AN ACT Relating to election campaign financing; amending RCW 42.17.010; adding new sections to chapter 42.17 RCW; prescribing penalties; and providing an effective date.

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

Sec. 1. Section 1, chapter 1, Laws of 1973 as amended by section 1, chapter 294, Laws of 1975 1st ex. sess. and RCW 42.17.010 are each amended to read as follows:

It is hereby declared by the sovereign people to be the public policy of the state of Washington:

(1) That government serve the needs and respond to the wishes of all citizens, without regard to their wealth or position.

(2) That political campaign and lobbying contributions and expenditures be fully disclosed to the public and that secrecy is to be avoided.

((~~(2)~~)) (3) That the people have the right to expect from their elected representatives at all levels of government the utmost of integrity, honesty, and fairness in their dealings, free from bias caused by the campaign contributions of individuals or organizations.

(4) That limitations on contributions and expenditures to state election campaigns combined with a state funded public matching system are necessary to reduce the ability of individuals and organizations to obtain disproportionate influence over the actions and decisions of public officials without limiting freedom of speech.

((~~(3)~~)) (5) That the people shall be assured that the private financial dealings of their public officials, and of candidates for those offices, present no conflict of interest between the public trust and private interest.

((~~(4)~~)) (6) That our representative form of government is founded on a belief that those entrusted with the offices of government have nothing to fear from full public disclosure of their financial and business holdings, provided those officials deal honestly and fairly with the people.

((~~(5)~~)) (7) That public confidence in government at all levels is essential and must be promoted by all possible means.

((~~(6)~~)) (8) That public confidence in government at all levels can best be sustained by assuring the people of the impartiality and honesty of the officials in all public transactions and decisions.

((~~(7)~~)) (9) That the concept of attempting to increase financial participation of individual contributors in political campaigns is encouraged by the passage of the Revenue Act of 1971 by the Congress of the United States, and in consequence thereof, it is desirable to have implementing legislation at the state level.

((~~(8)~~)) (10) That the concepts of disclosure and limitation of election campaign financing are established by the passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 by the Congress of the United States, and in consequence thereof it is desirable to have implementing legislation at the state level.

((~~(9)~~)) (11) That small contributions by individual contributors are to be encouraged, and that not requiring the reporting of small contributions may tend to encourage such contributions.

((~~(10)~~)) (12) That the public's right to know of the financing of political campaigns and lobbying and the financial affairs of elected officials and candidates far outweighs any right that these matters remain secret and private.

((~~(11)~~)) (13) That, mindful of the right of individuals to privacy and of the desirability of the efficient administration of government, full access to information concerning the conduct of government on every level must be assured as a fundamental and necessary precondition to the sound governance of a free society.

The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to promote complete disclosure of all information respecting the financing of political campaigns and lobbying, and the financial affairs of elected officials and candidates, and full access to public records so as to assure continuing public confidence of fairness of elections and governmental processes, and so as to assure that the public interest will be fully protected. In promoting such complete disclosure, however, this chapter shall be enforced so as to insure that the information disclosed will not be misused for arbitrary and capricious purposes and to insure that all persons reporting under this chapter will be protected from harassment and unfounded allegations based on information they have freely disclosed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The election campaign financing trust fund is established to be used by the commission as provided in sections 3 through 9 of this act. The legislature shall appropriate to the election campaign financing trust fund from general state revenue an amount sufficient to fund qualifying legislative candidates pursuant to sections 3 through 9 of this act. If appropriated moneys are insufficient to fully fund qualifying candidates, available funds shall be distributed on a proportional basis based on total available funds.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) Each candidate for the office of state legislator who desires to receive contributions from the election campaign financing trust fund shall, upon qualifying for office, file a request for such contributions with the filing officer on forms provided by the commission.

(2) For the purposes of sections 2 through 10 of this act, all candidates for a single state legislative position from the same political party are considered as a single candidate. A candidate is not eligible to receive contributions from the fund if the candidate is the only candidate who has filed a declaration of candidacy for that elective position.

(3) To be eligible to receive contributions from the fund, a candidate shall:

(a) Agree to abide by the expenditure limits provided in section 4 of this act;

(b) Raise qualifying matching contributions equal to five percent of the expenditure limit;

(4) An independent or minor party candidate qualifying for the general election is eligible for a maximum of fifty percent of the spending limit in public funds.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) A candidate for the state legislature who requests contributions from the election campaign financing trust fund shall limit his total expenditures to forty thousand dollars for the election period.

(2) The expenditure limit shall be adjusted by the commission quadrennially to reflect changes in the rate of inflation or deflation as indicated in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, United States City Average, All Items, 1967-100, or successor reports as reported by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The commission administrator shall review each request for contributions from the election campaign financing trust fund and certify whether the candidate is eligible for such contributions. The administrator shall give notice of the certification decision to the candidate. An adverse decision may be appealed to the commission. The commission shall adopt rules providing a procedure for appeals.

(2) Each candidate who has been certified to receive contributions from the election campaign financing trust fund is entitled to distribution of funds equal to all qualifying matching contributions. Qualifying matching contributions are those from an individual of one hundred dollars or less made after September 1st of the calendar year before the election. Aggregate contributions from an individual in excess of one hundred dollars will be matched only up to one hundred dollars.

(3) Certification and distribution of funds shall be based on contributions to the candidate reported to the commission pursuant to RCW 42.17.060 through 42.17.080. The commission shall review each report and verify the amount of funds to be distributed before authorizing the release of funds.

(4) Distribution of funds to candidates with general election opposition or primary election opposition shall be made within seven days after the close of qualifying, based on quarterly contribution reports, and within seven days after the filing of contribution reports required on the twenty-first and seventh days before an election.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Candidates for state legislative office may accept no more than ten thousand dollars in aggregate contributions from continuing political committees.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. In addition to any other penalties that may be applicable under Title 29 RCW, any candidate who receives contributions from the election campaign financing trust fund and exceeds the applicable expenditure limit or falsely reports qualifying matching contributions and thereby receives contributions from the election campaign financing trust fund to which he or she was not entitled, is subject to a fine imposed by the commission in an amount equal to three times the amount at issue.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A candidate who has received contributions from the election campaign financing trust fund shall return all surplus campaign funds to the election campaign financing trust fund.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The commission shall from time to time make audits and field investigations of reports and statements filed under this chapter and of alleged failures to file a report or statement required under this chapter. The commission shall conduct a post-election audit of the campaign accounts of all candidates who receive contributions from the election campaign financing trust fund.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. (1) A civil penalty collected pursuant to section 7 of this act shall be deposited into the election campaign financing trust fund.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, a fine assessed pursuant to this chapter that is designated to be deposited or that would otherwise be deposited into the general fund of the state treasury, shall be deposited into the election campaign financing trust fund.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Sections 2 through 10 of this act shall be added to chapter 42.17 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. This act shall take effect January 1, 1988.