H-2354 _______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 657
_______________________________________________
C 199 L 88
State of Washington 50th Legislature 1987 Regular Session
By House Committee on Constitution, Elections & Ethics (originally sponsored by Representatives Fisher, Sanders, H. Sommers, Miller, Lewis, Prince, Jacobsen, Fisch, Taylor, Jesernig, Wang, D. Sommers, Sutherland, Kremen, May, Brough, Ferguson, L. Smith, Cooper, Betrozoff, Hankins and Spanel; by request of Public Disclosure Commission)
Read first time 3/6/87 and passed to Committee on Rules.
AN ACT Relating to political advertising; amending RCW 42.17.530; and adding a new section to chapter 42.17 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 42.17 RCW to read as follows:
The definitions set forth in this section apply throughout RCW 42.17.510 through 42.17.540.
(1) "Actual malice" means to act with knowledge of falsity or with reckless disregard as to truth or falsity.
(2) "Sponsor" means the candidate, political committee, or person paying for the advertisement. If a person acts as an agent for another or is reimbursed by another for the payment, the original source of the payment is the sponsor.
(3) "Incumbent" means a person who is in present possession of an elected office.
Sec. 2. Section 3, chapter 216, Laws of 1984 and RCW 42.17.530 are each amended to read as follows:
((A
person shall not sponsor political advertising which contains information that
the person knows, or should reasonably be expected to know, to be false. No
political advertising may falsely represent that a candidate is an incumbent
for the office sought. A person or candidate shall not make, either directly
or indirectly, a false claim stating or implying the support or endorsement of
any person or organization.)) (1) It is a violation of this chapter for
a person to sponsor with actual malice:
(a) Political advertising that contains a false statement of material fact;
(b) Political advertising that falsely represents that a candidate is the incumbent for the office sought when in fact the candidate is not the incumbent;
(c) Political advertising that makes either directly or indirectly, a false claim stating or implying the support or endorsement of any person or organization when in fact the candidate does not have such support or endorsement.
(2) Any violation of this section shall be proven by clear and convincing evidence.