WSR 98-01-187

PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY

PUBLIC DISCLOSURE COMMISSION

[Filed December 23, 1997, 3:41 p.m.]

Subject of Possible Rule Making: Whether to amend WAC 390-05-400 and increase or decrease contribution limits and other dollar amounts established by Initiative 134.

Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: RCW 42.17.370(1), 42.17.690.

Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: RCW 42.17.690, enacted as part of Initiative 134, requires the Public Disclosure Commission, at the beginning of each even-numbered year, to increase or decrease all dollar amounts, including contribution limits, based on an inflationary index recommended by the Office of Financial Management. In enacting contribution limits as part of I-134, the public made a determination that the amounts set forth therein were appropriate and meaningful, as they stood in 1992. The biennial review of those amounts ensures that they continue to be appropriate as economic conditions change.

Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: None.

Process for Developing New Rule: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by January 23, 1998. A discussion regarding whether to proceed with rules and if so the content of the proposed rules is scheduled to occur at the commission's meeting on January 27, 1998.

Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting the Public Disclosure Commission Assistant Director Vickie Rippie at Washington Public Disclosure Commission, P.O. Box 40908, Olympia, WA 98504-0908, phone (360) 753-1111, FAX (360) 753-1112. Obtain agenda for commission meeting to be held on January 27, 1998, for time and location of discussion on possible rules. If the commission decides to move forward with amending WAC 390-05-400, the public hearing will likely be scheduled for March 24, 1998.

December 17, 1997

Melissa Warheit