WI AB1141

Creates a democracy trust fund providing public campaign financing for candidates running for Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, court of appeals judge, and circuit court judge positions

Candidates qualify by collecting at least 1,000 qualifying contributions of $5-$100 from Wisconsin electors, totaling between $5,000 and $50,000 during the qualifying period

Public financing benefits are $1,000,000 for spring primary and $3,000,000 for spring election for Supreme Court justice candidates; $100,000 for primary and $300,000 for election for appeals and circuit court judges

Funded through a $5 voluntary checkoff on individual state income tax returns, with general purpose revenues covering any shortfall between checkoff amounts and program costs

Participating candidates cannot accept private contributions beyond qualifying and seed money contributions ($100 max per contributor, $5,000 aggregate) and are subject to disbursement limits equal to total public financing plus allowable contributions