The Government Accountability Board voted unanimously Monday to amend an administrative rule defining which political ""issue ads"" can be regulated in accordance with campaign finance laws.
Current law requires that political advertisements paid for by third parties are only subject to disclosure laws if they contain specific words, such as ""vote for,"" ""support"" or ""defeat.""
The amendment would cause regulation to apply to ads ""which clearly identify a specific candidate for office and contain language which suggests support or opposition for the candidate,"" according to a GAB statement.
According to Common Cause in Wisconsin Executive Director Jay Heck, interest group spending first became an issue after the 1996 election, when groups began generating anonymously funded attack ads.
""By avoiding the specific words, [groups] were able to escape having to abide by Wisconsin's disclosure laws, which require that you have to report the names of the donors,"" Heck said. ""So they were able to use unregulated anonymous money to run essentially campaign ads.""
The new amendment, which closes the loophole that allows groups to do this, will likely lead to less third party ""attack"" ads because donors would have to disclose their names and might be hesitant to be associated with these ads, Heck said.
The amendment will now move to the state Legislature for approval.
State Rep. Jeff Smith, D-Eau Claire, chair of the Assembly Committee on Elections and Campaign Reform, said he expects the Legislature to be in favor of the change. If no one in the Legislature objects, the amendment will take effect.
""I can't imagine why anyone would object to this,"" Smith said. ""This is just about open government. [Elections] should be open, people should know who is saying things in the ads.""
Assembly Democrats have already introduced AB 63, which also aims to widen the scope of advertisements that are subject to regulation.
""I think board members are optimistic that the Legislature is going to look at this issue seriously,"" GAB spokesperson Kyle Richmond said.
