Brief Description: Regarding penalties for violations of the public disclosure act.

Sponsors: Senators Kastama and Kline; by request of Public Disclosure Commission.

Senate Committee on Government Operations & Elections
House Committee on State Government Operations & Accountability

Background: The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC), together with the courts, enforces the laws on campaign finance, lobbyist reporting, public officials' financial affairs reporting, public treasurers' reporting, political advertising, and campaign contribution limitations. Violations of these laws can result in the assessment of various fines imposed by the courts or the PDC.

The PDC's authority to assess an individual penalty is limited to $1,000 and may not exceed a maximum aggregate penalty of $2,500, regardless of the number of individual violations alleged in a single complaint or hearing.

Summary: The PDC's authority to assess penalties is raised to $1,700 for a single violation and $4,200 in the aggregate for multiple violations contained in a single complaint or hearing.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate      45   3
House      97   1

Effective:   June 7, 2006