H-3472.1
HOUSE BILL 2214
State of Washington | 66th Legislature | 2020 Regular Session |
ByRepresentative MacEwen
Prefiled 12/06/19.Read first time 01/13/20.Referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Relations.
AN ACT Relating to the public inspection of records of commercial political advertisers; and amending RCW
42.17A.345.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW
42.17A.345 and 2019 c 428 s 26 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Each commercial advertiser who has accepted or provided political advertising or electioneering communications during the election campaign shall maintain current ((books of account and related materials as provided by rule))records that shall be open for public inspection during normal business hours during the campaign and for a period of no less than five years after the date of the applicable election. The ((documents and books of account))records shall specify:
(a) The names and addresses of persons from whom it accepted political advertising or electioneering communications;
(b) The exact nature and extent of the services rendered; and
(c) The total cost ((and the manner of payment)) for the services.
(2) At the request of the commission, each commercial advertiser required to comply with subsection (1) of this section shall provide to the commission copies of the information that must be maintained and be open for public inspection pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, or shall provide the commission with instructions on how that information may be obtained on the internet.
(3) As used in this section:
(a) "Address" means physical address, web site uniform resource locator (URL), or social media page. For online advertisements, the address may be of the person or group that hosted the advertisement rather than the person who paid for the advertisement.
(b) Records are "open for public inspection" if they are:
(i) Available for inspection in person;
(ii) Available to be transmitted electronically upon request; or
(iii) Posted on a web site that is available to the public without requiring registration.
(c) "Total cost" may be expressed as a range within the nearest one hundred dollars.
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