This section modifies existing section 42.17A.417. Here is the modified chapter for context.
A foreign national may not make a contribution to any candidate or any political committee that supports or opposes any candidate, make an expenditure in support of or in opposition to any candidate , or sponsor political advertising or an electioneering communication in support of or in opposition to any candidate.
A person may not make a contribution to any candidate or any political committee that supports or opposes any candidate, make an expenditure in support of or in opposition to any candidate , or sponsor political advertising or an electioneering communication in support of or in opposition to any candidate, if:
The contribution, expenditure, political advertising, or electioneering communication is directly or indirectly made by a foreign national; or
Foreign nationals who do not reside, work, or attend an institution of higher education in the state of Washington are involved in making decisions regarding the contribution, expenditure, political advertising, or electioneering communication in any way.
This section modifies existing section 42.17A.418. Here is the modified chapter for context.
Each candidate or political committee that supports or opposes any candidate that has accepted a contribution, and each out-of-state committee that supports or opposes any candidate that has accepted a contribution reportable under RCW 42.17A.250, from a partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons must receive a certification from each contributor that:
The contribution is not directly or indirectly made by a foreign national; and
Foreign nationals who do not reside, work, or attend an institution of higher education in the state of Washington are not involved in making decisions regarding the contribution in any way.
The certifications must be maintained for a period of no less than three years after the date of the applicable election.
At the request of the commission, each candidate or committee required to comply with subsection (1) of this section must provide to the commission copies of the certifications maintained under this section.
This section modifies existing section 42.17A.240. Here is the modified chapter for context.
Each report required under RCW 42.17A.235 (1) through (4) must be certified as correct by the treasurer and the candidate and shall disclose the following, except an incidental committee only must disclose and certify as correct the information required under subsections (2)(d) and (7) of this section:
The funds on hand at the beginning of the period;
The name and address of each person who has made one or more contributions during the period, together with the money value and date of each contribution and the aggregate value of all contributions received from each person during the campaign, or in the case of a continuing political committee, the current calendar year, with the following exceptions:
Pledges in the aggregate of less than one hundred dollars from any one person need not be reported;
Income that results from a fund-raising activity conducted in accordance with RCW 42.17A.230 may be reported as one lump sum, with the exception of that portion received from persons whose names and addresses are required to be included in the report required by RCW 42.17A.230;
Contributions of no more than twenty-five dollars in the aggregate from any one person during the election campaign may be reported as one lump sum if the treasurer maintains a separate and private list of the name, address, and amount of each such contributor;
Payments received by an incidental committee from any one person need not be reported unless the person is one of the committee's ten largest sources of payments received, including any persons tied as the tenth largest source of payments received, during the current calendar year, and the value of the cumulative payments received from that person during the current calendar year is ten thousand dollars or greater. For payments to incidental committees from multiple persons received in aggregated form, any payment of more than ten thousand dollars from any single person must be reported, but the aggregated payment itself may not be reported. The commission may suspend or modify reporting requirements for payments received by an incidental committee in cases of manifestly unreasonable hardship under this chapter;
Payments from private foundations organized under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code to an incidental committee do not have to be reported if:
The private foundation is contracting with the incidental committee for a specific purpose other than election campaign purposes;
Use of the funds for election campaign purposes is explicitly prohibited by contract; and
Funding from the private foundation represents less than twenty-five percent of the incidental committee's total budget;
Commentary or analysis on a ballot proposition by an incidental committee is not considered a contribution if it does not advocate specifically to vote for or against the ballot proposition; and
The money value of contributions of postage is the face value of the postage;
Each loan, promissory note, or security instrument to be used by or for the benefit of the candidate or political committee made by any person, including the names and addresses of the lender and each person liable directly, indirectly or contingently and the date and amount of each such loan, promissory note, or security instrument;
All other contributions not otherwise listed or exempted;
A statement that the candidate or political committee**, if the political committee supports or opposes any candidate,** has received a certification from any partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons making a contribution to the candidate or political committee that:
The contribution is not directly or indirectly made by a foreign national; and
Foreign nationals who do not reside, work, or attend an institution of higher education in the state of Washington are not involved in making decisions regarding the contribution in any way;
The name and address of each candidate or political committee to which any transfer of funds was made, including the amounts and dates of the transfers;
The name and address of each person to whom an expenditure was made in the aggregate amount of more than fifty dollars during the period covered by this report, the amount, date, and purpose of each expenditure, and the total sum of all expenditures. An incidental committee only must report on expenditures, made and reportable as contributions as defined in RCW 42.17A.005, to election campaigns. For purposes of this subsection, commentary or analysis on a ballot proposition by an incidental committee is not considered an expenditure if it does not advocate specifically to vote for or against the ballot proposition;
The name, address, and electronic contact information of each person to whom an expenditure was made for soliciting or procuring signatures on an initiative or referendum petition, the amount of the compensation to each person, and the total expenditures made for this purpose. Such expenditures shall be reported under this subsection in addition to what is required to be reported under subsection (7) of this section;
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The name and address of any person and the amount owed for any debt with a value of more than seven hundred fifty dollars that has not been paid for any invoices submitted, goods received, or services performed, within five business days during the period within thirty days before an election, or within ten business days during any other period.
For purposes of this subsection, debt does not include regularly recurring expenditures of the same amount that have already been reported at least once and that are not late or outstanding;
The surplus or deficit of contributions over expenditures;
The disposition made in accordance with RCW 42.17A.430 of any surplus funds; and
Any other information required by the commission by rule in conformance with the policies and purposes of this chapter.
This section modifies existing section 42.17A.250. Here is the modified chapter for context.
An out-of-state political committee organized for the purpose of supporting or opposing candidates or ballot propositions in another state that is not otherwise required to report under RCW 42.17A.205 through 42.17A.240 shall report as required in this section when it makes an expenditure supporting or opposing a Washington state candidate or political committee. The committee shall file with the commission a statement disclosing:
Its name and address;
The purposes of the out-of-state committee;
The names, addresses, and titles of its officers or, if it has no officers, the names, addresses, and the titles of its responsible leaders;
The name, office sought, and party affiliation of each candidate in the state of Washington whom the out-of-state committee is supporting or opposing and, if the committee is supporting or opposing the entire ticket of any party, the name of the party;
The ballot proposition supported or opposed in the state of Washington, if any, and whether the committee is in favor of or opposed to that proposition;
The name and address of each person residing in the state of Washington or corporation that has a place of business in the state of Washington who has made one or more contributions in the aggregate of more than twenty-five dollars to the out-of-state committee during the current calendar year, together with the money value and date of the contributions;
The name, address, and employer of each person or corporation residing outside the state of Washington who has made one or more contributions in the aggregate of more than two thousand five hundred fifty dollars to the out-of-state committee during the current calendar year, together with the money value and date of the contributions. Annually, the commission must modify the two thousand five hundred fifty dollar limit in this subsection based on percentage change in the implicit price deflator for personal consumption expenditures for the United States as published for the most recent twelve-month period by the bureau of economic analysis of the federal department of commerce;
The name and address of each person in the state of Washington to whom an expenditure was made by the out-of-state committee with respect to a candidate or political committee in the aggregate amount of more than fifty dollars, the amount, date, and purpose of the expenditure, and the total sum of the expenditures;
A statement that the out-of-state committee**, if the committee supports or opposes any candidate,** has received a certification from any partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons making a contribution reportable under this section that:
The contribution is not directly or indirectly made by a foreign national; and
Foreign nationals who do not reside, work, or attend an institution of higher education in the state of Washington are not involved in making decisions regarding the contribution in any way; and
Any other information as the commission may prescribe by rule in keeping with the policies and purposes of this chapter.
Each statement shall be filed no later than the tenth day of the month following any month in which a contribution or other expenditure reportable under subsection (1) of this section is made. An out-of-state committee incurring an obligation to file additional statements in a calendar year may satisfy the obligation by timely filing reports that supplement previously filed information.
This section modifies existing section 42.17A.255. Here is the modified chapter for context.
For the purposes of this section the term "independent expenditure" means any expenditure that is made in support of or in opposition to any candidate or ballot proposition and is not otherwise required to be reported pursuant to RCW 42.17A.225, 42.17A.235, and 42.17A.240. "Independent expenditure" does not include: An internal political communication primarily limited to the contributors to a political party organization or political action committee, or the officers, management staff, and stockholders of a corporation or similar enterprise, or the members of a labor organization or other membership organization; or the rendering of personal services of the sort commonly performed by volunteer campaign workers, or incidental expenses personally incurred by volunteer campaign workers not in excess of fifty dollars personally paid for by the worker. "Volunteer services," for the purposes of this section, means services or labor for which the individual is not compensated by any person.
Within five days after the date of making an independent expenditure that by itself or when added to all other such independent expenditures made during the same election campaign by the same person equals one hundred dollars or more, or within five days after the date of making an independent expenditure for which no reasonable estimate of monetary value is practicable, whichever occurs first, the person who made the independent expenditure shall file with the commission an initial report of all independent expenditures made during the campaign prior to and including such date.
At the following intervals each person who is required to file an initial report pursuant to subsection (2) of this section shall file with the commission a further report of the independent expenditures made since the date of the last report:
On the twenty-first day and the seventh day preceding the date on which the election is held; and
On the tenth day of the first month after the election; and
On the tenth day of each month in which no other reports are required to be filed pursuant to this section. However, the further reports required by this subsection (3) shall only be filed if the reporting person has made an independent expenditure since the date of the last previous report filed.
The report filed pursuant to (a) of this subsection (3) shall be the final report, and upon submitting such final report the duties of the reporting person shall cease, and there shall be no obligation to make any further reports.
All reports filed pursuant to this section shall be certified as correct by the reporting person.
Each report required by subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall disclose for the period beginning at the end of the period for the last previous report filed or, in the case of an initial report, beginning at the time of the first independent expenditure, and ending not more than one business day before the date the report is due:
The name, address, and electronic contact information of the person filing the report;
The name and address of each person to whom an independent expenditure was made in the aggregate amount of more than fifty dollars, and the amount, date, and purpose of each such expenditure. If no reasonable estimate of the monetary value of a particular independent expenditure is practicable, it is sufficient to report instead a precise description of services, property, or rights furnished through the expenditure and where appropriate to attach a copy of the item produced or distributed by the expenditure;
The total sum of all independent expenditures made during the campaign to date;
If the independent expenditure supports or opposes a candidate, a statement from the person making an independent expenditure that:
The expenditure is not directly or indirectly made by a foreign national; and
Foreign nationals who do not reside, work, or attend an institution of higher education in the state of Washington are not involved in making decisions regarding the expenditure in any way; and
Such other information as shall be required by the commission by rule in conformance with the policies and purposes of this chapter.
This section modifies existing section 42.17A.260. Here is the modified chapter for context.
The sponsor of political advertising shall file a special report to the commission within twenty-four hours of, or on the first working day after, the date the political advertising is first published, mailed, or otherwise presented to the public, if the political advertising:
Is published, mailed, or otherwise presented to the public within twenty-one days of an election; and
Either:
Qualifies as an independent expenditure with a fair market value or actual cost of one thousand dollars or more, for political advertising supporting or opposing a candidate; or
Has a fair market value or actual cost of one thousand dollars or more, for political advertising supporting or opposing a ballot proposition.
If a sponsor is required to file a special report under this section, the sponsor shall also deliver to the commission within the delivery period established in subsection (1) of this section a special report for each subsequent independent expenditure of any size supporting or opposing the same candidate who was the subject of the previous independent expenditure, supporting or opposing that candidate's opponent, or, in the case of a subsequent expenditure of any size made in support of or in opposition to a ballot proposition not otherwise required to be reported pursuant to RCW 42.17A.225, 42.17A.235, or 42.17A.240, supporting or opposing the same ballot proposition that was the subject of the previous expenditure.
The special report must include:
The name and address of the person making the expenditure;
The name and address of the person to whom the expenditure was made;
A detailed description of the expenditure;
The date the expenditure was made and the date the political advertising was first published or otherwise presented to the public;
The amount of the expenditure;
The name of the candidate supported or opposed by the expenditure, the office being sought by the candidate, and whether the expenditure supports or opposes the candidate; or the name of the ballot proposition supported or opposed by the expenditure and whether the expenditure supports or opposes the ballot proposition;
If the political advertising supports or opposes a candidate, a statement from the sponsor that:
The political advertising is not directly or indirectly made by a foreign national; and
Foreign nationals who do not reside, work, or attend an institution of higher education in the state of Washington are not involved in making decisions regarding the political advertising in any way; and
Any other information the commission may require by rule.
All persons required to report under RCW 42.17A.225, 42.17A.235, 42.17A.240, 42.17A.255, and 42.17A.305 are subject to the requirements of this section. The commission may determine that reports filed pursuant to this section also satisfy the requirements of RCW 42.17A.255.
The sponsor of independent expenditures supporting a candidate or opposing that candidate's opponent required to report under this section shall file with each required report an affidavit or declaration of the person responsible for making the independent expenditure that the expenditure was not made in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, the candidate, the candidate's authorized committee, or the candidate's agent, or with the encouragement or approval of the candidate, the candidate's authorized committee, or the candidate's agent.
This section modifies existing section 42.17A.265. Here is the modified chapter for context.
Treasurers shall prepare and deliver to the commission a special report when a contribution or aggregate of contributions totals one thousand dollars or more, is from a single person or entity, and is received during a special reporting period.
A political committee shall prepare and deliver to the commission a special report when it makes a contribution or an aggregate of contributions to a single entity that totals one thousand dollars or more during a special reporting period.
An aggregate of contributions includes only those contributions made to or received from a single entity during any one special reporting period. Any subsequent contribution of any size made to or received from the same person or entity during the special reporting period must also be reported.
Special reporting periods, for purposes of this section, include:
The period beginning on the day after the last report required by RCW 42.17A.235 and 42.17A.240 to be filed before a primary and concluding on the end of the day before that primary;
The period twenty-one days preceding a general election; and
An aggregate of contributions includes only those contributions received from a single entity during any one special reporting period or made by the contributing political committee to a single entity during any one special reporting period.
If a campaign treasurer files a special report under this section for one or more contributions received from a single entity during a special reporting period, the treasurer shall also file a special report under this section for each subsequent contribution of any size which is received from that entity during the special reporting period. If a political committee files a special report under this section for a contribution or contributions made to a single entity during a special reporting period, the political committee shall also file a special report for each subsequent contribution of any size which is made to that entity during the special reporting period.
Special reports required by this section shall be delivered electronically, or in written form if an electronic alternative is not available.
The special report required of a contribution recipient under subsection (1) of this section shall be delivered to the commission within forty-eight hours of the time, or on the first working day after: The contribution of one thousand dollars or more is received by the candidate or treasurer; the aggregate received by the candidate or treasurer first equals one thousand dollars or more; or any subsequent contribution from the same source is received by the candidate or treasurer.
The special report required of a contributor under subsection (2) of this section or RCW 42.17A.625 shall be delivered to the commission, and the candidate or political committee to whom the contribution or contributions are made, within twenty-four hours of the time, or on the first working day after: The contribution is made; the aggregate of contributions made first equals one thousand dollars or more; or any subsequent contribution to the same person or entity is made.
The special report shall include:
The amount of the contribution or contributions;
The date or dates of receipt;
The name and address of the donor;
The name and address of the recipient;
A statement that the candidate or political committee**, if the committee supports or opposes a candidate,** has received a certification from any partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons making a contribution reportable under this section that:
The contribution is not directly or indirectly made by a foreign national; and
Foreign nationals who do not reside, work, or attend an institution of higher education in the state of Washington are not involved in making decisions regarding the contribution in any way; and
Any other information the commission may by rule require.
Contributions reported under this section shall also be reported as required by other provisions of this chapter.
The commission shall prepare daily a summary of the special reports made under this section and RCW 42.17A.625.
Contributions governed by this section include, but are not limited to, contributions made or received indirectly through a third party or entity whether the contributions are or are not reported to the commission as earmarked contributions under RCW 42.17A.270.
This section modifies existing section 42.17A.305. Here is the modified chapter for context.
A payment for or promise to pay for any electioneering communication shall be reported to the commission by the sponsor on forms the commission shall develop by rule to include, at a minimum, the following information:
Name and address of the sponsor;
Source of funds for the communication, including:
General treasury funds. The name and address of businesses, unions, groups, associations, or other organizations using general treasury funds for the communication, however, if a business, union, group, association, or other organization undertakes a special solicitation of its members or other persons for an electioneering communication, or it otherwise receives funds for an electioneering communication, that entity shall report pursuant to (b)(ii) of this subsection;
Special solicitations and other funds. The name, address, and, for individuals, occupation and employer, of a person whose funds were used to pay for the electioneering communication, along with the amount, if such funds from the person have exceeded two hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate for the electioneering communication;
A statement from the sponsor that:
(A) The electioneering communication is not directly or indirectly made by a foreign national; and
(B) Foreign nationals who do not reside, work, or attend an institution of higher education in the state of Washington are not involved in making decisions regarding the electioneering communication in any way; and
iv. Any other source information required or exempted by the commission by rule;
c. Name and address of the person to whom an electioneering communication related expenditure was made;
d. A detailed description of each expenditure of more than one hundred dollars;
e. The date the expenditure was made and the date the electioneering communication was first broadcast, transmitted, mailed, erected, distributed, or otherwise published;
f. The amount of the expenditure;
g. The name of each candidate clearly identified in the electioneering communication, the office being sought by each candidate, and the amount of the expenditure attributable to each candidate; and
h. Any other information the commission may require or exempt by rule.
Electioneering communications shall be reported as follows: The sponsor of an electioneering communication shall report to the commission within twenty-four hours of, or on the first working day after, the date the electioneering communication is broadcast, transmitted, mailed, erected, distributed, digitally or otherwise, or otherwise published.
Electioneering communications shall be reported electronically by the sponsor using software provided or approved by the commission. The commission may make exceptions on a case-by-case basis for a sponsor who lacks the technological ability to file reports using the electronic means provided or approved by the commission.
All persons required to report under RCW 42.17A.225, 42.17A.235, 42.17A.240, and 42.17A.255 are subject to the requirements of this section, although the commission may determine by rule that persons filing according to those sections may be exempt from reporting some of the information otherwise required by this section. The commission may determine that reports filed pursuant to this section also satisfy the requirements of RCW 42.17A.255 and 42.17A.260.
Failure of any sponsor to report electronically under this section shall be a violation of this chapter.