Under current law, the code of ethics for public officials applies not only to state
public officials, but also to certain local public officials such as an elected official of
a local governmental unit, a county administrator, and a city or village manager.
Under the bill, the code of ethics for public officials applies also to a school district
administrator. Current law defines “school district administrator” as the school
district superintendent, supervising principal, or other person who acts as the
administrative head of a school district.
Finally, the bill makes a technical change by substituting the term “give” with
the term “furnish.” The term was changed from “furnish” to “give” by
2015 Wisconsin
Act 117, but that change is not consistent with the use of the term “furnish”
throughout the current lobbying law.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB719,1
1Section
1. 13.621 (7) of the statutes is created to read:
SB719,2,72
13.621
(7) Participation in events; public official outreach. (a) An agency
3official, an elective state official, or a legislative employee may receive and retain
4reimbursement or payment of actual and reasonable expenses for a published work
5or for the presentation of a talk or participation in a meeting related to a topic
6specified in s. 19.56 (1) if the payment or reimbursement is paid or arranged by the
7organizer of the event or the publisher of the work, including a principal or lobbyist.
SB719,3,9
1(b) An agency official, an elective state official, or a legislative employee may
2attend a meeting with clubs, conventions, special interest groups, political groups,
3school groups, and other gatherings, without paying admission costs, to discuss and
4to interpret legislative, administrative, executive, or judicial processes and
5proposals and issues initiated by or affecting the state legislature, state government,
6a department, or the judicial branch. An agency official, an elective state official, or
7a legislative employee may not receive food, beverages, or other items included in the
8cost of admission unless the person pays the event organizer, including a principal
9or lobbyist, for the actual cost of the food, beverages, or items.
SB719,2
10Section 2
. 13.625 (1) (intro.) and (a) of the statutes are consolidated,
11renumbered 13.625 (1) and amended to read:
SB719,3,1512
13.625
(1) No lobbyist may
: (a) Instigate instigate legislative or administrative
13action for the purpose of obtaining employment in support or opposition
thereto to
14such action or contract to receive or receive compensation dependent in any manner
15upon the success or failure of any legislative or administrative action.
SB719,3
16Section 3
. 13.625 (1) (b) of the statutes is renumbered 13.625 (1g), and 13.625
17(1g) (intro.), as renumbered, is amended to read:
SB719,3,2118
13.625
(1g) (intro.)
Give No lobbyist or principal may furnish to any agency
19official or legislative employee of the state or to any elective state official or candidate
20for an elective state office, or to the candidate committee of the official, employee, or
21candidate:
SB719,4
22Section 4
. 13.625 (1) (d) of the statutes is repealed.
SB719,5
23Section 5
. 13.625 (1m) (a) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB719,3,2524
13.625
(1m) (a) (intro.) Except as provided in par. (b),
a no lobbyist
or principal 25may
not do any of the following:
SB719,6
1Section
6. 13.625 (1m) (b) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB719,4,72
13.625
(1m) (b) (intro.) A lobbyist
or principal may make a personal
3contribution to a partisan elective state official or candidate for partisan elective
4state office or to the candidate committee of the official or candidate between the first
5day authorized by law for the circulation of nomination papers as a candidate at a
6general election or special election and the day of the general election or special
7election, except that:
SB719,7
8Section 7
. 13.625 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 13.625 (4m) (a) and
9amended to read:
SB719,4,1410
13.625
(4m) (a)
No principal may engage in the practices prohibited under
11subs. (1) (b) and (1m). This subsection does not apply to the furnishing of 12Notwithstanding sub. (1g), the furnishing by a principal of transportation, lodging,
13food, meals, beverages, or any other thing of pecuniary value
which that is also made
14available to the general public.
SB719,8
15Section 8
. 13.625 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB719,4,2216
13.625
(3) No candidate for an elective state office, elective state official, agency
17official, or legislative employee of the state may solicit or accept anything of
18pecuniary value from a lobbyist or principal, except as permitted under
subs. (1) (b)
193., (1m), (2), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8) and (9) this section or s. 13.621. No candidate
20committee of a candidate for state office may accept anything of pecuniary value from
21a lobbyist or principal, except as permitted for such a candidate under
subs. (1) (b)
223., (1m), (2), and (6) this section or s. 13.621.
SB719,9
23Section 9
. 13.625 (4) of the statutes is renumbered 13.625 (4m) (intro.) and
24amended to read:
SB719,5,2
113.625
(4m) (intro.)
Subsections (1) (b) and (3) do This section does not apply
2to
the compensation or furnishing any of the following:
SB719,5,14
3(b) Compensation paid or the furnishing of employee benefits by a principal to
4an employee who is a candidate for an elective state office but who does not hold such
5an office if the employee is neither an agency official nor legislative employee, and
6if the principal or employee can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that
7the principal's employment of the employee and the compensation and employee
8benefits paid to the employee are unrelated to the candidacy. If the employee was
9employed by the principal prior to the first day of the 12th month commencing before
10the deadline for the filing of nomination papers for the office sought and the
11employment continues uninterrupted, without augmentation of compensation or
12employee benefits, except as provided by
a preexisting employment agreement, it is
13rebuttably presumed that the employment and compensation and benefits paid are
14unrelated to the candidacy.
SB719,10
15Section 10
. 13.625 (5) of the statutes is renumbered 13.625 (4m) (c) and
16amended to read:
SB719,5,1817
13.625
(4m) (c)
This section does not apply to food Food, meals, beverages
, or
18entertainment provided by the governor when acting in an official capacity.
SB719,11
19Section 11
. 13.625 (6) of the statutes is renumbered 13.625 (4m) (d) and
20amended to read:
SB719,6,221
13.625
(4m) (d)
Subsections (1) (b), (1m), (2), and (3) do not apply to the The 22furnishing of anything of pecuniary value by
an individual who is a lobbyist or
23principal to a relative of the
individual lobbyist or principal or
to an individual who
24resides in the same household as the
individual, nor to lobbyist or principal or the
1receipt of anything of pecuniary value by that relative or individual residing in the
2same household as the
individual lobbyist or principal.
SB719,12
3Section 12
. 13.625 (6g) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 13.625 (4m) (e) and
4amended to read:
SB719,6,105
13.625
(4m) (e)
Subsections (1) (b) and (3) do not apply to the The furnishing
6of anything of pecuniary value by a principal that is a local governmental unit to a
7legislative official or an agency official who is an elected official of that local
8governmental unit, or
to the solicitation or acceptance thereof by such a legislative
9official or agency official, in an amount not exceeding the amount furnished to other
10similarly situated elected officials of the same local governmental unit.