SB780: Bill Text

MES&JK:klm

2019 - 2020 LEGISLATURE

2019 Senate BILL 780

February 6, 2020 - Introduced by Senators Smith, Larson, Carpenter, Ringhand and L. Taylor, cosponsored by Representatives Stuck, Emerson, Anderson, Gruszynski, Hebl, Hesselbein, Kolste, Pope, Sinicki, Spreitzer and Stubbs. Referred to Committee on Government Operations, Technology and Consumer Protection.

SB780,1,3 An Act to create 66.0426 of the statutes; relating to: authorizing a local government to require advance payment from a presidential or vice-presidential campaign for certain expected public event costs.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Under this bill, a city, village, town, or county may require a presidential or vice-presidential campaign to pay in advance for certain costs the local government expects to incur that are directly related to a campaign event held at a public venue. The bill authorizes the local government to require the payment of its estimated costs in advance of issuing a permit to hold the event. The costs to which the bill applies are costs for police and sanitation services.

The bill also prohibits a political subdivision from issuing a campaign event permit to a presidential or vice-presidential campaign if the political subdivision has evidence that the campaign owes money to another Wisconsin political subdivision for unpaid campaign event costs.

For further information see the local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB780,1 Section 1. 66.0426 of the statutes is created to read:

SB780,2,2 66.0426 Prepayment of public presidential event costs. (1) Definitions. In this section:

SB780,2,4 (a) “Campaign event” means an event at a public venue that is sponsored or authorized by a presidential or vice-presidential campaign.

SB780,2,5 (b) “Political subdivision” means any city, village, town, or county.

SB780,2,7 (c) “Public costs” means a political subdivision's costs for providing police and sanitation services for a campaign event.

SB780,2,14 (2) Event costs. (a) Subject to pars. (b) and (c), if a presidential or vice-presidential campaign, or a person acting on behalf of a presidential or vice-presidential campaign, applies for a permit from a political subdivision to hold a campaign event within the political subdivision, the political subdivision may require payment from the campaign, in advance of issuing the permit, for the public costs the political subdivision estimates it will incur that are directly attributable to the campaign event.

SB780,2,17 (b) If the amount a presidential or vice-presidential campaign pays under par. (a) exceeds the actual public costs incurred by the political subdivision, the political subdivision shall refund the difference to the campaign.

SB780,2,21 (c) A political subdivision may not approve a campaign event permit application described under par. (a) if the political subdivision has evidence that the presidential or vice-presidential campaign requesting the permit owes money to another political subdivision in this state for unpaid public costs.

SB780,2 Section 2. Initial applicability.

SB780,2,24 (1) This act first applies to a presidential or vice-presidential campaign that applies for a campaign event permit on the effective date of this subsection.

SB780,2,25 (End)