AN ACT Relating to
reporting contributions under the public disclosure act; and amending RCW
42.17.020 and 42.17.080.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 42.17.020 and 1995 c
397 s 1 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) "Authorized
committee" means the political committee authorized by a candidate, or by
the public official against whom recall charges have been filed, to accept
contributions or make expenditures on behalf of the candidate or public
official.
(3) "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.
(4) "Benefit"
means a commercial, proprietary, financial, economic, or monetary advantage, or
the avoidance of a commercial, proprietary, financial, economic, or monetary
disadvantage.
(5) "Bona fide
political party" means:
(a) An organization
that has filed a valid certificate of nomination with the secretary of state
under chapter 29.24 RCW;
(b) The governing body
of the state organization of a major political party, as defined in RCW
29.01.090, that is the body authorized by the charter or bylaws of the party to
exercise authority on behalf of the state party; or
(c) The county central
committee or legislative district committee of a major political party. There
may be only one legislative district committee for each party in each
legislative district.
(6)
"Depository" means a bank designated by a candidate or political
committee pursuant to RCW 42.17.050.
(7)
"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.
(8) "Candidate"
means any individual who seeks nomination for election or election to public
office. An individual seeks nomination or election when he or she first:
(a) Receives
contributions or makes expenditures or reserves space or facilities with intent
to promote his or her candidacy for office;
(b) Announces publicly
or files for office;
(c) Purchases
commercial advertising space or broadcast time to promote his or her candidacy;
or
(d) Gives his or her
consent to another person to take on behalf of the individual any of the
actions in (a) or (c) of this subsection.
(9) "Caucus
political committee" means a political committee organized and maintained
by the members of a major political party in the state senate or state house of
representatives.
(10) "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.
(11)
"Commission" means the agency established under RCW 42.17.350.
(12)
"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.
(13) "Continuing
political committee" means a political committee that is an organization
of continuing existence not established in anticipation of any particular
election campaign.
(14)(a)
"Contribution" includes:
(i) A loan, gift,
deposit, subscription, forgiveness of indebtedness, donation, advance, pledge,
payment, transfer of funds between political committees, or anything of value,
including personal and professional services for less than full consideration;
(ii) An expenditure
made by a person in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or at the
request or suggestion of, a candidate, a political committee, or their agents;
(iii) The financing by
a person of the dissemination, distribution, or republication, in whole or in
part, of broadcast, written, graphic, or other form of political advertising
prepared by a candidate, a political committee, or its authorized agent;
(iv) Sums paid for
tickets to fund-raising events such as dinners and parties, except for the
actual cost of the consumables furnished at the event.
(b)
"Contribution" does not include:
(i) Standard interest
on money deposited in a political committee's account;
(ii) Ordinary home
hospitality;
(iii) A contribution
received by a candidate or political committee that is returned to the
contributor within five business days of the date on which it is received by
the candidate or political committee;
(iv) A news item,
feature, commentary, or editorial in a regularly scheduled news medium that is
of primary interest to the general public, that is in a news medium controlled
by a person whose business is that news medium, and that is not controlled by a
candidate or a political committee;
(v) An internal
political communication primarily limited to the members of or contributors to
a political party organization or political committee, or to the officers,
management staff, or stockholders of a corporation or similar enterprise, or to
the members of a labor organization or other membership organization;
(vi) 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 section, means services or labor for
which the individual is not compensated by any person;
(vii) Messages in the
form of reader boards, banners, or yard or window signs displayed on a person's
own property or property occupied by a person. However, a facility used for
such political advertising for which a rental charge is normally made must be
reported as an in-kind contribution and counts towards any applicable
contribution limit of the person providing the facility;
(viii) Legal or
accounting services rendered to or on behalf of:
(A) A political party
or caucus political committee if the person paying for the services is the
regular employer of the person rendering such services; or
(B) A candidate or an
authorized committee if the person paying for the services is the regular
employer of the individual rendering the services and if the services are
solely for the purpose of ensuring compliance with state election or public
disclosure laws.
(c) Contributions other
than money or its equivalent are deemed to have a monetary value equivalent to
the fair market value of the contribution. Services or property or rights
furnished at less than their fair market value for the purpose of assisting any
candidate or political committee are deemed a contribution. Such a
contribution must be reported as an in-kind contribution at its fair market
value and counts towards any applicable contribution limit of the provider.
(15) "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.
(16)
"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.
(17) "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.
(18) "Election
cycle" means the period beginning on the first day of December after the
date of the last previous general election for the office that the candidate
seeks and ending on November 30th after the next election for the office. In
the case of a special election to fill a vacancy in an office, "election
cycle" means the period beginning on the day the vacancy occurs and ending
on November 30th after the special election.
(19)
"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.
(20) "Final
report" means the report described as a final report in RCW 42.17.080(2).
(21) "General
election" for the purposes of RCW 42.17.640 means the election that
results in the election of a person to a state office. It does not include a
primary.
(22) "Gift,"
is as defined in RCW 42.52.010.
(23) "Immediate
family" includes the spouse, dependent children, and other dependent
relatives, if living in the household. For the purposes of RCW 42.17.640
through 42.17.790, "immediate family" means an individual's spouse,
and child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, stepparent, grandparent, brother,
half brother, sister, or half sister of the individual and the spouse of any
such person and a child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, stepparent,
grandparent, brother, half brother, sister, or half sister of the individual's
spouse and the spouse of any such person.
(24) "Independent
expenditure" means an expenditure that has each of the following elements:
(a) It is made in
support of or in opposition to a candidate for office by a person who is not
(i) a candidate for that office, (ii) an authorized committee of that candidate
for that office, (iii) a person who has received the candidate's encouragement
or approval to make the expenditure, if the expenditure pays in whole or in part
for political advertising supporting that candidate or promoting the defeat of
any other candidate or candidates for that office, or (iv) a person with whom
the candidate has collaborated for the purpose of making the expenditure, if
the expenditure pays in whole or in part for political advertising supporting
that candidate or promoting the defeat of any other candidate or candidates for
that office;
(b) The expenditure
pays in whole or in part for political advertising that either specifically
names the candidate supported or opposed, or clearly and beyond any doubt
identifies the candidate without using the candidate's name; and
(c) The expenditure,
alone or in conjunction with another expenditure or other expenditures of the
same person in support of or opposition to that candidate, has a value of five
hundred dollars or more. A series of expenditures, each of which is under five
hundred dollars, constitutes one independent expenditure if their cumulative
value is five hundred dollars or more.
(25)(a)
"Intermediary" means an individual who transmits a contribution to a
candidate or committee from another person unless the contribution is from the
individual's employer, immediate family as defined for purposes of RCW
42.17.640 through 42.17.790, or an association to which the individual belongs.
(b) A treasurer or a
candidate is not an intermediary for purposes of the committee that the
treasurer or candidate serves.
(c) A professional
fund-raiser is not an intermediary if the fund-raiser is compensated for
fund-raising services at the usual and customary rate.
(d) A volunteer hosting
a fund-raising event at the individual's home is not an intermediary for
purposes of that event.
(26)
"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.
(27) "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.
(28)
"Lobbyist" includes any person who lobbies either in his or her own
or another's behalf.
(29) "Lobbyist's
employer" means the person or persons by whom a lobbyist is employed and
all persons by whom he or she is compensated for acting as a lobbyist.
(30) "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.
(31) "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.
(32) "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.
(33) "Political
committee" means any person (except a candidate or an individual dealing
with his or her 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.
(34) "Primary"
for the purposes of RCW 42.17.640 means the procedure for nominating a
candidate to state office under chapter 29.18 or 29.21 RCW or any other primary
for an election that uses, in large measure, the procedures established in
chapter 29.18 or 29.21 RCW.
(35) "Public
office" means any federal, state, county, city, town, school district,
port district, special district, or other state political subdivision elective
office.
(36) "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. For the office of the
secretary of the senate and the office of the chief clerk of the house of
representatives, public records means legislative records as defined in RCW
40.14.100 and also means the following: All budget and financial records;
personnel leave, travel, and payroll records; records of legislative sessions;
reports submitted to the legislature; and any other record designated a public
record by any official action of the senate or the house of representatives.
(37) "Recall
campaign" means the period of time beginning on the date of the filing of
recall charges under RCW 29.82.015 and ending thirty days after the recall
election.
(38) "State
legislative office" means the office of a member of the state house of
representatives or the office of a member of the state senate.
(39) "State office"
means state legislative office or the office of governor, lieutenant governor,
secretary of state, attorney general, commissioner of public lands, insurance
commissioner, superintendent of public instruction, state auditor, or state
treasurer.
(40) "State
official" means a person who holds a state office.
(41) "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.
(42)
"Writing" means handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating,
photographing, and every other means of recording any form of communication or
representation, including, but not limited to, letters, words, pictures,
sounds, or symbols, or combination thereof, and all papers, maps, magnetic or
paper tapes, photographic films and prints, motion picture, film and video
recordings, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, diskettes, sound
recordings, and other documents including existing data compilations from which
information may be obtained or translated.
As used in this
chapter, the singular shall take the plural and any gender, the other, as the
context requires.
Sec. 2. RCW 42.17.080 and 2000 c
237 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) On the day the
treasurer is designated, each candidate or political committee shall file with
the commission and the county auditor or elections officer of the county in
which the candidate resides, or in the case of a political committee, the
county in which the treasurer resides, in addition to any statement of
organization required under RCW 42.17.040 or 42.17.050, a report of all
contributions received and expenditures made prior to that date, if any.
(2) At the following
intervals each treasurer shall file with the commission and the county auditor
or elections officer of the county in which the candidate resides, or in the
case of a political committee, the county in which the committee maintains its
office or headquarters, and if there is no office or headquarters then in the
county in which the treasurer resides, a report containing the information
required by RCW 42.17.090:
(a) On the twenty-first
day and the seventh day immediately preceding the date on which the election is
held; and
(b) On the tenth day of
the first month after the election: PROVIDED, That this report shall not be
required following a primary election from:
(i) A candidate whose
name will appear on the subsequent general election ballot; or
(ii) Any continuing political
committee; and
(c) On the tenth day of
each month in which no other reports are required to be filed under this
section: PROVIDED, That such report shall only be filed if the committee has
received a contribution or made an expenditure in the preceding calendar month
and either the total contributions received or total expenditures made since
the last such report exceed two hundred dollars.
When there is no
outstanding debt or obligation, and the campaign fund is closed, and the
campaign is concluded in all respects, and in the case of a political
committee, the committee has ceased to function and has dissolved, the
treasurer shall file a final report. Upon submitting a final report, the
duties of the treasurer shall cease and there shall be no obligation to make
any further reports.
The report filed
twenty-one days before the election shall report all contributions received and
expenditures made as of the end of the fifth business day before the date of
the report. The report filed seven days before the election shall report all
contributions received and expenditures made as of the end of the one business
day before the date of the report. Reports filed on the tenth day of the month
shall report all contributions received and expenditures made from the closing
date of the last report filed through the last day of the month preceding the
date of the current report.
(3) For the period
beginning the first day of the fourth month preceding the date on which the
special or general election is held and ending on the date of that election,
each ((Friday)) Monday the treasurer shall file with the
commission and the appropriate county elections officer a report of each bank
deposit made during the previous seven calendar days. The report shall contain
the name of each person contributing the funds so deposited and the amount
contributed by each person. However, contributions of no more than twenty-five
dollars in the aggregate from any one person may be deposited without
identifying the contributor. A copy of the report shall be retained by the
treasurer for his or her records. In the event of deposits made by a deputy
treasurer, the copy shall be forwarded to the treasurer for his or her
records. Each report shall be certified as correct by the treasurer or deputy
treasurer making the deposit.
(4) If a city requires
that candidates or committees for city offices file reports with a city agency,
the candidate or treasurer so filing need not also file the report with the
county auditor or elections officer.
(5) The treasurer or
candidate shall maintain books of account accurately reflecting all
contributions and expenditures on a current basis within five business days of
receipt or expenditure. During the eight days immediately preceding the date of
the election the books of account shall be kept current within one business
day. As specified in the committee's statement of organization filed under RCW
42.17.040, the books of account must be open for public inspection as follows:
(a) For at least two
consecutive hours between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on the eighth day immediately
before the election, except when it is a legal holiday, in which case on the
seventh day immediately before the election, at the principal headquarters or,
if there is no headquarters, at the address of the treasurer or such other
place as may be authorized by the commission; and
(b) By appointment for
inspections to be conducted at the designated place for inspections between
8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on any other day from the seventh day through the day
immediately before the election, other than Saturday, Sunday, or a legal
holiday. It is a violation of this chapter for a candidate or political
committee to refuse to allow and keep an appointment for an inspection to be conducted
during these authorized times and days in the week prior to the election. The
appointment must be allowed at an authorized time and day for such inspections
that is within twenty-four hours of the time and day that is requested for the
inspection.
(6) The treasurer or
candidate shall preserve books of account, bills, receipts, and all other
financial records of the campaign or political committee for not less than five
calendar years following the year during which the transaction occurred.
(7) All reports filed
pursuant to subsection (1) or (2) of this section shall be certified as correct
by the candidate and the treasurer.
(8) Copies of all
reports filed pursuant to this section shall be readily available for public
inspection for at least two consecutive hours Monday through Friday, excluding
legal holidays, between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., as specified in the
committee's statement of organization filed pursuant to RCW 42.17.040, at the
principal headquarters or, if there is no headquarters, at the address of the
treasurer or such other place as may be authorized by the commission.
(9) After January 1,
2002, a report that is filed with the commission electronically need not also
be filed with the county auditor or elections officer.
(10) The commission
shall adopt administrative rules establishing requirements for filer
participation in any system designed and implemented by the commission for the
electronic filing of reports.
