SS 098-19

Statement of Scope

Pursuant to wis. stat. § 227.135

wisconsin ethics commission

Rule No.:   ETH Ch. 1

Relating to:   Campaign Finance

Rule Type:   Permanent

1.   Detailed description of the objective of the proposed rule:

In review of Clearinghouse Rule 19-035, the Legislative Council Rules Clearinghouse report recommended the Ethics Commission should review the entire chapter to ensure consistency between the rule and Chapter 11 as re-created by 2015 Wisconsin Act 117. As such a review would require a broader statement of scope than initially proposed, rather than amending the scope of CR 19-035, the Ethics Commission proposes a new rule to amend those provisions of Wis. Admin. Code ETH 1 that contain outdated language (e.g., “personal campaign committee” instead of “candidate committee”) or are otherwise not consistent with Chapter 11 as re-created by 2015 Wisconsin Act 117 (e.g., removing references to collecting the place of employment of a contributor) that were not previously identified as needing further revision. The Wisconsin Ethics Commission has tentatively identified the following provisions to be re-examined: Wis. Admin. Code ETH 1.20 (3), 1.25, 1.39 (1) (b), 1.56 (2), 1.60 (1) (a), 1.60 (1) (c), 1.60 (2), 1.70 (2), 1.70 (3), 1.85 (3), and 1.855 (3).

2.   Description of the existing policies relevant to the rule, new policies proposed to be included in the rule, and an analysis of policy alternatives:

The Government Accountability Board previously reviewed the provisions of Wis. Admin. Code ETH 1 for consistency as required by 2015 Wisconsin Act 117. In that review, the Board noted several provisions that were inconsistent with the new law, but it did not address other statutory and administrative references within ETH 1 that needed to be updated to harmonize the language with the newly created Chapter 11 or current administrative procedures. The Ethics Commission has another rule (CR 19-035) currently in development that addresses the provisions identified by the Government Accountability Board, but this new rule would include other provisions not previously identified by the Board as inconsistent and attempt to harmonize those provisions with Chapter 11 as re-created as well.

3.   Detailed explanation of statutory authority for the rule (including the statutory citation and language):

The Commission has general authority for the promulgation of rules to carry out the requirements of Chapter 11.

s. 11.1304(17), Stats.:

11.1304 Duties of the ethics commission. The commission shall:

(17) Promulgate rules to administer this chapter.

s. 19.48(1), Stats.:

19.48 Duties of the ethics commission. The commission shall:

(1) Promulgate rules necessary to carry out ch. 11, subch. III of ch. 13, and this subchapter.

s. 227.11(2)(a), Stats.:

227.11  Extent to which chapter confers rule-making authority.

(2) Rule-making authority is expressly conferred on an agency as follows:

(a) Each agency may promulgate rules interpreting the provisions of any statute enforced or administered by the agency, if the agency considers it necessary to effectuate the purpose of the statute, but a rule is not valid if the rule exceeds the bounds of correct interpretation.

4.   Estimate of the amount of time that state employees will spend developing the rule and of other resources necessary to develop the rule:

The Commission estimates that it will use approximately 0.05 FTE staff to develop this rule. This includes time required for research, rule drafting, preparing related documents, coordinating stakeholder meetings, holding public hearings, legislative review and adoption, and communicating the final rule with affected persons and groups. The Commission will use existing staff resources to develop this rule.

5.   List with description of all entities that may be affected by the proposed rule:

Candidates, candidate committees, political parties, legislative campaign committees, political action committees, independent expenditure committees, conduits, referendum committees, recall committees, and the general public may be affected by the proposed rule.

6.   Summary and preliminary comparison with any existing or proposed federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by the proposed rule:

The Wisconsin Ethics Commission is unaware of any existing or proposed federal regulation that is applicable to this rule.

7.   Anticipated economic impact of implementing the rule (note if the rule is likely to have a significant economic impact on small businesses):

The Wisconsin Ethics Commission anticipates the rule having no economic impact. This proposed rule includes no significant economic impact on small businesses.

Contact person:   David P. Buerger

[e-mail] [phone]

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