AN ACT
Relating to gifts and public office funds; amending RCW 42.17.020, 42.17.170,
and 42.17.243; adding a new section to chapter 42.17 RCW; and declaring an
emergency.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
42.17.020 and 1990 c 139 s 2 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)
"Depository" means a bank designated by a candidate or political
committee pursuant to RCW 42.17.050.
(4)
"Treasurer" and "deputy 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 personal services of the sort
commonly performed by volunteer campaign workers, or incidental expenses
personally incurred by volunteer campaign workers not in excess of fifty
dollars personally paid for by the worker. Volunteer services, for the
purposes of this chapter, means services or labor for which the individual is
not compensated by any person. 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. 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.
(15)
"Final report" means the report described as a final report in RCW
42.17.080(2).
(16) "Gift,"
for the purposes of RCW 42.17.170 and section 3 of this 1991 act, means a
rendering of anything of value in return for which reasonable consideration is
not given and received and includes a rendering of money, property, services,
discount, loan forgiveness, payment of indebtedness, or reimbursements from or
payments by persons (other than the federal government, or the state of
Washington or any agency or political subdivision thereof) for travel or
anything else of value. The term "reasonable consideration" refers
to the approximate range of consideration that exists in transactions not
involving donative intent. However, the value of the gift of partaking in a
single hosted reception shall be determined by dividing the total amount of the
cost of conducting the reception by the total number of persons partaking in
the reception. "Gift" for the purposes of RCW 42.17.170 and section
3 of this 1991 act does not include:
(a)
A gift, other than a gift of partaking in a hosted reception, with a value of
fifty dollars or less;
(b)
The gift of partaking in a hosted reception if the value of the gift is one
hundred dollars or less;
(c)
A contribution that is required to be reported under RCW 42.17.090 or
42.17.243;
(d)
Informational material that is transferred for the purpose of informing the
recipient about matters pertaining to official business of the governmental
entity of which the recipient is an official or officer, and that is not
intended to confer on that recipient any commercial, proprietary, financial,
economic, or monetary advantage, or the avoidance of any commercial,
proprietary, financial, economic, or monetary disadvantage;
(e)
A gift that is not used and that, within thirty days after receipt, is returned
to the donor or delivered to a charitable organization. However, this
exclusion from the definition does not apply if the recipient of the gift
delivers the gift to a charitable organization and claims the delivery as a
charitable contribution for tax purposes;
(f)
A gift given under circumstances where it is clear beyond any doubt that the
gift was not made as part of any design to gain or maintain influence in the
governmental entity of which the recipient is an officer or official or with
respect to any legislative matter or matters of that governmental entity; or
(g)
A gift given prior to the effective date of this 1991 act.
(17)
"Immediate family" includes the spouse, dependent children, and other
dependent relatives, if living in the household.
(((17)))
(18) "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)))
(19) "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 Act, chapter 34.05 RCW. Neither "lobby" nor
"lobbying" includes an association's or other organization's act of
communicating with the members of that association or organization.
(((19)))
(20) "Lobbyist" includes any person who lobbies either in his
own or another's behalf.
(((20)))
(21) "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)))
(22) "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)))
(23) "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)))
(24) "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)))
(25) "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)))
(26) "Public office" means any federal, state, county, city,
town, school district, port district, special district, or other state political
subdivision elective office.
(((26)))
(27) "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)))
(28) "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)))
(29) "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.
Sec.
2. RCW
42.17.170 and 1990 c 139 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Any lobbyist registered under RCW 42.17.150 and any person who lobbies shall
file with the commission periodic reports of his activities signed by the
lobbyist. The reports shall be made in the form and manner prescribed by the
commission. They shall be due monthly and shall be filed within fifteen days
after the last day of the calendar month covered by the report.
(2)
Each such monthly periodic report shall contain:
(a)
The totals of all expenditures for lobbying activities made or incurred by such
lobbyist or on behalf of such lobbyist by the lobbyist's employer during the
period covered by the report. Such totals for lobbying activities shall be
segregated according to financial category, including compensation; food and
refreshments; living accommodations; advertising; travel; contributions; and
other expenses or services. Each individual expenditure of more than
twenty-five dollars for entertainment shall be identified by date, place,
amount, and the names of all persons in the group partaking in or of such
entertainment including any portion thereof attributable to the lobbyist's
participation therein ((but)), without allocating any portion of
such expenditure to individual participants. However, if the expenditure
for a single hosted reception is more than one hundred dollars per person
partaking therein, the report shall specify the per person amount, which shall
be determined by dividing the total amount of the expenditure by the total
number of persons partaking in the reception.
Notwithstanding
the foregoing, lobbyists are not required to report the following:
(i)
Unreimbursed personal living and travel expenses not incurred directly for
lobbying;
(ii)
Any expenses incurred for his or her own living accommodations;
(iii)
Any expenses incurred for his or her own travel to and from hearings of the
legislature;
(iv)
Any expenses incurred for telephone, and any office expenses, including rent
and salaries and wages paid for staff and secretarial assistance.
(b) In
the case of a lobbyist employed by more than one employer, the proportionate
amount of such expenditures in each category incurred on behalf of each of his
employers.
(c) An
itemized listing of each such expenditure in the nature of a contribution of
money or of tangible or intangible personal property to any candidate, elected
official, or officer or employee of any agency, or any political committee
supporting or opposing any ballot proposition, or for or on behalf of any
candidate, elected official, or officer or employee of any agency, or any
political committee supporting or opposing any ballot proposition. All
contributions made to, or for the benefit of, any candidate, elected official,
or officer or employee of any agency, or any political committee supporting or
opposing any ballot proposition shall be identified by date, amount, and the
name of the candidate, elected official, or officer or employee of any agency,
or any political committee supporting or opposing any ballot proposition
receiving, or to be benefited by each such contribution.
(d)
The subject matter of proposed legislation or other legislative activity or
rule-making under chapter 34.05 RCW, the state Administrative Procedure Act,
and the state agency considering the same, which the lobbyist has been engaged
in supporting or opposing during the reporting period.
(e)
Such other information relevant to lobbying activities as the commission shall
by rule prescribe. Information supporting such activities as are required to
be reported is subject to audit by the commission.
(f)
A listing of each gift, as defined in RCW 42.17.020, made to a state elected
official or executive state officer or to a member of the immediate family of
such an official or officer. Such a gift shall be separately identified by the
date it was given, the approximate value of the gift, and the name of the
recipient. However, for a hosted reception where the average per person amount
is reported under (a) of this subsection, the approximate value for the gift of
partaking in the event is such average per person amount. The commission shall
adopt forms to be used for reporting the giving of gifts under this subsection
(2)(f). The forms shall be designed to permit a lobbyist to report on a
separate form for each recipient the reportable gifts given to that recipient
during the reporting period or, alternatively, to report on one form all
reportable gifts given by the lobbyist during the reporting period.
(3)
If a state elected official or a member of such an official's immediate family
is identified by a lobbyist in such a report as having received from the
lobbyist a gift, as defined in RCW 42.17.020, the lobbyist shall transmit to
the official a copy of the completed form used to identify the gift in the
report at the same time the report is filed with the commission.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. A new
section is added to chapter 42.17 RCW to read as follows:
At the
same time that an elected official or executive state officer must file a
statement of financial affairs under RCW 42.17.240(1), the official or officer
shall file a statement identifying each gift, as defined in RCW 42.17.020,
which was received by the official or officer or by a member of his or her
immediate family during the previous calendar year. The statement shall apply
to that portion of the previous calendar year during which the official or
officer held an office or position for which a statement of financial affairs
is required under RCW 42.17.240. The statement shall identify the nature of
the gift, the date it was received, and the name of the donor. The commission
may adopt a form for reporting the receipt of gifts under this section or may
incorporate that reporting into the form or forms adopted by the commission for
the statement of financial affairs.
Sec.
4. RCW
42.17.243 and 1977 ex.s. c 336 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Elected and appointed officials required to report under RCW 42.17.240, shall
report for themselves and for members of their immediate family to the
commission any contributions received during the preceding calendar year for
the officials' use in defraying nonreimbursed public office related expenses.
Contributions reported under this section shall be referred to as a
"public office fund" and shall not be transferred to a political
committee nor used to promote or oppose a candidate or ballot proposition,
other than as provided by subsection (3) (a) of this section. ((For the
purposes of this section contributions shall include reimbursements from or
payments by persons, other than the state of Washington or any agency, for
travel expenses.)) Reimbursements or payments for travel do not
constitute contributions for the purposes of this section.
A
report shall be filed during the month of January of any year following a year
in which such contributions were received for or expenditures made from a public
office fund. The report shall include:
(a)
The name and address of each contributor;
(b) A
description of each contribution, including the date on which it was received
and its amount or, if its dollar value is unascertainable, an estimate of its
fair market value; and
(c) A
description of each expenditure made from a public office fund, including the
name and address of the recipient, the amount, and the date of each such
expenditure.
(2) No
report under subsection (1) of this section shall be required if:
(a)
The receipt of the contribution has been reported pursuant to RCW 42.17.065
(continuing political committee reports) or RCW 42.17.090 (political committee
reports); or
(b)
The contribution is in the form of meals, refreshments, or entertainment given
in connection with official appearances or occasions where public business was
discussed.
(3)
Any funds which remain in a public office fund after all permissible public
office related expenses have been paid may only be disposed of in one or more
of the following ways:
(a)
Returned to a contributor in an amount not to exceed that contributor's
original contribution; or
(b)
Donated to a charitable organization registered in accordance with chapter
19.09 RCW; or
(c)
Transferred to the state treasurer for deposit in the general fund.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 5. This
act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or
safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions,
and shall take effect immediately.
