AN ACT Relating to campaign finance reporting of broadcast air time; amending RCW 42.17.020; and reenacting and amending RCW 42.17.090.

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

Sec. 1. Section 2, chapter 1, Laws of 1973 as last amended by section 5, chapter 34, Laws of 1984 and RCW 42.17.020 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) "Agency" includes all state agencies and all local agencies. "State agency" includes every state office, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or other state agency. "Local agency" includes every county, city, town, municipal corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, or special purpose district, or any office, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or agency thereof, or other local public agency.

(2) "Ballot proposition" means any "measure" as defined by RCW 29.01.110, or any initiative, recall, or referendum proposition proposed to be submitted to the voters of the state or any municipal corporation, political subdivision, or other voting constituency from and after the time when the proposition has been initially filed with the appropriate election officer of that constituency prior to its circulation for signatures.

(3) "Campaign depository" means a bank designated by a candidate or political committee pursuant to RCW 42.17.050.

(4) "Campaign treasurer" and "deputy campaign treasurer" mean the individuals appointed by a candidate or political committee, pursuant to RCW 42.17.050, to perform the duties specified in that section.

(5) "Candidate" means any individual who seeks election to public office. An individual shall be deemed to seek election when he first:

(a) Receives contributions or makes expenditures or reserves space or facilities with intent to promote his candidacy for office; or

(b) Announces publicly or files for office.

(6) "Commercial advertiser" means any person who sells the service of communicating messages or producing printed material for broadcast or distribution to the general public or segments of the general public whether through the use of newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations, billboard companies, direct mail advertising companies, printing companies, or otherwise.

(7) "Commission" means the agency established under RCW 42.17.350.

(8) "Compensation" unless the context requires a narrower meaning, includes payment in any form for real or personal property or services of any kind: PROVIDED, That for the purpose of compliance with RCW 42.17.241, the term "compensation" shall not include per diem allowances or other payments made by a governmental entity to reimburse a public official for expenses incurred while the official is engaged in the official business of the governmental entity.

(9) "Continuing political committee" means a political committee that is an organization of continuing existence not established in anticipation of any particular election campaign.

(10) "Contribution" includes a loan, gift, deposit, subscription, forgiveness of indebtedness, donation, advance, pledge, payment, transfer of funds between political committees, or transfer of anything of value, including personal and professional services for less than full consideration, but does not include interest on moneys deposited in a political committee's account, ordinary home hospitality and the rendering of "part-time" personal services of the sort commonly performed by volunteer campaign workers, or incidental expenses personally incurred by volunteer campaign workers not in excess of twenty-five dollars personally paid for by the worker. "Part-time" services, for the purposes of this chapter, means services in addition to regular full-time employment, or, in the case of an unemployed person, services not in excess of twenty hours per week, excluding weekends. For the purposes of this chapter, contributions other than money or its equivalents shall be deemed to have a money value equivalent to the fair market value of the contribution. Sums paid for tickets to fund-raising events such as dinners and parties are contributions; however, the amount of any such contribution may be reduced for the purpose of complying with the reporting requirements of this chapter, by the actual cost of consumables furnished in connection with the purchase of the tickets, and only the excess over the actual cost of the consumables shall be deemed a contribution. Where a broadcaster believes in good faith that federal law, regulation, or policy requires it to present contrasting viewpoints on a controversial issue of public importance, and where the broadcaster decides to present that viewpoint by presenting without charge in a commercial announcement materials prepared for, by, or on behalf of a political committee in support of, or opposition to, a ballot proposition, broadcast time provided for that purpose does not constitute a contribution within the meaning of this subsection except for reporting purposes under RCW 42.17.090 by the receiving campaign treasurer.

(11) "Elected official" means any person elected at a general or special election to any public office, and any person appointed to fill a vacancy in any such office.

(12) "Election" includes any primary, general, or special election for public office and any election in which a ballot proposition is submitted to the voters: PROVIDED, That an election in which the qualifications for voting include other than those requirements set forth in Article VI, section 1 (Amendment 63) of the Constitution of the state of Washington shall not be considered an election for purposes of this chapter.

(13) "Election campaign" means any campaign in support of or in opposition to a candidate for election to public office and any campaign in support of, or in opposition to, a ballot proposition.

(14) "Expenditure" includes a payment, contribution, subscription, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money or anything of value, and includes a contract, promise, or agreement, whether or not legally enforceable, to make an expenditure. The term "expenditure" also includes a promise to pay, a payment, or a transfer of anything of value in exchange for goods, services, property, facilities, or anything of value for the purpose of assisting, benefiting, or honoring any public official or candidate, or assisting in furthering or opposing any election campaign. For the purposes of this chapter, agreements to make expenditures, contracts, and promises to pay may be reported as estimated obligations until actual payment is made. The term "expenditure" shall not include the partial or complete repayment by a candidate or political committee of the principal of a loan, the receipt of which loan has been properly reported, or payment of service charges against a political committee's campaign account.

(15) "Final report" means the report described as a final report in RCW 42.17.080(2).

(16) "Immediate family" includes the spouse, dependent children, and other dependent relatives, if living in the household.

(17) "Legislation" means bills, resolutions, motions, amendments, nominations, and other matters pending or proposed in either house of the state legislature, and includes any other matter that may be the subject of action by either house or any committee of the legislature and all bills and resolutions that, having passed both houses, are pending approval by the governor.

(18) "Lobby" and "lobbying" each mean attempting to influence the passage or defeat of any legislation by the legislature of the state of Washington, or the adoption or rejection of any rule, standard, rate, or other legislative enactment of any state agency under the state Administrative Procedure Act((s)), chapter ((~~34.04 RCW and chapter 28B.19~~)) 34.05 RCW.

(19) "Lobbyist" includes any person who lobbies either in his own or another's behalf.

(20) "Lobbyist's employer" means the person or persons by whom a lobbyist is employed and all persons by whom he is compensated for acting as a lobbyist.

(21) "Person" includes an individual, partnership, joint venture, public or private corporation, association, federal, state, or local governmental entity or agency however constituted, candidate, committee, political committee, political party, executive committee thereof, or any other organization or group of persons, however organized.

(22) "Person in interest" means the person who is the subject of a record or any representative designated by that person, except that if that person is under a legal disability, the term "person in interest" means and includes the parent or duly appointed legal representative.

(23) "Political advertising" includes any advertising displays, newspaper ads, billboards, signs, brochures, articles, tabloids, flyers, letters, radio or television presentations, or other means of mass communication, used for the purpose of appealing, directly or indirectly, for votes or for financial or other support in any election campaign.

(24) "Political committee" means any person (except a candidate or an individual dealing with his own funds or property) having the expectation of receiving contributions or making expenditures in support of, or opposition to, any candidate or any ballot proposition.

(25) "Public office" means any federal, state, county, city, town, school district, port district, special district, or other state political subdivision elective office.

(26) "Public record" includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct of government or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.

(27) "Surplus funds" mean, in the case of a political committee or candidate, the balance of contributions that remain in the possession or control of that committee or candidate subsequent to the election for which the contributions were received, and that are in excess of the amount necessary to pay remaining debts incurred by the committee or candidate prior to that election. In the case of a continuing political committee, "surplus funds" mean those contributions remaining in the possession or control of the committee that are in excess of the amount necessary to pay all remaining debts when it makes its final report under RCW 42.17.065.

(28) "Writing" means handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, and every other means of recording any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combination thereof, and all papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films and prints, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, and other documents.

As used in this chapter, the singular shall take the plural and any gender, the other, as the context requires.

Sec. 2. Section 9, chapter 1, Laws of 1973 as last amended by section 2, chapter 12, Laws of 1986 and by section 1, chapter 228, Laws of 1986 and RCW 42.17.090 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(1) Each report required under RCW 42.17.080 (1) and (2), as now or hereafter amended, shall disclose for the period beginning at the end of the period for the last report or, in the case of an initial report, at the time of the first contribution or expenditure, and ending not more than five days prior to the date the report is due:

(a) The funds on hand at the beginning of the period;

(b) The name and address of each person who has made one or more contributions during the period, together with the money value and date of such contributions and the aggregate value of all contributions received from each such person during the campaign or in the case of a continuing political committee, the current calendar year: PROVIDED, That the income which results from the conducting of a fund-raising activity which has previously been reported in accordance with RCW 42.17.067 may be reported as one lump sum, with the exception of that portion of such income which was received from persons whose names and addresses are required to be included in the report required by RCW 42.17.067: PROVIDED FURTHER, That contributions of less than twenty-five dollars in the aggregate from any one person during the election campaign may be reported as one lump sum so long as the campaign treasurer maintains a separate and private list of the names, addresses, and amounts of each such contributor: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the money value of contributions of postage shall be the face value of such postage;

(c) Each loan, promissory note, or security instrument to be used by or for the benefit of the candidate or political committee made by any person, together with the names and addresses of the lender and each person liable directly, indirectly or contingently and the date and amount of each such loan, promissory note, or security instrument;

(d) Where a broadcaster believes in good faith that federal law, regulation, or policy requires it to present contrasting views on a controversial issue of public importance, and where the broadcaster decides to present that viewpoint by presenting without charge in a commercial announcement materials prepared for, by, or on behalf of a political committee in support of, or opposition to, a ballot proposition, the campaign treasurer of that political committee shall report the imputed value of the broadcast time as a resource available to the committee. For purposes of such reports, the imputed value of such time shall be computed using that rate or rate card for the time period in which the broadcast occurs that is applied to broadcast time purchased by the opposing or other political committees with respect to that ballot proposition. The reporting forms shall clearly distinguish such resources from "contributions" under the definition of the term in RCW 42.17.020;

(e) The name and address of each political committee from which the reporting committee or candidate received, or to which that committee or candidate made, any transfer of funds, together with the amounts, dates, and purpose of all such transfers. Information regarding the following shall be contained in a separate category of the report bearing the title "Transfer of funds": Contributions made from the campaign depository of one candidate to the campaign of another candidate; and contributions received by a candidate, or for the campaign of the candidate, from the campaign depository of another candidate;

((~~(e)~~)) (f) All other contributions not otherwise listed or exempted;

((~~(f)~~)) (g) The name and address of each person to whom an expenditure was made in the aggregate amount of fifty dollars or more, and the amount, date, and purpose of each such expenditure;

((~~(g)~~)) (h) The total sum of expenditures;

((~~(h)~~)) (i) The surplus or deficit of contributions over expenditures;

((~~(i)~~)) (j) The disposition made in accordance with RCW 42.17.095 of any surplus funds;

((~~(j)~~)) (k) Such other information as shall be required by the commission by regulation in conformance with the policies and purposes of this chapter; and

((~~(k)~~)) (l) Funds received from a political committee not domiciled in Washington state or not otherwise required to report under this chapter (a "nonreporting committee"). Such funds shall be forfeited to the state of Washington unless the nonreporting committee or the recipient of such funds has filed or within ten days following such receipt shall file with the commission a statement disclosing: (i) its name and address; (ii) the purposes of the nonreporting committee; (iii) the names, addresses, and titles of its officers or if it has no officers, the names, addresses, and titles of its responsible leaders; (iv) a statement whether the nonreporting committee is a continuing one; (v) the name, office sought, and party affiliation of each candidate in the state of Washington whom the nonreporting committee is supporting, and, if such committee is supporting the entire ticket of any party, the name of the party; (vi) the ballot proposition supported or opposed in the state of Washington, if any, and whether such committee is in favor of or opposed to such proposition; (vii) the name and address of each person residing in the state of Washington or corporation which has a place of business in the state of Washington who has made one or more contributions in the aggregate of twenty-five dollars or more to the nonreporting committee during the current calendar year, together with the money value and date of such contributions; (viii) the name and address of each person in the state of Washington to whom an expenditure was made by the nonreporting committee on behalf of a candidate or political committee in the aggregate amount of twenty-five dollars or more, the amount, date, and purpose of such expenditure, and the total sum of such expenditures; (ix) such other information as the commission may by regulation prescribe, in keeping with the policies and purposes of this chapter. A nonreporting committee incurring an obligation to file additional reports in a calendar year may satisfy the obligation by filing with the commission a letter providing updating or amending information.

(2) The campaign treasurer and the candidate shall certify the correctness of each report.