BILL REQ. #:  H-3461.3 

Read first time 01/16/12.   Referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Affairs.

     AN ACT Relating to returning the initiative process to the people by enacting reforms relating to contributions to ballot measure committees; amending RCW 42.17A.125; adding a new section to chapter 42.17A RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature recognizes and supports the constitutional right of the people to pass laws through the initiative and referendum process. However in recent years, corporations have hijacked the initiative process to advance their special interests. The total dollar amount raised for initiatives between 2001 and 2010 averaged nine million eight hundred thousand dollars per year. In 2010, the total amount of money raised for initiatives was sixty million dollars, and in 2011 that total was forty-one million dollars. A single corporation contributed over twenty-two million dollars to support Initiative Measure No. 1183. Less than one thousand dollars for that same initiative was received from individuals. Therefore, the legislature intends to return the initiative process to the people by setting a contribution limit for ballot measure committees.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 42.17A RCW to read as follows:
     No person may make a contribution to a political committee formed to support or oppose a ballot proposition in excess of one thousand six hundred dollars in the aggregate in a calendar year. No political committee formed to support or oppose a ballot proposition may accept a contribution from any person in excess of one thousand six hundred dollars in the aggregate in a calendar year.
     The dollar limits in this section must be adjusted according to RCW 42.17A.125.

Sec. 3   RCW 42.17A.125 and 2011 c 60 s 21 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) At the beginning of each even-numbered calendar year, the commission shall increase or decrease the dollar amounts in RCW 42.17A.005(26), 42.17A.405, 42.17A.410, section 2 of this act, 42.17A.445(3), 42.17A.475, and 42.17A.630(1) based on changes in economic conditions as reflected in the inflationary index recommended by the office of financial management. The new dollar amounts established by the commission under this section shall be rounded off to amounts as judged most convenient for public understanding and so as to be within ten percent of the target amount equal to the base amount provided in this chapter multiplied by the increase in the inflationary index since July 2008.
     (2) The commission may revise, at least once every five years but no more often than every two years, the monetary reporting thresholds and reporting code values of this chapter. The revisions shall be only for the purpose of recognizing economic changes as reflected by an inflationary index recommended by the office of financial management. The revisions shall be guided by the change in the index for the period commencing with the month of December preceding the last revision and concluding with the month of December preceding the month the revision is adopted. As to each of the three general categories of this chapter, reports of campaign finance, reports of lobbyist activity, and reports of the financial affairs of elected and appointed officials, the revisions shall equally affect all thresholds within each category. The revisions authorized by this subsection shall reflect economic changes from the time of the last legislative enactment affecting the respective code or threshold.
     (3) Revisions made in accordance with subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall be adopted as rules under chapter 34.05 RCW.