BILL REQ. #:  S-4282.3 

Read first time 01/19/2006.   Referred to Committee on Government Operations & Elections.

     AN ACT Relating to campaign contributions; amending RCW 42.17.640 and 42.17.3691; and providing an effective date.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 42.17.640 and 2005 c 445 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) No person, other than a bona fide political party or a caucus political committee, may make contributions to a candidate for a state legislative, county, or local office that in the aggregate exceed seven hundred dollars or to a candidate for a state office other than a state legislative office that in the aggregate exceed one thousand four hundred dollars for each election in which the candidate is on the ballot or appears as a write-in candidate. Contributions made with respect to a primary may not be made after the date of the primary. However, contributions to a candidate or a candidate's authorized committee may be made with respect to a primary until thirty days after the primary, subject to the following limitations: (a) The candidate lost the primary; (b) the candidate's authorized committee has insufficient funds to pay debts outstanding as of the date of the primary; and (c) the contributions may only be raised and spent to satisfy the outstanding debt. Contributions made with respect to a general election may not be made after the final day of the applicable election cycle.
     (2) No person, other than a bona fide political party or a caucus political committee, may make contributions to a state official against whom recall charges have been filed, or to a political committee having the expectation of making expenditures in support of the recall of the state official, during a recall campaign that in the aggregate exceed seven hundred dollars if for a state legislative office or one thousand four hundred dollars if for a state office other than a state legislative office.
     (3)(a) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, no bona fide political party or caucus political committee may make contributions to a candidate during an election cycle that in the aggregate exceed (i) seventy cents multiplied by the number of eligible registered voters in the jurisdiction from which the candidate is elected if the contributor is a caucus political committee or the governing body of a state organization, or (ii) thirty-five cents multiplied by the number of registered voters in the jurisdiction from which the candidate is elected if the contributor is a county central committee or a legislative district committee.
     (b) No candidate may accept contributions from a county central committee or a legislative district committee during an election cycle that when combined with contributions from other county central committees or legislative district committees would in the aggregate exceed thirty-five cents times the number of registered voters in the jurisdiction from which the candidate is elected.
     (4)(a) Notwithstanding subsection (2) of this section, no bona fide political party or caucus political committee may make contributions to a state official against whom recall charges have been filed, or to a political committee having the expectation of making expenditures in support of the state official, during a recall campaign that in the aggregate exceed (i) seventy cents multiplied by the number of eligible registered voters in the jurisdiction entitled to recall the state official if the contributor is a caucus political committee or the governing body of a state organization, or (ii) thirty-five cents multiplied by the number of registered voters in the jurisdiction from which the candidate is elected if the contributor is a county central committee or a legislative district committee.
     (b) No state official against whom recall charges have been filed, no authorized committee of the official, and no political committee having the expectation of making expenditures in support of the recall of a state official may accept contributions from a county central committee or a legislative district committee during an election cycle that when combined with contributions from other county central committees or legislative district committees would in the aggregate exceed thirty-five cents multiplied by the number of registered voters in the jurisdiction from which the candidate is elected.
     (5) For purposes of determining contribution limits under subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the number of eligible registered voters in a jurisdiction is the number at the time of the most recent general election in the jurisdiction.
     (6) Notwithstanding subsections (1) through (4) of this section, no person other than an individual, bona fide political party, or caucus political committee may make contributions reportable under this chapter to a caucus political committee that in the aggregate exceed seven hundred dollars in a calendar year or to a bona fide political party that in the aggregate exceed three thousand five hundred dollars in a calendar year. This subsection does not apply to loans made in the ordinary course of business.
     (7) For the purposes of RCW 42.17.640 through 42.17.790, a contribution to the authorized political committee of a candidate, or of a state official against whom recall charges have been filed, is considered to be a contribution to the candidate or state official.
     (8) A contribution received within the twelve-month period after a recall election concerning a state office is considered to be a contribution during that recall campaign if the contribution is used to pay a debt or obligation incurred to influence the outcome of that recall campaign.
     (9) The contributions allowed by subsection (2) of this section are in addition to those allowed by subsection (1) of this section, and the contributions allowed by subsection (4) of this section are in addition to those allowed by subsection (3) of this section.
     (10) RCW 42.17.640 through 42.17.790 apply to a special election conducted to fill a vacancy in a state office. However, the contributions made to a candidate or received by a candidate for a primary or special election conducted to fill such a vacancy shall not be counted toward any of the limitations that apply to the candidate or to contributions made to the candidate for any other primary or election.
     (11) Notwithstanding the other subsections of this section, no corporation or business entity not doing business in Washington state, no labor union with fewer than ten members who reside in Washington state, and no political committee that has not received contributions of ten dollars or more from at least ten persons registered to vote in Washington state during the preceding one hundred eighty days may make contributions reportable under this chapter to a candidate, to a state official against whom recall charges have been filed, or to a political committee having the expectation of making expenditures in support of the recall of the official. This subsection does not apply to loans made in the ordinary course of business.
     (12) Notwithstanding the other subsections of this section, no county central committee or legislative district committee may make contributions reportable under this chapter to a candidate, state official against whom recall charges have been filed, or political committee having the expectation of making expenditures in support of the recall of a state official if the county central committee or legislative district committee is outside of the jurisdiction entitled to elect the candidate or recall the state official.
     (13) No person may accept contributions that exceed the contribution limitations provided in this section.
     (14) The following contributions are exempt from the contribution limits of this section:
     (a) An expenditure or contribution earmarked for voter registration, for absentee ballot information, for precinct caucuses, for get-out-the-vote campaigns, for precinct judges or inspectors, for sample ballots, or for ballot counting, all without promotion of or political advertising for individual candidates; or
     (b) An expenditure by a political committee for its own internal organization or fund raising without direct association with individual candidates.

Sec. 2   RCW 42.17.3691 and 2000 c 237 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) ((Beginning January 1, 2002, each candidate or political committee that expended twenty-five thousand dollars or more in the preceding year or expects to expend twenty-five thousand dollars or more in the current year shall file all contribution reports and expenditure reports required by this chapter by the electronic alternative provided by the commission under RCW 42.17.369. The commission may make exceptions on a case-by-case basis for candidates whose authorized committees lack the technological ability to file reports using the electronic alternative provided by the commission.
     (2))) Beginning January 1, ((2004)) 2007, each candidate or political committee that expended ((ten)) more than three thousand five hundred dollars ((or more)) in the preceding year or expects to expend ((ten)) more than three thousand five hundred dollars ((or more)) in the current year shall file all contribution reports and expenditure reports required by this chapter by the electronic alternative provided by the commission under RCW 42.17.369. The commission may make exceptions on a case-by-case basis for candidates whose authorized committees lack the technological ability to file reports using the electronic alternative provided by the commission.
     (((3))) (2) Failure by a candidate or political committee to comply with this section is a violation of this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   Section 2 of this act takes effect January 1, 2007.