Title: An act relating to concerning the time period during which state officials may accept campaign contributions.

Brief Description: Describing the time period during which state officials may accept campaign contributions.

Sponsors: Senators Schoesler and Kastama.

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Government Operations & Elections: 1/31/06 [DP].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS & ELECTIONS

Majority Report: Do pass.Signed by Senators Kastama, Chair; Berkey, Vice Chair; Roach, Ranking Minority Member; Benton, Fairley, Haugen, Kline, McCaslin, Mulliken and Pridemore.

Staff: Diane Smith (786-7410)

Background: The Public Disclosure Act's provisions on campaign finance reporting prohibit a campaign from raising funds during what is often termed "the freeze period." This is the time both 30 days before and 30 days after a legislative session.

The issue of when a contribution is considered to be accepted for these purposes is not addressed by existing law.

Summary of Bill: The postmark date of a contribution received through the mails determines whether the date of acceptance is prior to the 30th day before the legislative session.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Created: No.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: Senator Schoesler was a freshman legislator in 1992 with the first generation of legislators to which the campaign reporting provisions applied There were conflicts with the PDC in how the statutes were to be interpreted. It has always been confusing and always by rule. This bill provides certainty for at least part of the ambiguous provisions.

Testimony Against: None.

Who Testified: PRO: Senator Schoesler, prime sponsor.