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The Public Disclosure Commission wants to hear from the public about proposed changes to interpretations dealing with campaign loans, debts, pledges and electronic contributions.
The revisions to Interpretations 12-01 and 00-02, discussed by the commission Dec. 6 and due for further consideration at its Jan. 24 meeting, are intended to reflect changes in the law and campaign finance landscape that have occurred in the years since the interpretations were written or last amended.
The Public Disclosure Commission approved emergency rules Nov. 29 to implement Substitute Senate Bill 5991, also known as the Disclose Act.
The legislation, which creates PDC filing requirements for some nonprofits that engage in political activity, takes effect Jan. 1, 2019.
In the coming weeks, the PDC will be providing guidance about complying with the new law and rules.
The emergency rules, which will take effect on Jan. 1 with the new law, are included below.
WAC 390-16-013 Registration and reporting of incidental committees
The Public Disclosure Commission today announced that Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed retired Superior Court Judge William Downing to the Commission.
Downing was a highly regarded member of the King County Superior Court bench for 28 years. Since his retirement in early 2017, he has worked part-time as a mediator and arbitrator for JAMS, an international alternative dispute resolution firm.
“Judge Downing has served our state with distinction for many years as a judge and mediator. He has an impartial, fair and open approach that will serve him well as a Public Disclosure Commissioner and tremendously benefit all Washingtonians,” Inslee said.
Beginning 30 days before a regular legislative session, a legislator or state executive office holder may not solicit or accept campaigns contributions:
This prohibition extends to any person employed by or acting on behalf of an official subject to the freeze. Further, since caucus political committees act on behalf of legislators, caucus committee personnel also are prohibited from soliciting or accepting contributions for the purposes mentioned above and further explained in WAC 390-17-400.
The Public Disclosure Commission will launch the final piece in a new suite of tools for exploring and analyzing data on money in state and local politics Thursday.
The release of the latest addition – a replacement for the current Search the Database and View Reports features – marks the culmination of a year-long project that overhauled how the PDC delivers information about campaigns and lobbyists to the public.
The project represents the biggest improvement to the agency’s data access systems since 2008.
“The PDC’s mission has always been to help Washingtonians make informed decisions about the influence of money in the political process,” said Commissioner David Ammons, who covered the PDC’s early days during his 37 years in The Associated Press Capitol bureau.
Candidate spending in the 45th Legislative District race that will determine control of the state Senate has set records, according to reports filed Tuesday with the Public Disclosure Commission, the state’s campaign-finance watchdog.
Expenditures by the Manka Dhingra and Jinyoung Lee Englund campaigns together total nearly $2.4 million, far surpassing the prior record for spending in a Washington state Senate race.
A GOP-led coalition now has a one-seat majority in the state Senate. A win by Englund would maintain the majority while a Dhingra victory would put Democrats in charge.
The prior campaign spending record for a state Senate race also was set in the 45th District by the 2014 contest between the late Sen. Andy Hill, R-Redmond, and Democratic challenger Matt Isenhower. Expenditures in that race totaled $1.49 million.
The Public Disclosure Commission will close its Olympia office at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 9, for an annual all-staff meeting.
The office will reopen at 8 a.m. Aug. 10.
Filers and members of the public are encouraged to email requests for assistance to pdc@pdc.wa.gov. Staff members will respond as quickly as possible following their return.
The Public Disclosure Commission welcomes today’s news that Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon rejected a motion to dismiss two defendants from Washington state’s lawsuit alleging multiple campaign-finance violations against Tim Eyman and associates.
As Commission Chair Anne Levinson said when the lawsuit was announced, “Our state’s campaign finance and disclosure laws are premised on the principle that the public deserves to know who is funding political campaigns, who is spending money to influence their vote. Mr. Eyman has an obligation to obey the law. When he, or others, do not, the Public Disclosure Commission and the Attorney General have an obligation on behalf of the public to take all necessary steps to ensure the integrity of our electoral system.”
The Public Disclosure Commission announced today the appointment of Peter Lavallee as the PDC’s new executive director.
Lavallee, an attorney, currently is the communications director at the Washington State Attorney General’s Office where he works extensively on campaign finance matters. He brings to the PDC broad experience in law, public policy, finance and administration, in both the public and private sectors.
Lavallee will assume his new role in June.
The commission’s vote at Tuesday’s special meeting was unanimous, with commissioners noting that Lavallee’s unique combination of legal and communications expertise will be a good fit for an agency charged with fairly enforcing the law and providing meaningful access to information about money in politics.
A Public Disclosure Commission staff investigation led to a $454,000 lawsuit filed today by the Attorney General's office.
The lawsuit alleges that former Grant County Superior Court judge Jerry Moberg and Moses Lake business owner Ken Greene intentionally concealed the fact that they were behind a mailer that targeted a candidate in the Grant County Prosecuting Attorney's 2014 race.
The mailer criticized Garth Dano, a criminal defense attorney who was challenging the incumbent prosecutor. It alleged Dano had “displayed a pattern of disregarding the simplest of laws and adult responsibility,” and urged voters to support the incumbent, Angus Lee.
The Public Disclosure Commission has appointed Barbara “BG” Sandahl its acting executive director while it searches for a permanent leader to replace Evelyn Fielding Lopez, who announced in March she was leaving the agency. Fielding Lopez’s last day was April 28.
Sandahl joined the PDC in April as deputy executive director. She has worked in state government for more than two decades, including posts at the Department of Licensing, Secretary of State and most recently the Department of Retirement Systems. A Lean management practitioner, she has focused much of her work on helping agencies reduce waste and increase efficiency.
The 2017 regular session freeze period ends Sunday, April 23, at 11:59 p.m. Gov. Jay Inslee has announced he will convene a special session of the Legislature beginning Monday, April 24, triggering a new fundraising freeze at 12:01 a.m. that day until the end of the special session. During a freeze, a legislator or state executive office holder may not solicit or accept campaigns contributions:
We are very pleased to let you know that Kim Bradford, a longtime journalist in Tacoma and the Tri-Cities, has joined the Public Disclosure Commission’s management team as the Director of Communications & Outreach.
Kim has been a journalist for more than 20 years, and comes to the PDC from serving as the state and local news editor at The (Tacoma) News Tribune. She was previously on the News Tribune’s editorial board and served as its political editor. Before joining The News Tribune she was the editorial page editor, an editorial writer and a reporter for the Tri-City Herald.
Good morning. I’m Anne Levinson, Chair of the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission. The PDC is the state agency responsible for overseeing and enforcing our state’s campaign finance and disclosure laws. I want to thank the Attorney General for taking the action that he has announced here today.