AN ACT Relating to campaign financing; amending RCW 42.17.010 and 42.17.030; adding new sections to chapter 42.17 RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. Section 1, chapter 1, Laws of 1973 as amended by section 1, chapter 294, Laws of 1975 1st ex. sess. and RCW 42.17.010 are each amended to read as follows:

It is hereby declared by the sovereign people to be the public policy of the state of Washington:

(1) That government serve the needs and respond to the wishes of all citizens, without regard to their wealth or position.

(2) That political campaign and lobbying contributions and expenditures be fully disclosed to the public and that secrecy is to be avoided.

((~~(2)~~)) (3) That the people have the right to expect from their elected representatives at all levels of government the utmost of integrity, honesty, and fairness in their dealings, free from bias caused by the campaign contributions of individuals or organizations.

((~~(3)~~)) (4) That the people shall be assured that the private financial dealings of their public officials, and of candidates for ((~~those~~)) elective offices, present no conflict of interest between the public trust and private interest.

((~~(4)~~)) (5) That our representative form of government is founded on a belief that those entrusted with the offices of government have nothing to fear from full public disclosure of their financial and business holdings, provided those officials deal honestly and fairly with the people.

((~~(5)~~)) (6) That public confidence in government at all levels is essential and must be promoted by all possible means.

((~~(6)~~)) (7) That public confidence in government at all levels can best be sustained by assuring the people of the impartiality and honesty of the officials in all public transactions and decisions.

((~~(7)~~)) (8) That limitations on contributions to state election campaigns are necessary to reduce the ability of individuals and organizations to obtain disproportionate influence over the actions and decisions of public officials without limiting freedom of speech.

(9) That the concept of attempting to increase financial participation of individual contributors in political campaigns is encouraged by the passage of the Revenue Act of 1971 by the Congress of the United States, and in consequence thereof, it is desirable to have implementing legislation at the state level.

((~~(8)~~)) (10) That the concepts of disclosure and limitation of election campaign financing are established by the passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 by the Congress of the United States, and in consequence thereof it is desirable to have implementing legislation at the state level.

((~~(9)~~)) (11) That small contributions by individual contributors are to be encouraged, and that not requiring the reporting of small contributions may tend to encourage such contributions.

((~~(10)~~)) (12) That the public's right to know of the financing of political campaigns and lobbying and the financial affairs of elected officials and candidates far outweighs any right that these matters remain secret and private.

((~~(11)~~)) (13) That, mindful of the right of individuals to privacy and of the desirability of the efficient administration of government, full access to information concerning the conduct of government on every level must be assured as a fundamental and necessary precondition to the sound governance of a free society.

The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to promote complete disclosure of all information respecting the financing of political campaigns and lobbying, and the financial affairs of elected officials and candidates, and full access to public records so as to assure continuing public confidence of fairness of elections and governmental processes, and so as to assure that the public interest will be fully protected. In promoting such complete disclosure, however, this chapter shall be enforced so as to insure that the information disclosed will not be misused for arbitrary and capricious purposes and to insure that all persons reporting under this chapter will be protected from harassment and unfounded allegations based on information they have freely disclosed.

Sec. 2. Section 3, chapter 1, Laws of 1973 as amended by section 2, chapter 313, Laws of 1977 ex. sess. and RCW 42.17.030 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The campaign contribution limitation provisions of this chapter apply only to the financing of election campaigns in primary, general, or special elections for state executive office and state legislative office. Limitations on contributions to political committees apply to any such committees that make or have the expectation of making contributions or expenditures to the above-described state campaigns even though the same committees also make contributions and expenditures to other campaigns.

(2) Other provisions of this chapter relating to the financing of election campaigns shall apply in all election campaigns other than (a) for precinct committeeman; (b) for a federal elective office; and (c) for an office the constituency of which does not encompass a whole county and which contains less than five thousand registered voters as of the date of the most recent general election in such district.

(3) This chapter is not intended to prohibit any county, town, or other local agency from regulating campaign contributions and expenditures related to local elections or from regulating conflicts of interest.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The definitions set forth in this section apply throughout sections 4 through 6 of this act.

(1) "Campaign period" means, for a candidate, the time period beginning on the day an individual becomes a candidate or when a recall of the individual is demanded by filing a charge pursuant to RCW 29.82.015 and ending when the final report is filed pursuant to RCW 42.17.080(2), or when the debts of the candidate committee are repaid, whichever comes later.

(2) "Candidate committee" means any committee that is under the direction or control of a candidate or of an agent of such candidate acting on his behalf.

(3) "In-kind labor" means services provided by an individual who volunteers all, or a portion, of his or her time to an election campaign, and who receives no compensation from any person for such services.

(4) "Political party committee" means:

(a) With respect to the state, county, or legislative district organizations of a major political party as defined in RCW 29.01.090, the one political committee designated by a majority of the voting delegates to the convention or caucus of that party organization called under RCW 29.42.020, to receive contributions or make expenditures on the organization's behalf during the period between conventions or caucuses; and

(b) The group of persons that submits a certificate of nomination that is found valid by the secretary of state under RCW 29.24.060.

(5) "State executive office" means an office for which all electors in the state are eligible to vote, including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state auditor, state treasurer, secretary of state, commissioner of public lands, insurance commissioner, and superintendent of public instruction.

(6) "State legislative office" means elected office in the state senate or the state house of representatives.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) No person other than a political party committee may make to any candidate, and no candidate may accept from any person other than a political party committee, contributions totaling more than two hundred fifty dollars in value for state legislative office or more than one thousand dollars for state executive office in a single election campaign period. For the purpose of this subsection, a contribution to a candidate committee or other agent for the candidate is a contribution to the candidate.

(2) No person may make to any political committee controlled by a state executive or legislative office holder who is not an announced candidate, and no such political committee may accept from any person, contributions totaling more than fifty dollars in any calendar year.

(3) The portion of any contribution that exceeds the applicable limits or that is otherwise prohibited in this section shall, within one week of receipt, be returned to the contributor or escheat to the state.

(4) The limitations imposed by this section do not apply to a candidate's contributions of his own resources to his own campaign or to contributions of in-kind labor to any campaign.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) No political committee that is a candidate committee or is controlled by a legislative office holder who is not an announced candidate may make contributions to any candidate for state executive or legislative office, and no candidate for state executive or legislative office, may accept contributions from such political committee.

(2) A contribution to a political party committee or a political committee may not be earmarked or designated, formally or informally, for a particular candidate or political committee, nor may any committee solicit or accept any such contribution.

(3) If a political committee, other than a candidate committee, becomes a candidate committee, the limitations imposed on contributions to candidates by section 4(1) of this act shall thereafter apply, and any contributions made by any person to the political committee before the change shall count toward the limits applicable to that person imposed by section 4(1) of this act. However, a candidate committee may return a campaign surplus after a campaign period, and such surplus may be used in the candidates's subsequent campaigns without limitations.

(4) For the purposes of this section, contributions and expenditures by a person controlled by another person shall be regarded as contributions and expenditures by the latter. This includes any contributions or expenditures by any subsidiary, division, committee, department, branch, or local unit of a person. A corporation is controlled by another person when the latter owns, directly or indirectly, more than fifty percent of the common stock of the corporation. When a person is controlled by a marital community, half of the contributions and expenditures of the controlled person shall be attributed to each of the members of the community.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Fund-raising events may not be conducted by incumbent legislators or any caucus of either house of the legislature during the regular or special session or committee weekends of the legislature unless they are physically held in the legislator's district.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The legislature shall make available such sums as are needed by the public disclosure commission to implement sections 3 through 6 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 3 through 7 of this act shall be added to chapter 42.17 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The provisions of this act are intended to be remedial and shall be liberally construed to affect the purposes described in RCW 42.17.010.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect July 1, 1985.