Fiscal Note
No appropriation is required at this time. The Clerk's Office will allocate existing staff resources to administer the various provisions of the Ordinance. If the administrative workload is significant, additional staff resources may be requested in future operating budgets, subject to approval by the Common Council.
Title
AMENDED SUBSTITUTE Creating Section 2.41 of the Madison General Ordinances relating to reporting requirements for independent expenditures in municipal elections.
Body
DRAFTER'S ANALYSIS: This ordinance would require any organization including corporations, unincorporated associations or organizations recognized by the IRS under sec. 501(c)(4), (5) or (6) of the Internal Revenue Code, to register with the City Clerk and make periodic reports of contributions and disbursements for independent expenditures in elections for Mayor, Alderperson, or Municipal Judge or municipal referendums. The ordinance generally follows state law, but extends the reporting requirements to some entities not covered by state or federal law. This proposal modifies state law provisions by changing the phrase “made” for political purposes to “used” for political purposes. It also adopts the provisions of Wis. Admin. Code § GAB 1.28.
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The Common Council of the City of Madison do hereby ordain as follows:
Section 2.41 entitled “Organizations Making Independent Disbursements” of the Madison General Ordinances is created to read as follows:
“2.41 ORGANIZATIONS MAKING INDEPENDENT DISBURSEMENTS.
(1) Declaration of Policy. The Common Council finds and declares that our democratic system of government can be maintained only if the electorate is informed. It further finds that excessive spending on campaigns for public office jeopardizes the integrity of elections. It is desirable to encourage the broadest possible participation in financing campaigns by all citizens and to ...
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