[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to correcting inaccurate or procedurally obsolete provisions in the public disclosure commission law; amending RCW 42.17.020, 42.17.090, and 42.17.380; and repealing RCW 42.17.700.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 42.17.020 and 1995 c 397 s 1 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) "Authorized committee" means the political committee authorized by a candidate, or by the public official against whom recall charges have been filed, to accept contributions or make expenditures on behalf of the candidate or public official.

(3) "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.

(4) "Benefit" means a commercial, proprietary, financial, economic, or monetary advantage, or the avoidance of a commercial, proprietary, financial, economic, or monetary disadvantage.

(5) "Bona fide political party" means:

(a) An organization that has filed a valid certificate of nomination with the secretary of state under chapter 29.24 RCW;

(b) The governing body of the state organization of a major political party, as defined in RCW 29.01.090, that is the body authorized by the charter or bylaws of the party to exercise authority on behalf of the state party; or

(c) The county central committee or legislative district committee of a major political party. There may be only one legislative district committee for each party in each legislative district.

(6) "Depository" means a bank designated by a candidate or political committee pursuant to RCW 42.17.050.

(7) "Treasurer" and "deputy 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.

(8) "Candidate" means any individual who seeks nomination for election or election to public office. An individual seeks nomination or election when he or she first:

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

(b) Announces publicly or files for office;

(d) Gives his or her consent to another person to take on behalf of the individual any of the actions in (a) or (c) of this subsection.

(9) "Caucus political committee" means a political committee organized and maintained by the members of a major political party in the state senate or state house of representatives.

(10) "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.

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

(12) "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.

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

(14)(a) "Contribution" includes:

(i) A loan, gift, deposit, subscription, forgiveness of indebtedness, donation, advance, pledge, payment, transfer of funds between political committees, or anything of value, including personal and professional services for less than full consideration;

(ii) An expenditure made by a person in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate, a political committee, or their agents;

(iii) The financing by a person of the dissemination, distribution, or republication, in whole or in part, of broadcast, written, graphic, or other form of political advertising prepared by a candidate, a political committee, or its authorized agent;

(iv) Sums paid for tickets to fund-raising events such as dinners and parties, except for the actual cost of the consumables furnished at the event.

(b) "Contribution" does not include:

(i) Standard interest on money deposited in a political committee's account;

(ii) Ordinary home hospitality;

(iii) A contribution received by a candidate or political committee that is returned to the contributor within five business days of the date on which it is received by the candidate or political committee;

(iv) A news item, feature, commentary, or editorial in a regularly scheduled news medium that is of primary interest to the general public, that is in a news medium controlled by a person whose business is that news medium, and that is not controlled by a candidate or a political committee;

(v) An internal political communication primarily limited to the members of or contributors to a political party organization or political committee, or to the officers, management staff, or stockholders of a corporation or similar enterprise, or to the members of a labor organization or other membership organization;

(vi) The rendering of personal services of the sort commonly performed by volunteer campaign workers, or incidental expenses personally incurred by volunteer campaign workers not in excess of fifty dollars personally paid for by the worker. "Volunteer services," for the purposes of this section, means services or labor for which the individual is not compensated by any person;

(vii) Messages in the form of reader boards, banners, or yard or window signs displayed on a person's own property or property occupied by a person. However, a facility used for such political advertising for which a rental charge is normally made must be reported as an in-kind contribution and counts towards any applicable contribution limit of the person providing the facility;

(viii) Legal or accounting services rendered to or on behalf of:

(A) A political party or caucus political committee if the person paying for the services is the regular employer of the person rendering such services; or

(B) A candidate or an authorized committee if the person paying for the services is the regular employer of the individual rendering the services and if the services are solely for the purpose of ensuring compliance with state election or public disclosure laws.

(c) Contributions other than money or its equivalent are deemed to have a monetary value equivalent to the fair market value of the contribution. Services or property or rights furnished at less than their fair market value for the purpose of assisting any candidate or political committee are deemed a contribution. Such a contribution must be reported as an in-kind contribution at its fair market value and counts towards any applicable contribution limit of the provider.

(15) "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.

(16) "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.

(17) "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.

(18) "Election cycle" means the period beginning on the first day of December after the date of the last previous general election for the office that the candidate seeks and ending on November 30th after the next election for the office. In the case of a special election to fill a vacancy in an office, "election cycle" means the period beginning on the day the vacancy occurs and ending on November 30th after the special election.

(19) "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.

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

(21) "General election" for the purposes of the limits in RCW 42.17.640 means the election that results in the election of a person to a state office. It does not include a primary.

(22) "Gift," is as defined in RCW 42.52.010.

(23) "Immediate family" includes the spouse, dependent children, and other dependent relatives, if living in the household. For the purposes of RCW 42.17.640 through 42.17.790, "immediate family" means an individual's spouse, and child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, stepparent, grandparent, brother, half brother, sister, or half sister of the individual and the spouse of any such person and a child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, stepparent, grandparent, brother, half brother, sister, or half sister of the individual's spouse and the spouse of any such person.

(24) "Independent expenditure" means an expenditure that has each of the following elements:

(a) It is made in support of or in opposition to a candidate for office by a person who is not (i) a candidate for that office, (ii) an authorized committee of that candidate for that office, (iii) a person who has received the candidate's encouragement or approval to make the expenditure, if the expenditure pays in whole or in part for political advertising supporting that candidate or promoting the defeat of any other candidate or candidates for that office, or (iv) a person with whom the candidate has collaborated for the purpose of making the expenditure, if the expenditure pays in whole or in part for political advertising supporting that candidate or promoting the defeat of any other candidate or candidates for that office;

(b) The expenditure pays in whole or in part for political advertising that either specifically names the candidate supported or opposed, or clearly and beyond any doubt identifies the candidate without using the candidate's name; and

(c) The expenditure, alone or in conjunction with another expenditure or other expenditures of the same person in support of or opposition to that candidate, has a value of five hundred dollars or more. A series of expenditures, each of which is under five hundred dollars, constitutes one independent expenditure if their cumulative value is five hundred dollars or more.

(25)(a) "Intermediary" means an individual who transmits a contribution to a candidate or committee from another person unless the contribution is from the individual's employer, immediate family as defined for purposes of RCW 42.17.640 through 42.17.790, or an association to which the individual belongs.

(b) A treasurer or a candidate is not an intermediary for purposes of the committee that the treasurer or candidate serves.

(c) A professional fund-raiser is not an intermediary if the fund-raiser is compensated for fund-raising services at the usual and customary rate.

(d) A volunteer hosting a fund-raising event at the individual's home is not an intermediary for purposes of that event.

(26) "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.

(27) "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, chapter 34.05 RCW. Neither "lobby" nor "lobbying" includes an association's or other organization's act of communicating with the members of that association or organization.

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

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

(30) "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.

(31) "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.

(32) "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.

(33) "Political committee" means any person (except a candidate or an individual dealing with his or her 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.

(34) "Primary" for purposes of the limits in RCW 42.17.640 means the procedure for nominating a candidate to state office under ((~~chapter 29.18 or 29.21 RCW or any other primary for an election that uses, in large measure, the procedures established in chapter 29.18 or 29.21 RCW~~)) Title 29 RCW.

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

(36) "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. For the office of the secretary of the senate and the office of the chief clerk of the house of representatives, public records means legislative records as defined in RCW 40.14.100 and also means the following: All budget and financial records; personnel leave, travel, and payroll records; records of legislative sessions; reports submitted to the legislature; and any other record designated a public record by any official action of the senate or the house of representatives.

(37) "Recall campaign" means the period of time beginning on the date of the filing of recall charges under RCW 29.82.015 and ending thirty days after the recall election.

(38) "State legislative office" means the office of a member of the state house of representatives or the office of a member of the state senate.

(39) "State office" means state legislative office or the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, commissioner of public lands, insurance commissioner, superintendent of public instruction, state auditor, or state treasurer.

(40) "State official" means a person who holds a state office.

(41) "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.

(42) "Writing" means handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, and every other means of recording any form of communication or representation, including, but not limited to, letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combination thereof, and all papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films and prints, motion picture, film and video recordings, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, diskettes, sound recordings, and other documents including existing data compilations from which information may be obtained or translated.

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

Sec. 2. RCW 42.17.090 and 1993 c 256 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Each report required under RCW 42.17.080 (1) and (2) shall disclose the following:

(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 pledges in the aggregate of less than one hundred dollars from any one person need not be reported: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the income which results from a fund-raising activity conducted 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 no more 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 name, address, and amount 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) All other contributions not otherwise listed or exempted;

(e) The name and address of each candidate or political committee to which any transfer of funds was made, together with the amounts and dates of such transfers;

(f) The name and address of each person to whom an expenditure was made in the aggregate amount of more than fifty dollars during the period covered by this report, and the amount, date, and purpose of each such expenditure. A candidate for state executive or state legislative office or the political committee of such a candidate shall report this information for an expenditure under one of the following categories, whichever is appropriate: (i) Expenditures for the election of the candidate; (ii) expenditures for nonreimbursed public office-related expenses; (iii) expenditures required to be reported under (e) of this subsection; or (iv) expenditures of surplus funds and other expenditures. The report of such a candidate or committee shall contain a separate total of expenditures for each category and a total sum of all expenditures. Other candidates and political committees need not report information regarding expenditures under the categories listed in (i) through (iv) of this subsection or under similar such categories unless required to do so by the commission by rule. The report of such an other candidate or committee shall also contain the total sum of all expenditures;

(g) ((The name and address of each person to whom any expenditure was made directly or indirectly to compensate the person for soliciting or procuring signatures on an initiative or referendum petition, the amount of such compensation to each such person, and the total of the expenditures made for this purpose. Such expenditures shall be reported under this subsection (1)(g) whether the expenditures are or are not also required to be reported under (f) of this subsection;

~~(h)~~)) The name and address of any person and the amount owed for any debt, obligation, note, unpaid loan, or other liability in the amount of more than two hundred fifty dollars or in the amount of more than fifty dollars that has been outstanding for over thirty days;

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

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

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

((~~(l)~~)) (k) Funds received from a political committee 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 has filed or within ten days following such receipt files 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) 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; (v) 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; (vi) 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 more than twenty-five dollars to the nonreporting committee during the current calendar year, together with the money value and date of such contributions; (vii) 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 more than fifty dollars, the amount, date, and purpose of such expenditure, and the total sum of such expenditures; (viii) such other information as the commission may prescribe by rule, 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 treasurer and the candidate shall certify the correctness of each report.

Sec. 3. RCW 42.17.380 and 1982 c 35 s 196 are each amended to read as follows:

((~~(1) The office of the secretary of state shall be designated as a place where the public may file papers or correspond with the commission and receive any form or instruction from the commission.~~

~~(2)~~)) The attorney general, through his or her office, shall supply such assistance as the commission may require in order to carry out its responsibilities under this chapter. The commission may employ attorneys who are neither the attorney general nor an assistant attorney general to carry out any function of the attorney general prescribed in this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. RCW 42.17.700 (Contributions before December 3, 1992) and 1993 c 2 s 10 are each repealed.