Ethics commission previews new campaign finance system, plans public launch after spring election

MADISON, Wis. — On Jan. 7, 2025, staff for the Wisconsin Ethics Commission demonstrated a redesigned campaign finance system — including a public “Sunshine” site and an authenticated filer portal — and told commissioners the new system is expected to go live after the spring election in April.

The demonstration, led by a commission staff member, showed a public-facing dashboard the staff said will include searchable transactions, committee registration details and summary reports. The staff member said the system currently being developed with vendor Savara contains more than 10,000,000 file transactions, approximately 41,000–42,000 registrants and about 120,000 filed reports loaded into the new interface.

Commissioners were shown two distinct views: a public browsing interface, which staff said will let users create custom reports and view committee summaries, and an authenticated filer dashboard where users can register committees, invite other users with defined roles, enter and import transactions and submit reports.

Staff described several features…