shall verify his or her receipt of qualifying matching contributions under sub. (10).

AB353,19,23 (c) In addition to the requirements imposed under pars. (a) and (b), a candidate for a state office does not qualify to receive a grant for a general or partisan special election unless the candidate is the nominee of a recognized political party for that office or the candidate receives at least 1 percent of the total vote cast for all candidates on all ballots for the same office at the partisan primary, or at a special primary if a special primary is held.

AB353,20,6 (3) Prior to notification that a candidate has qualified to receive a grant from the clean elections fund under sub. (5), a candidate may accept seed money contributions from individuals. The total seed money contributions accepted by a candidate from one contributor, including any seed money contributions made by a candidate to his or her own campaign, may not exceed $100. The total seed money contributions accepted by a candidate during the candidate's campaign, as defined in s. 11.26 (17), may not exceed, in the aggregate, the following amount for the office sought by candidate:

AB353,20,7 (a) Governor, $50,000.

AB353,20,8 (b) Lieutenant governor, $12,500.

AB353,20,9 (c) Attorney general, $17,500.

AB353,20,10 (d) State treasurer, $6,250.

AB353,20,11 (e) Secretary of state, $6,250.

AB353,20,12 (f) State superintendent, $6,250.

AB353,20,13 (g) Justice, $7,500.

AB353,20,14 (h) State senator, $2,500.

AB353,20,15 (i) Representative to the assembly, $1,500.

AB353,20,20 (4) A contributor who makes a qualifying contribution may also make a seed money contribution in the full amount authorized under sub. (3) or a matching contribution in the full amount authorized under sub. (10), or both. A contributor who makes a seed money contribution under sub. (3) may also make a matching contribution in the full amount authorized under sub. (10).

AB353,21,7 (5) (a) To qualify to receive a grant from the clean elections fund, a candidate shall file an application with the board, no later than a time specified by the board by rule, in which the candidate shall affirm that he or she has not accepted and agrees not to accept after notification of the candidate's qualification a contribution from any source other than a contribution required under sub. (2) or a contribution authorized under sub. (3), except matching contributions in the amount authorized under sub. (10) and except as otherwise provided in par. (b). If the candidate desires to receive grant payments by electronic transfer, the candidate shall include in his or her application sufficient information and authorization for the state treasurer to transfer payments to his or her campaign depository account. The board shall notify each candidate who qualifies to receive a grant from the clean elections fund as promptly as possible following qualification.

AB353,21,10 (b) A candidate who receives a grant at a primary election but does not qualify to receive a grant at the succeeding general or special election is not required to adhere to his or her affirmation under par. (a) after the date of the primary election.

AB353,21,15 (6) (a) The board shall distribute basic primary election grants from the clean elections fund to each candidate who qualifies to receive a grant under this section as soon as possible preceding the date on which the primary election is held for the office that the candidate seeks or the date on which the primary election would be held if a primary election were required to be held.

AB353,21,20 (b) The board shall distribute basic grants for the spring, general, and any special election from the clean elections fund to each candidate who qualifies to receive a grant under this section as soon as possible after the date of the primary election for the office sought by the candidate, or the date on which the primary election would be held if a primary election were required to be held.

AB353,22,2 (c) The board shall distribute matching grants for any election from the clean elections fund to each candidate who qualifies to receive a matching grant under this section as soon as possible after the date on which the board verifies that the candidate is eligible to receive a matching grant. The board shall distribute additional matching grants at periodic intervals after initial matching grants are distributed as soon as the board is able to verify eligibility for additional grants.

AB353,22,5 (7) A candidate who receives a grant from the clean elections fund shall file with the board reports of all disbursements made in the manner provided under s. 11.06 (1) (g), without regard to the amounts thereof.

AB353,22,9 (8) (a) Except as provided in par. (b) and sub. (9), a candidate who qualifies to receive a basic grant from the clean elections fund under this section shall receive a grant in the following amount for the office sought by the candidate and for the election specified: - See PDF for table

AB353,23,8 (b) If a candidate does not have an opponent who has qualified to have his or her name appear on the ballot at the election for which a grant is to be applied, the candidate shall receive a basic grant for a primary election equal to the average total disbursements made per candidate in primary election campaign periods, as determined on a statewide basis by the board from reports filed by or on behalf of those candidates in accordance with s. 11.31 (5), for the office that the candidate seeks during the 4-year period preceding the date of the primary election, or a basic grant for a spring, general, or special election equal to the average total disbursements made per candidate in general and special election campaign periods, as determined on a statewide basis by the board from reports filed by or on behalf of those candidates in accordance with s. 11.31 (5), for the office that the candidate seeks during the 4-year period preceding the date of the spring, general, or special election, less the aggregate amount of contributions accepted by the candidate under sub. (3) except that a candidate for the office of governor shall receive a basic grant of $100,000 for a primary election and a basic grant of $200,000 for a general election.

AB353,23,11 (9) (a) In this subsection, "consumer price index" means the average of the consumer price index over each 12-month period, all items, U.S. city average, as determined by the bureau of labor statistics of the U.S. department of labor.

AB353,24,7 (b) The dollar amounts of the grants specified in sub. (8) (a) and the grants specified for the office of governor in sub. (8) (b) are subject to a biennial cost-of-living adjustment to be determined by rule of the board in accordance with this paragraph. To determine the adjustment, the board shall, as soon as possible after the end of each odd-numbered year, calculate the percentage difference between the consumer price index for the 12-month period ending on December 31 of the preceding year and the consumer price index for calendar year 2013. For each biennium, the board shall multiply the amount of each grant specified in sub. (8) by the percentage difference in the consumer price indexes. The board shall then add that product to the applicable grant amount under sub. (8), round each sum to the nearest multiple of $5, and adjust the amount of each grant to substitute the resulting amount. The amount so determined shall then be in effect until a subsequent rule is promulgated under this paragraph. Notwithstanding s. 227.24 (1) (a), (2) (b), and (3), determinations under this paragraph may be promulgated as an emergency rule under s. 227.24 without providing evidence that the emergency rule is necessary for the public peace, health, safety, or welfare, and without a finding of emergency. Notwithstanding ss. 227.135 (2) and (4) and 227.24 (1) (c) and (e) 1d. and 1g. and (2) (a), a proposed emergency rule promulgated under this paragraph and the statement of the scope of the proposed emergency rule are not subject to approval of the governor and the emergency rule remains in effect until the nonemergency rule corresponding to that rule takes effect.

AB353,24,25 (10) A candidate who receives notification under sub. (5) that the candidate has qualified to receive a basic grant may also qualify to receive matching grants under this subsection. A matching grant shall be in an amount equal to 3 times the amount of any contribution or contributions up to $25 cumulatively that are received by a candidate from an individual exclusive of any seed money or qualifying contributions received by the candidate from the same individual. A candidate who receives a matching contribution shall separately identify the contribution in the candidate's financial reports under s. 11.06 (1). A candidate who receives one or more matching contributions after the end of a reporting period for his or her most recent financial report may file a special report in the manner prescribed by the board disclosing the pertinent information under s. 11.06 (1) in the manner specified in sub. (7) with respect to the matching contributions. The candidate shall also include the information in his or her next financial report. The board shall make a reasonable effort to verify reports of eligibility for matching grants for use at an election if the reports are received by the board by the Thursday before the election. The board shall not provide matching grants to candidates for use in an election unless the board is able to verify eligibility for the grants by 4 p.m. on the Friday before the election.

AB353,25,2 (11) Except as provided in sub. (2) (a), a candidate may expend the proceeds of grants and other contributions received for any lawful purpose.

AB353,25,9 (12) If a candidate who makes an agreement under sub. (5) does not adhere to the agreement, the candidate shall forfeit an amount equivalent to any grant from the clean elections fund that is provided to the candidate and the candidate may be fined not more than 3 times the amount of any contributions received by the candidate in his or her campaign, as defined in s. 11.26 (17), exclusive of the amount of any grant or any contributions deposited under sub. (2) or received under sub. (3) or (10).

AB353,25,16 (13) No later than the first day of the first month beginning at least 15 days after an election at which a candidate receives a grant from the clean elections fund, the candidate shall return to the state treasurer any amount of the grant remaining in the candidate's campaign depository account, except that a candidate who receives a grant at a primary election need not return any amount under this subsection if the candidate qualifies to receive a grant at the succeeding spring, general, or special election.

AB353,25,17 (14) The board may promulgate rules required to implement this section.

AB353,39 Section 39. 14.58 (20a) of the statutes is created to read:

AB353,25,21 14.58 (20a) Clean elections fund. Make payment of grants to each candidate who is certified under s. 11.52 (5) by the government accountability board as eligible to receive a grant from the clean elections fund.

AB353,40 Section 40. 20.511 (1) (qa) of the statutes is created to read:

AB353,25,24 20.511 (1) (qa) Clean elections fund grants. From the clean elections fund, a sum sufficient to make the grants to candidates required under s. 11.52.

AB353,41 Section 41. 20.855 (4) (bc) of the statutes is created to read:

AB353,26,3 20.855 (4) (bc) Clean elections fund supplement. A sum sufficient equal to the amounts required to make the grants to candidates required under s. 11.52, to be transferred to the clean elections fund.

AB353,42 Section 42. 25.17 (1) (aw) of the statutes is created to read:

AB353,26,5 25.17 (1) (aw) Clean elections fund (s. 25.426);

AB353,43 Section 43. 25.426 of the statutes is created to read:

AB353,26,10 25.426 Clean elections fund. All moneys deposited with the state treasurer under s. 11.52 (2) or returned to the state treasurer under ss. 8.35 (4) (ba) and 11.52 (13) and all moneys transferred to the clean elections fund under s. 20.855 (4) (bc) constitute the clean elections fund.

AB353,44 Section 44. Nonstatutory provisions.

AB353,26,19 (1) Notwithstanding section 11.52 (5) of the statutes, as created by this act, a candidate for state office who, prior to the effective date of this subsection, has accepted one or more contributions other than qualifying contributions under section 11.52 (2) of the statutes, as created by this act, is not disqualified solely on the basis of that acceptance from receiving a grant under section 11.52 of the statutes, as created by this act, at an election held after the effective date of this subsection. A candidate may use the proceeds of any such contributions to make disbursements for any lawful purpose.

AB353,45 Section 45. Initial applicability.

AB353,26,23 (1) This act first applies with respect to grants for election campaigns at elections for which the nomination paper circulation period begins on or after the effective date of this subsection.

AB353,26,25 (2) The treatment of section 11.01 (16) (a) 3. of the statutes first applies with respect to reporting periods that begin on or after the effective date of this subsection.

AB353,27,2 (3) The treatment of sections 11.31 (9) and 11.52 (9) of the statutes first applies to adjustments for the biennium beginning on January 1, 2016.

AB353,27,3 (End)