State and local elected officials (and their agents) may not knowingly solicit, directly or indirectly, a contribution to a candidate, political party or other political committee from an employee in the official's agency. For example, neither legislators nor their campaign committees may solicit political contributions from legislative employees. RCW 42.17A.565
An out-of-state political committee, including committees registered with the Federal Elections Commission, not registered with PDC (that is, a PAC located in a state other than Washington organized for the purpose of supporting or opposing candidates or ballot propositions) that contributes to or spends more than $50 on behalf of any Washington state, local or judicial candidate, ballot measure or political committee must file either a
Occasionally, campaigns receive funds from truly anonymous sources; that is, no one involved in the campaign knows who donated the money. Candidates and committees may retain anonymous contributions up to $500 or 1 percent of the total contributions received in a calendar year, whichever is greater. Campaigns may not use the anonymous contribution provision to avoid identifying contributors.
Candidates may donate an unlimited amount of monetary and in-kind contributions to their own campaigns (except during the 21 days before the general election). However, in order for a candidate's contribution to be eligible for repayment by the campaign, it must be recorded in a written loan agreement, designated for either the primary or general election and be properly reported as a loan on a Schedule L and on a C-3 report (or Part 1 of Schedule B to the C-4, if in-kind).
Surplus campaign funds – those contributions given for an election that remain after the election and that are not needed to pay obligations from the election campaign – may only be disposed of in one or more of the ways permitted by law. The options are:
A candidate who solicits contributions for a state, local, or judicial office may not use those contributions to seek a different office without first obtaining written approval from the persons or entities who donated the contributions. RCW 42.17A.490.
No one may directly or indirectly reimburse another person or entity for a contribution to a candidate, political committee or political party. RCW 42.17A.485.
Only an individual is permitted to collect contributions from others and transmit them to the intended recipient. Political committees, businesses, unions, and organizations (or people representing them) are prohibited from collecting contributions from various sources (commonly known as bundling) and delivering or transmitting those bundled contributions to a candidate or political committee.