News

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… read more

At a November 29 special meeting, the Public Disclosure Commission approved the permanent rules for implementation of Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2938.

The new rules make changes to campaign finance reporting requirements and enforcement procedures for alleged violations. They take… read more

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency should be treated as the equivalent of cash and limited to $100 (RCW 42.17A.475). The cryptocurrency should be converted to legal tender, deposited in the campaign depository within five business days of receipt (RCW 42.17A.220), and timely reported.

If… read more

In the waning days of the election season, campaigns are making lots of expenditures to get out their messages. The PDC encourages campaigns to provide as much detail as possible to help the public identify the purpose of those expenses.

Campaigns should "describe in detail the goods and/… read more

The PDC has received several inquiries about how to provide sponsor ID for political advertising via text message, which is considered an online transmission method under WAC 390-05-290(2). PDC staff has advised political committees that text messages are eligible to use the small online ad… read more

If you file C-4 reports for a candidate who will be on the November ballot or a political committee that's involved with the general election this year, you have a C-4 report due Oct. 16. This C-4 should be a report for the period of Sept. 1 through Oct. 15.

If you don't see a C-4 with a… read more

It's lobbyist registration time once again.

State law requires registered lobbyists to file a new registration statement every two years. The deadline is the second Monday in January of odd-numbered years. Failure to do so terminates the lobbyist's registration.

Anyone planning to… read more

The Public Disclosure Commission continues to accept comments on its proposal to make changes to the rules governing campaign finance reporting requirements and enforcement procedures for alleged violations.

The proposed rules (posted here) will be the subject of a public hearing at 11 a… read more

Candidates, political committees, elected officials and lobbyists who electronically file reports with the Public Disclosure Commission can now get email alerts when a PDC filing system is experiencing an outage or other issue.

The alerts are available by signing up at the PDC's… read more

Inspections of campaign books in the days preceding an election have new ground rules.

Washington state law has long allowed members of the public to inspect a candidate's or political committee's financial records prior to an election. The inspections provide additional disclosure of… read more