On December 16, 2015, Wisconsin Act 117 (“Act 117”) was signed into law. It repeals and recreates chapter 11 of the Wisconsin statutes, effective January 1, 2016. Separate legislation enacted on the same day (2015 Wisconsin Act 118) dissolves the Government Accountability Board (“G.A.B.”) and replaces it with two independent commissions: the Ethics Commission which will administer and oversee campaign finance (chapter 11), lobbying (subchapter III of chapter 13) and ethics laws (subchapter III of chapter 19) and the Elections Commission which will administer and oversee election administration laws (chapters 5 through 10 and 12 of the statutes).1
Act 117 was drafted in response to numerous court decisions on Wisconsin campaign finance laws including the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision in State ex rel. Two Unnamed Petitioners v. Peterson (the “John Doe decision”). It codifies contribution source restrictions, contribution limits and the regulation of independent political speech as well as making a number of changes to the regulation of political committees in Wisconsin. Some notable provisions in Act 117 include:
To view the chart of Candidate Committee Contribution Limits and the chart of Other Committee Contributions Limits, please click the PDF link above.
Please contact Mike Wittenwyler if you have questions or need any additional information.
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