Campaign finance requirements in Wisconsin

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Wisconsin campaign finance requirements govern the following:

• how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations,
• how much and how often they must report those contributions, and
• how much individuals, organizations and political parties may contribute to campaigns.

In addition to direct campaign contributions, campaign finance laws also apply to third-party organizations and nonprofit organizations that seek to influence elections through independent expenditures or issue advocacy.

In Wisconsin, up until 2014, an individual could not contribute more than $10,000 in a calendar year to any combination of state candidates or political committees. While aggregate limits were no longer enforced in Wisconsin as of 2015, limits on what individuals could contribute per candidate or group varied and remained in place.

Recent lawsuits, such as Young v. Vocke, have resulted in the temporary suspension of certain parts of Wisconsin's campaign finance law. According to their website, the "Government Accountability Board will no longer enforce the aggregate annual limit on how much money an individual may give to all candidates and political committees." In fact, the following note appears on the GAB home page under "Campaign finance limits and deadlines": NOTE: These documents outlining limits are currently under revision as a result of recent court decisions.

Background

Seal of the United States Federal Election Commission

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency responsible for administering and enforcing federal campaign election laws. The FEC is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions and the oversight of the public funding of presidential elections. According to the FEC, an individual becomes a federal candidate, and must begin to report their campaign finances, once he or she has either raised or spent $5,000 in pursuit of his or her campaign. Within fifteen days of this benchmark for status as a candidate, the candidate must register with the FEC and designate an official campaign committee, to be responsible for the funds and expenditures of the campaign. This committee must have an official treasurer, and cannot support any candidate but the one who registered the committee. Detailed financial reports are then made to the FEC every financial quarter after the individual is registered with the FEC. Reports are also made before primaries and before the general election.

The rules governing federal election campaigns and contributions have evolved over the past generation as result of a number of Supreme Court decisions. In the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited. The court's decision also overturned the ban on for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and unions broadcasting electioneering communications in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before a general election. In the SpeechNOW.org v. Federal Election Commission decision, the first application of the Citizens United decision, the court held that contribution limits on what individuals could give to independent expenditure-only groups, and the amount these organizations could receive, were unconstitutional. Contribution limits on donations directly to candidates, however, remain constitutional. In 2014's McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court overturned biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits, and held that individuals may now contribute to as many federal candidates as they want, but may only contribute up to the federal limit in each case.

While the FEC governs federal election campaigns and contribution limits, individual states require their own level of regulation and reporting. The amount of regulation required differs by state, as do the limits on campaign contributions and third-party activities to influence elections.

Contribution limits

The table below details contribution limits as they applied to various types of individuals and groups in Wisconsin as of May 2015. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.

Wisconsin contribution limits as of May 2015
Office	Individuals	Single candidates committees	Legislative Campaign Committees	PACs (State & Federal)	Political Party	Super PACs	Corporations	Conduits	Unions
Governor	$10,000	$43,128	unlimited	$43,128	unlimited	$0	$0	unlimited	$0
Attorney General	$3,000	$43,000	unlimited	3000	unlimited	$0	$0	unlimited	$0
State senator	$1000	$1000	unlimited	$1000	unlimited	$0	$0	unlimited	$0
State representative	$500	$500	unlimited	$500	unlimited	$0	$0	unlimited	$0
PACs	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$0	$0	$0	$0
Party committees	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$6,000	unlimited	$0	$0	$0	$0
Legislative Campaign Committees	unlimited	$,6000	unlimited	$6,000	unlimited	$0	$0	unlimited	$0
Conduits	unlimited	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Ballot measures	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$0	unlimited	unlimited	$0
Sources: Government Accountability Board, "G.A.B. Stops Enforcing Aggregate PAC Limits," accessed March 17, 2015 Government Accountability Board, accessed March 17, 2015 Government Accountability Board, accessed March 17, 2015 Wisconsin State Legislature, "GAB 1.85  Conduit registration and reporting requirements," accessed March 17, 2015

Court rulings

Two federal court rulings in 2014 affected Wisconsin statutes that regulated limits. The first, Young v. Vocke, eliminated the aggregate limit on individual total contributions ($10,000 per year). The second, CRG Network v. Barland, eliminated limits on party committee contributions to candidate committees, PACs and other party committees. It also eliminated the aggregate limit a candidate committee could accept in total from PACs and party committees.

Registration

See statutes: Wisconsin Statutes and Annotations, Chapter 11

Requirements

In Wisconsin a candidate is required to file a campaign registration form when he or she intends to become a candidate and before circulating nomination papers, receiving contributions, or making expenditures. The campaign registration must include the following information:

1.) Information identifying the candidate committee, including party affiliation (if applicable), office sought, and date of the election

There are two types of candidate campaign committees: personal campaign committees (organized by the candidate for campaign purposes) and support committees (a committee organized on the candidate's behalf, with the candidate's approval, to support a potential candidacy). In order to appear on the ballot, the candidate must register a personal campaign committee.

2.) Information identifying the campaign treasurer

The candidate is entitled to serve as his or her own treasurer. The treasurer's name, address, email address, and telephone number must be provided. All notices and forms for campaign finance reports will be delivered to the treasurer.

3.) Information identifying the committee's principal officers (if applicable)

4.) Information identifying the committee's financial depository

Each candidate must have a single depository account into which all contributions will be deposited and from which all expenditures will be made.

The candidate and the committee treasurer must sign the form and send it to the state Government Accountability Board.

Exemptions

A candidate may be exempted from reporting requirements if he or she meets all of the following requirements:

• The candidate expects that his or her campaign will not accept contributions, make expenditures, or incur obligations in an aggregate amount exceeding $1,000 per calendar year (including the candidate's own contributions).
• The candidate expects that his or her campaign will not accept any contribution or cumulative contributions from a single source exceeding $100 per calendar year (excluding the candidate's own contributions).

Regardless of exemption status, the candidate or treasurer must keep detailed financial records.

Reporting requirements

Seal of Wisconsin

Financial disclosure

A candidate committee must file regular disclosure reports until the committee terminates its registration. Reports generally include the following types of information:

• Receipts

Receipts of $20 or less are reported as aggregate totals. A single contribution or cumulative contributions from the same source exceeding $20 must be itemized. The contributor's name and address must be included, as well as the date and amount of the contribution. A single contribution or cumulative contribution from the same source exceeding $100 must also include the contributor's occupation and the name and address of his or her principal place of employment.

• Expenditures

Expenditures totaling $20 or less are reported as aggregate totals. An expenditure greater than $20 must be itemized. The name and address of the person or business to whom the expenditure was made must be noted, as well as the date, amount and purpose of the payment.

• Incurred obligations

Any incurred obligation must be reported when an enforceable agreement has been reached and must continue to be reported until the obligation has been reduced to zero.

• Loans

Loans from individuals or political committees must be reported as contributions. Loans from financial institutions are reported as other income and as a loan. Each loan payment must be reported as an expenditure, and the cumulative amount of the payments made must also be noted.

A committee with receipts of $20,000 or more during a campaign period must file both electronic and paper copies of their reports. Paper reports must be submitted to the Government Accountability Board. Electronic reports are filed with the state through the Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System.

Report timing

A candidate committee must file pre-primary and pre-general election reports, each due eight days before the applicable election. A committee must also file continuing reports in January and July of each year until it dissolves.

A candidate committee must file special reports within 24 hours of receipt for contributions of $500 or more (or contributions from a single source totaling $500 of more) received in the 14-day period before the primary or general election (including a candidate's own contributions).

Termination

A candidate committee can terminate its registration only if it meets all of the following criteria:

• The committee determines that all financial activity will stop and that the committee will no longer receive contributions, make disbursements, or incur obligations.
• The committee files a termination report showing that all obligations have been paid or satisfied and that the campaign's cash balance has been eliminated.
• The committee completes the requisite termination request form.

Surplus campaign funds

A candidate committee can dispose of surplus campaign funds in the following ways:

• The campaign can return money to contributors.
• The campaign can donate money to tax-exempt charitable organizations, the Common School Fund, the Wisconsin Election Campaign Fund, or any other government entity.
• The campaign can transfer money to another registrant, provided the transfer is within the permitted contribution limit.

Campaign finance legislation

The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Wisconsin state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

Election and campaign ballot measures

See also: Elections and campaigns on the ballot and List of Wisconsin ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked 2 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.

1. Wisconsin Question 1, Ban on Private and Non-Governmental Funding of Election Administration Amendment (April 2024)
2. Wisconsin Question 2, Only Designated Election Officials to Conduct Elections Amendment (April 2024)

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Wisconsin Campaign Finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Campaign finance requirements in Wisconsin - Google News

Election-related agencies

See also: Campaign finance agencies in Wisconsin and State election agencies

Candidates running for office may require some form of interaction with the following agencies:

• Wisconsin Government Accountability Board
  

Why: This agency provides and processes nomination papers, candidate filing forms, and campaign finance forms and reports.

212 East Washington Avenue, Third Floor

P.O. Box 7984

Madison, Wisconsin 53707-7984

Phone: 608-266-8005

Toll-free: 866-VOTE-WIS

Fax: 608-267-0500

Website: http://gab.wi.gov/

Email: [email protected]

See also

• Campaign finance regulation
• Wisconsin
• Government Accountability Board
• John Doe investigations related to Scott Walker