AN ACT Relating to campaign financing; amending RCW 42.17.020; adding new sections to chapter 42.17 RCW; creating a new section; declaring an emergency; and providing an effective date.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The campaign contribution limitation provisions of section 3 of this act apply only to the financing of election campaigns in primary, general, special, or recall elections for state executive office and state legislative office. Limitations on contributions to political committees and political party committees apply to any such committees that make or have the expectation of making contributions or expenditures to the state campaigns described in this section even though the same committees also make contributions and expenditures to other campaigns. The campaign contribution limitation provisions of section 3 of this act do not apply to any political committee established for the exclusive purpose of receiving contributions and making expenditures in support of or in opposition to a ballot proposition campaign, other than the recall of a state executive or state legislator.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires to the contrary, the definitions in this section apply throughout sections 1, 2, and 3 of this act.

(1) "Campaign period" means:

(a) 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)(c).

(b) For a political committee, the two-year period beginning January 1 of each odd-numbered year.

(2) "Candidate" means the individual seeking election or being recalled and any political committee that is under the direction or control of a candidate or any agent thereof.

(3) "Political party committee" means:

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

(4) "State executive office" means the executive offices 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, superintendent of public instruction, justices of the supreme court, and judges of the court of appeals.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) Campaign contributions shall not exceed the following amounts adjusted by the commission in all years after 1984 for economic changes based on the number of votes cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election and the last inflation index used by the office of financial management in preparing the biennial appropriations act submitted by the governor to the legislature for the biennium during which the revisions are made under this subsection, and rounded to the nearest fifty dollars:

(a) 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 exceeding one thousand dollars in value for state legislative office or more than three thousand dollars in value for state executive office in a campaign period.

(b) No person may make to any political committee and no political committee may accept from any person contributions exceeding one thousand dollars in value in a campaign period.

(c) No person may make to any political party committee contributions exceeding one thousand dollars in a campaign period. No political party committee may accept from any person contributions exceeding one thousand dollars in any campaign period.

(d) No political party committee may make to any candidate for state executive office, and no candidate for such office may accept from any such committee, contributions exceeding five thousand dollars in a candidate's campaign period.

(e) No political party committee may make to any candidate for state legislative office, and no candidate for such office may accept from any such committee, contributions exceeding three thousand dollars in a candidate's campaign period.

(2) The portion of any contribution which exceeds the applicable limit in this section received by any candidate or political committee shall, within one week of receipt, be returned to the contributor or escheat to the state.

(3) If a political committee which is not subject to the limitations of this section becomes a political committee under the direction or control of a candidate, the limitations imposed on contributions to candidates by subsection (1) (a), (d), or (e) of this section shall thereafter apply. Contributions made to that political committee during the twelve months prior to the change shall count toward the applicable limits. Any portion of a contribution exceeding the applicable limits shall not be expended but shall be returned to the contributor within two weeks of becoming a committee subject to limits of this section, or escheat to the state.

(4) Contributions received by a candidate for state executive office who during the same campaign period terminates that candidacy and becomes a candidate for state legislative office may be used in the new campaign. Any portion of a contribution exceeding the new applicable limits shall not be expended but shall be returned to the contributor within two weeks of becoming subject to the new limits, or escheat to the state.

(5) Contributions and expenditures by a person controlled by another person shall be regarded as contributions and expenditures by the latter. 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.

(6) A contribution to a political party committee or a political committee shall 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.

(7) The limitations imposed by this section do not apply to an individual's contributions of the individual's own personal resources to the individual's own campaign or to surplus funds retained for use in a subsequent campaign of the individual.

(8) Contributions made by political committees established, financed, maintained, or controlled by any corporation, organization, or any other person, including any parent, subsidiary, branch, division, department, or local unit of such person, shall be considered to have been made by a single political committee.

(9) Nothing in this section limits transfers between candidates or political committees of funds raised through joint fund-raising efforts.

Sec. 4. Section 2, chapter 1, Laws of 1973 as last amended by section 5, chapter 34, Laws of 1984 and RCW 42.17.020 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) "Agency" includes all state agencies and all local agencies. "State agency" includes every state office, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or other state agency. "Local agency" includes every county, city, town, municipal corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, or special purpose district, or any office, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or agency thereof, or other local public agency.

(2) "Ballot proposition" means any "measure" as defined by RCW 29.01.110, or any initiative, recall, or referendum proposition proposed to be submitted to the voters of the state or any municipal corporation, political subdivision, or other voting constituency from and after the time when the proposition has been initially filed with the appropriate election officer of that constituency prior to its circulation for signatures.

(3) "Campaign depository" means a bank designated by a candidate or political committee pursuant to RCW 42.17.050.

(4) "Campaign treasurer" and "deputy campaign treasurer" mean the individuals appointed by a candidate or political committee, pursuant to RCW 42.17.050, to perform the duties specified in that section.

(5) "Candidate" means any individual who seeks election to public office. An individual shall be deemed to seek election when he first:

(a) Receives contributions or makes expenditures or reserves space or facilities with intent to promote his candidacy for office; or

(b) Announces publicly or files for office.

(6) "Commercial advertiser" means any person who sells the service of communicating messages or producing printed material for broadcast or distribution to the general public or segments of the general public whether through the use of newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations, billboard companies, direct mail advertising companies, printing companies, or otherwise.

(7) "Commission" means the agency established under RCW 42.17.350.

(8) "Compensation" unless the context requires a narrower meaning, includes payment in any form for real or personal property or services of any kind: PROVIDED, That for the purpose of compliance with RCW 42.17.241, the term "compensation" shall not include per diem allowances or other payments made by a governmental entity to reimburse a public official for expenses incurred while the official is engaged in the official business of the governmental entity.

(9) "Continuing political committee" means a political committee that is an organization of continuing existence not established in anticipation of any particular election campaign.

(10) "Contribution" includes a loan, gift, deposit, subscription, forgiveness of indebtedness, donation, advance, pledge, payment, transfer of funds between political committees, or transfer of anything of value, including personal and professional services for less than full consideration, but does not include interest on moneys deposited in a political committee's account, ordinary home hospitality and the rendering of "part-time" personal services of the sort commonly performed by volunteer campaign workers, or incidental expenses personally incurred by volunteer campaign workers not in excess of twenty-five dollars personally paid for by the worker. "Part-time" services, for the purposes of this chapter, means services ((~~in addition to regular full-time employment, or, in the case of an unemployed person, services not in excess of twenty hours per week, excluding weekends~~)) of an individual given without compensation or other consideration to a candidate or political committee, and which are not given through, on behalf of, as a representative of, or orchestrated by any corporate or other business entity, association, candidate, committee, political committee, political party, or other organization. For the purposes of this chapter, contributions other than money or its equivalents shall be deemed to have a money value equivalent to the fair market value of the contribution. The fair market value of an individual's time shall be calculated at the rate of six dollars per hour. Sums paid for tickets to fund-raising events such as dinners and parties are contributions; however, the amount of any such contribution may be reduced for the purpose of complying with the reporting requirements of this chapter, by the actual cost of consumables furnished in connection with the purchase of the tickets, and only the excess over the actual cost of the consumables shall be deemed a contribution.

(11) "Elected official" means any person elected at a general or special election to any public office, and any person appointed to fill a vacancy in any such office.

(12) "Election" includes any primary, general, or special election for public office and any election in which a ballot proposition is submitted to the voters: PROVIDED, That an election in which the qualifications for voting include other than those requirements set forth in Article VI, section 1 (Amendment 63) of the Constitution of the state of Washington shall not be considered an election for purposes of this chapter.

(13) "Election campaign" means any campaign in support of or in opposition to a candidate for election to public office and any campaign in support of, or in opposition to, a ballot proposition.

(14) "Expenditure" includes a payment, contribution, subscription, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money or anything of value, and includes a contract, promise, or agreement, whether or not legally enforceable, to make an expenditure. The term "expenditure" also includes a promise to pay, a payment, or a transfer of anything of value in exchange for goods, services, property, facilities, or anything of value for the purpose of assisting, benefiting, or honoring any public official or candidate, or assisting in furthering or opposing any election campaign. For the purposes of this chapter, agreements to make expenditures, contracts, and promises to pay may be reported as estimated obligations until actual payment is made. The term "expenditure" shall not include the partial or complete repayment by a candidate or political committee of the principal of a loan, the receipt of which loan has been properly reported, or payment of service charges against a political committee's campaign account.

(15) "Final report" means the report described as a final report in RCW 42.17.080(2).

(16) "Immediate family" includes the spouse, dependent children, and other dependent relatives, if living in the household.

(17) "Legislation" means bills, resolutions, motions, amendments, nominations, and other matters pending or proposed in either house of the state legislature, and includes any other matter that may be the subject of action by either house or any committee of the legislature and all bills and resolutions that, having passed both houses, are pending approval by the governor.

(18) "Lobby" and "lobbying" each mean attempting to influence the passage or defeat of any legislation by the legislature of the state of Washington, or the adoption or rejection of any rule, standard, rate, or other legislative enactment of any state agency under the state administrative procedure acts, chapter 34.04 RCW and chapter 28B.19 RCW.

(19) "Lobbyist" includes any person who lobbies either in his own or another's behalf.

(20) "Lobbyist's employer" means the person or persons by whom a lobbyist is employed and all persons by whom he is compensated for acting as a lobbyist.

(21) "Person" includes an individual, partnership, joint venture, public or private corporation, association, federal, state, or local governmental entity or agency however constituted, candidate, committee, political committee, political party, executive committee thereof, or any other organization or group of persons, however organized.

(22) "Person in interest" means the person who is the subject of a record or any representative designated by that person, except that if that person is under a legal disability, the term "person in interest" means and includes the parent or duly appointed legal representative.

(23) "Political advertising" includes any advertising displays, newspaper ads, billboards, signs, brochures, articles, tabloids, flyers, letters, radio or television presentations, or other means of mass communication, used for the purpose of appealing, directly or indirectly, for votes or for financial or other support in any election campaign.

(24) "Political committee" means any person (except a candidate or an individual dealing with his own funds or property) having the expectation of receiving contributions or making expenditures in support of, or opposition to, any candidate or any ballot proposition.

(25) "Public office" means any federal, state, county, city, town, school district, port district, special district, or other state political subdivision elective office.

(26) "Public record" includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct of government or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.

(27) "Surplus funds" mean, in the case of a political committee or candidate, the balance of contributions that remain in the possession or control of that committee or candidate subsequent to the election for which the contributions were received, and that are in excess of the amount necessary to pay remaining debts incurred by the committee or candidate prior to that election. In the case of a continuing political committee, "surplus funds" mean those contributions remaining in the possession or control of the committee that are in excess of the amount necessary to pay all remaining debts when it makes its final report under RCW 42.17.065.

(28) "Writing" means handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, and every other means of recording any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combination thereof, and all papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films and prints, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, and other documents.

As used in this chapter, the singular shall take the plural and any gender, the other, as the context requires.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. 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. 6. Sections 1, 2, and 3 of this act are intended to be remedial and shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes described in RCW 42.17.010.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Sections 1 through 3 of this act are each added to chapter 42.17 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. 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.