The Ethics Board advises that:

A legislator may not solicit a lobbyist for a personal or PAC campaign
contribution for a legislative candidate or a legislative campaign committee
except during the time that the legislator may accept a campaign
contribution. A solicitation can include an invitation to a fundraiser even if
the invitation has a disclaimer on it that it is not a solicitation to a lobbyist.
A legislator may solicit a campaign contribution from a non-lobbyist
employee of an organization that employs a lobbyist at any time. A legislator
may accept a campaign contribution from a lobbyist’s spouse at any time.

The Government Accountability Board advises:

1) A PAC may purchase public opinion research from a vendor if the research is
     for a political purpose, a vendor sells research at a price calculated, at a
     minimum, to recoup the vendor’s costs, and the price at which the vendor sells
     research to each purchaser is comparable for a comparable product. Such sale
     would not result in an in-kind contribution to the PAC from the vendor under
     these circumstances

2) Absent collusion among purchasers, we do not consider other purchasers of
     the research to be subsidizing an individual PAC’s purchase even though it may
     fairly be said that, without other purchasers, the price of the product may be
     greater.

3) Public opinion research that a PAC uses in determining who to support, how
     much support to give a candidate, the message the PAC wants to convey about
     a candidate, and the like is a political purpose.

A state legislator may accept a campaign contribution from a lobbyist or
lobbying organization for the purpose of promoting his or her candidacy for
federal office only during the year of the election between June 1 and the date
of the general election. OEB 93-9 (November 3, 1993)

A lobbying principal may, consistent with the lobbying law, send a letter to
its members urging their support of a partisan elected state official running
for reelection:
1. at any time if the communication is not a campaign contribution
under laws administered by the Elections Board and the principal
undertakes the communication independent of and without consultation,
understanding, or agreement with the candidate; or
2. only during periods of time permitted under the lobbying law if the
communication is a campaign contribution under laws administered
by the Elections Board.
OEB 92-30 (November 20, 1992)

A lobbyist may make a campaign contribution to a legislator for the purpose
of promoting the legislator’s candidacy for Congress during the year of the
election between June 1 and the date of the general election as long as the
Legislature is not in session. OEB 92-25

June 16, 1992

The Ethics Board advises that a legislator may not ask a lobbyist to pass
along information to others about the legislator’s desire for a campaign
contribution except during the time that the legislator may accept a campaign
contribution from a lobbyist. A legislative campaign committee may solicit a
campaign contribution from a lobbyist at any time. A legislative campaign
committee’s employee, not employed by the Legislature, may solicit a campaign
contribution from a lobbyist for a legislative candidate at any time if the
committee is acting independent of the legislator for whose campaign the
contribution is sought. A lobbyist may arrange a fundraising event for a
legislative campaign committee at any time.

A committee may make maximum contributions to a candidate in a primary calculated from his total disbursement limitation in both the primary and election, provided that no further contributions are made after the primary. (Issued to Alfred G. Goldberg, July 24, 1974)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on June 9, 2008.

Ancillary events, like a golf outing, held in conjunction with a political fundraiser are treated as part of the fundraiser unless the registrant/beneficiary of the fundraiser is able to show that the fundraiser was a separate and independent event. In determining whether ancillary events are separate and independent from a political fundraising event, PAC/Conduit events to raise money for the PAC are evaluated differently from events held to raise money for a candidate. Compensation for time and travel for persons paid to attend fundraising events is not considered a contribution to the beneficiary of the fundraising event unless the compensated attendee performs, in the course of the fundraiser, services for the beneficiary of the fundraiser. (Issued to Peter C. Christianson, January 18, 2006)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on March 26, 2008.

Non-registrants, including corporations, may communicate to the general public their views about issues and/or about a clearly identified candidate, without subjecting themselves to a registration requirement, if the communication does not expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate; expenditures which are "coordinated" with a candidate or candidate's agent will be treated as a contribution to that candidate; intra-association communications that are restricted to "a candidate endorsement, a position on a referendum or an explanation of the association's views and interests" distributed to the association's members, shareholders and subscribers to the exclusion of all others, are exempt from ch. 11, Stats., regulation; and a non-partisan, candidate-non-specific voter registration or voter participation drive is not subject to the registration and reporting requirements of ch.11, Stats.

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on March 26, 2008.

Nonresidents designating an agent in Wisconsin are not exempted from political registration and reporting. Certain transactions by nonresident committees and groups are not reportable if they can be segregated. Section 11.07 (5), Stats., does not prevent the acceptance of a contribution from any unregistered individual under §11.07 (1), Stats. (Issued to Raymond Majerus, August 28, 1974)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on May 5, 2008. The G.A.B. directed an annotation be added alerting the public that statutory changes have codified the reporting requirements for nonresident committees at §11.06(3), Stats.

Communications medium offering space to incumbent candidate for newsletter without printing statutory identification does not fall within regulation of campaign finance law. (Issued to James C. Coxe, August 6, 1974)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on March 26, 2008.

A registrant may use a commercial vendor to collect contributions from visitors to the registrant’s web site. The vendor may not exercise any discretion or control over the amount of the contribution or who receives the contribution. The registrant must obtain the information about the contributor to enable the registrant to comply with the disclosure requirements of the campaign finance law. (Issued to R.J. Pirlot, June 21, 2000)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on May 5, 2008.

A corporation which acts solely in the nature of a conduit in collecting and transferring the contributions of its employee-agents to the political action committee of the employeeagents' statewide trade association does not make a contribution to that trade association PAC, if none of the expenses of administration or solicitation of those contributions are borne by the corporation and if a list of the contributors and the amounts of their contributions is maintained at each stage of the transfer. (Issued to Brady Williamson, August 12, 1991)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on October 6, 2008.

A political party treasurer may be appointed by a candidate as his campaign treasurer. Separate bank accounts must be maintained so that a candidate's funds are not intermingled with the party treasury. (Issued to Thomas S. Sliek, August 23, 1974)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on November 11, 2008.

Out-of-pocket costs assumed by the host of a party held for political purposes are reportable if funds are raised at the party with the knowledge of the host. Such contributions may be made "in-kind" with the consent of a candidate's treasurer. Certain costs of fund-raising events, although reportable, are excludable from disbursement limitations. An item donated for resale is reportable and the gross proceeds of the sale need be reported after the item is sold. (Issued to Kate Barbash, October 31, 1974)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was revised to require reporting of the gross proceeds from the sale of an item donated for resale. The opinion below was reaffirmed by the Government Accountability Board on May 5, 2008 and fully incorporates the revisions directed by the G.A.B.

Disclaimers; Political Advertising: Roadside billboards carrying political advertisements must carry disclaimers readable from the road; the party designing, printing and erecting such billboard and the source of the advertisement are each subject to the disclaimer requirement. §11.30 (2), Stats. (Issued to Sandra Hafenbraedl, September 16, 1976)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was revised to remove portions of the opinion relating to the liability of communications media providers. 1979 Wisconsin Act 328 exempted communications media from liability if they relied on the person who placed the advertisement’s assertion that the disclaimer was inapplicable. §11.30(2)(i), Stats. The opinion below was reaffirmed by the Government Accountability Board on June 9, 2008 and fully incorporates the revisions directed by the G.A.B.

Distribution of printed materials; "political purposes": Questions of whether officeholder's purchase and distribution of printed materials to constituents are subject to reporting and identification requirements and violative of election bribery statute depends on whether intentions of distributor as to political office, content of materials, time and manner of distribution, pattern and frequency of distribution, and value of materials indicate purchase and distribution are for "political purposes." §§11.01 (16), 11.06, 11.30 (2),12.11, Stats. (Issued to Richard A. Soletski, August 25, 1976)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on March 26, 2008.

All statements and reports required by ch. 11, Stats., to be verified may be sworn to before a town, village, city or county clerk or their respective deputies, if any. (Issued to John C. Oestreicher, February 18,1976)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was revised to reflect statutory changes subsequent to the opinion’s issuance that removed the requirement of a sworn statement for campaign registration statements and financial disclosure reports. 1985 Wisconsin Act 303; 1979 Wisconsin Act 328. The opinion below was reaffirmed by the Government Accountability Board on May 5, 2008 and fully incorporates the revisions directed by the G.A.B.

The state does not occupy University of Wisconsin owned and operated student residences, dormitories and the facilities incidental thereto which are the subject of a housing lease or agreement entered into by the university with its students. Other University of Wisconsin owned or operated facilities are occupied by the state except when the University of Wisconsin enters into an agreement with individuals or groups, to allow those individuals or groups to use the facilities for non-academic purposes. (Issued to Richard A. Hyde, September 16, 1975)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on March 26, 2008.

The exclusion set out in §11.29(1), Stats., and the application of Wisconsin's campaign finance disclosure law is limited to communications from an organization to its members to the exclusion of all others for the purpose of communicating endorsements of candidates, positions on referenda or an explanation of the organization's views and interests. The funding of such communications must be paid for by the organization.

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on October 6, 2008.

Organization or PAC that sponsors a partisan "get out the vote" drive must register with the appropriate filing officer and meet the applicable requirements of the campaign finance law. §11.05(1), Stats. Disbursements used in the drive are not allocable as in-kind expenditures. (Issued to Brady C. Williamson, January 14, 1987.)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on March 26, 2008.

Corporate conduits: A corporation which acts solely as a conduit in collecting and transferring predetermined contributions of its members to a state organization does not violate the prohibition on contributions by corporations. §11.38, Stats., Ops. El.Bd. 74-1, 75-6,76-3, 76-6. (Issued to Robert H. Friebert, December 17, 1976)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on October 6, 2008.

Section 11.16 (2), Stats., is not violated by payroll deduction plan if corporation supplies fund with list of contributors and amounts contributed. Corporation may transmit total payroll deduction in the form of a corporate check if list of names of contributors and amounts contributed is provided to fund. (Issued to Richard S. Gallagher, February 18, 1976)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on October 6, 2008.

The contribution limitations of §11.26 (1) and (10), Stats., apply per campaign and not per calendar year. (Issued to Eunice Niemi, December 17, 1975)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on June 9, 2008. (Note that the legislature modified the requirements of §11.26(10), Wis. Stats., following issuance of this opinion.)

Contributions of $100 or less received in the form of a check drawn on a joint checking account may be assumed to be from the signer of the check absent evidence to the contrary. Contributions over $100 received in the form of a check drawn on a joint checking account may not be assumed to be from the signer of the check absent evidence to the contrary; instead, the treasurer must affirmatively inquire as to whom the contribution is from. Contributions received in the form of a check drawn on a partnership checking account may not be assumed to be from the signer of the check. The treasurer has a duty to ascertain the identity of the contributor in such instance. Reproduction of personal correspondence by means of a magnetic card typewriter constitutes reproduction by machine. An organization may, pursuant to §11.29 (1), Stats., send nomination papers to its members without reporting such activity. (Issued to Keith R. Clifford, December 19, 1975)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was revised to require treasurers to affirmatively inquire whom a contribution in excess of $100 was from if the contribution was drawn on a joint account. The opinion below was reaffirmed by the Government Accountability Board on May 5, 2008 and fully incorporates the revisions directed by the G.A.B.

Limits on Contributions to political Party Committees and Retirement of Debts: El.Bd. 1.04, Wis. Adm. Code, does not apply to political party committees; a political party committee may not accept a contribution in excess of the limits in §11.26 (8), Stats., in any calendar year, even if part of such contribution is used for retirement of debts outstanding from a previous calendar year. §11.26 (8), Stats. (Issued to David M. Travis, May 18, 1978)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on June 9, 2008. (Note that the legislature modified the requirements of §11.26(8), Wis. Stats., following issuance of this opinion.)

A corporation sponsoring a nonresident separate segregated fund must register with the Elections Board pursuant to §11.38(1)(a)2., Wis. Stats., and file semi-annual reports disclosing its administrative and solicitation expenses with respect to Wisconsin related campaign finance activities of the separate segregated fund. A corporation may not spend more than $500 annually for solicitation of contributions to its separate segregated fund for Wisconsin related campaign finance activity. (Issued to Mr. James R. Klauser, September 23, 1982)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on October 6, 2008.

A corporation which establishes and administers a separate segregated fund under §11.38 (l)(a)2., Stats., may purchase and pay premiums on officers' and directors' liability insurance, general liability insurance and fidelity bonds for the fund (Issued to Thomas J. Sobota, December 13, 1979)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on October 6, 2008.

Application of contribution limits to affiliated committees: Where affiliated committees are prohibited by the terms of their affiliation with a parent organization from supporting statewide or state legislative office candidates other than those chosen through an endorsement procedure controlled by the parent, the contributions of the affiliated organizations to statewide or state legislative candidates must be charged to the contribution limits of the parent. §11.26, Stats. (Issued to Robert Friebert, August 17, 1978)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on June 9, 2008. (Note that the legislature modified §11.26, Wis. Stats., following issuance of this opinion.)

Establishment of separate segregated fund by affiliated corporations: Where two corporations are independently incorporated but affiliated for certain purposes, they may each establish a separate segregated fund if (1) neither corporation provides money or other assets for the operation of the other's fund, and (2) neither corporation exercises a significant degree of control over the management of the other's fund. §11.38 (l)(a)2., Stats. (Issued to W. Pharis Horton, July 20, 1978)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on October 6, 2008.

Application for and uses of public finance grants: A candidate's own contributions count toward the threshold of individual seed money required for public financing eligibility.  Grants may not be used to purchase services directly from a person or business who or which does not meet the statutory definitions of "printer" or "communications medium."  Withdrawal of an application for a grant prior to the acceptance of a grant is permissible.  Disbursements of a public financing applicant must be allocated between the primary and election according to the ultimate purpose of the disbursement. §§11.50, 11.01 (4) and (17), Stats. (Issued to Edward Jackamonis, June 22, 1978)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on August 27, 2008.

Applicability of ch. 11, Stats., to Lawyers' Judicial Endorsement Poll: A poll conducted for the purpose of endorsing candidates in which the only information disseminated to those polled is biographical information on the candidates is not political activity and, therefore, not subject to regulation under ch. 11, Stats. The same is true of a press release indicating the results of the poll. (Issued to Richard S. Gallagher, April 19, 1979)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on March 26, 2008.

Effect of Exceeding Contribution and Spending Limits on Eligibility for Public Financing: a candidate who accepts contributions that exceed the applicable limits is ineligible to receive a public financing grant, even if the candidate's committee reimburses the excess contributions; a candidate who exceeds the applicable spending limits also is ineligible to receive such a grant; in-kind contributions are limited to things of value; loans if timely forgiven may be used as qualifying contributions. §§11.50(2)(b), 11.26(1), 11.31 (1), (2), (9), and 11.01(6) (a)1., Stats. (Issued to David M. Travis, November 29, 1984)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed August 27, 2008.

Voluntary committees; public financing: Establishment and operation of voluntary committees; guidelines for distinguishing between contributions and independent expenditures of voluntary committees; prohibition on candidate contributions to voluntary committees acting on his or her behalf; permissibility of such contributions to nonvoluntary committees acting in support of the candidate; use of public grant. §§11.12 (1), 11.16 (1), 11.10, 11.06 (7), 11.31, 11.26, Stats.; GAB 1.42, Wis. Adm. Code. (Issued to Cloyd Porter, June 22, 1978)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was revised to reflect changes in GAB 1.42(6), Wis. Adm. Code, which specifies the criteria for evaluating the independence of an expenditure. The opinion below was reaffirmed by the Government Accountability Board on March 26, 2008 and fully incorporates the revisions directed by the G.A.B.

Earmarking; committee combining activities as registrant and conduit. A committee's transfer of funds in response to an individual contributor's request that his contribution be used for a specific purpose is an act of earmarking, regardless of whether the request is made after the individual's contribution takes place. Such transfers may be made only if the committee functions as a conduit for the transfers, transferring the identities of the earmarking contributors to the designated recipients along with the earmarked funds. A political registrant which contributes and disburses in its own name may also act as a conduit for the contributions of others if all receipts and transfer of funds for which it acts as a conduit are specially designated as such on the registrant's reports. §11.16 (4), Stats. (Issued to Quinn Martin, August 18, 1977)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was revised to reflect statutory changes that do not allow one registrant to function as both a conduit and a PAC. The G.A.B. directed an annotation be added alerting the public to §§11.05(9) and 11.06(11), Wis. Stats., which specifically require conduits to register separately from a PAC and establish a separate account so that a PAC may not act as a conduit through the PAC account. The opinion below was reaffirmed by the Government Accountability Board on October 6, 2008 and fully incorporates the revisions directed by the G.A.B.

Scope of disclaimer requirements. The statutory identification of political material required in §11.30 (2), Stats., applies to material which is not produced by mechanical means. (Issued to Eldon J. Broehm, December 15, 1977)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed June 9, 2008.

Disbursement Limits For Public Financing Applicants: Application of disbursement limits on public financing applicants to pre-campaign and post-campaign disbursements clarified. §11.31 (7), Stats. (Issued to David M. Travis, May 18, 1978)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on August 27, 2008.

A national political party committee's payment of compensation to another specifically in exchange for full-time political services performed on behalf of a Wisconsin committee is a contribution, which subjects the national committee to registration and applicable reporting requirements. Such committee's payment of compensation to an employee or employees performing occasional services for a Wisconsin committee, when such services are merely incidental to the work of the employee or employees on behalf of the national committee, is
not a contribution. §11.01 (S), Stats. (Issued to George Innes, July 21, 1977)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was reaffirmed on December 17, 2008.

Contributions of $100 or less received in the form of a check drawn on a joint checking account may be assumed to be from the signer of the check absent evidence to the contrary. Contributions over $100 received in the form of a check drawn on a joint checking account may not be assumed to be from the signer of the check absent evidence to the contrary; instead, the treasurer must affirmatively inquire as to whom the contribution is from. Contributions received in the form of a check drawn on a partnership checking account may not be assumed to be from the signer of the check. The treasurer has a duty to ascertain the identity of the contributor in such instance. Reproduction of personal correspondence by means of a magnetic card typewriter constitutes reproduction by machine. An organization may, pursuant to §11.29 (1), Stats., send nomination papers to its members without reporting such activity. (Issued to Keith R. Clifford, December 19, 1975)

This opinion was reviewed by the Government Accountability Board pursuant to 2007 Wisconsin Act 1 and was revised to require treasurers to affirmatively inquire whom a contribution in excess of $100 was from if the contribution was drawn on a joint account. The opinion below was reaffirmed by the Government Accountability Board on May 5, 2008 and fully incorporates the revisions directed by the G.A.B.