A bill sponsored by a small bipartisan group of state senators seeks to bring deeper transparency to campaign finances in the state of Washington during this year’s legislative session.
The State Government, Tribal Affairs and Elections Committee in the Washington state Senate passed Senate Bill 5840 on to the Senate Rules Committee. The proposed policy would standardize the schedule for political groups to file expenditure reports with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission (PDC). It is one of the first bills introduced this year to make it through the committee process.
If passed and signed into law, SB 5840 would require political committees and other groups that spend money to support or oppose ballot proposals or political candidates to participate in more frequent financial reporting. First and foremost, the bill requires all political candidates, political committees and incidental committees to declare if they plan to be politically active during the year.
The Senate bill is sponsored by many members of the committee, which might explain its quick progress making it through the committee in just the first week of this year’s session. Supporters include the bill’s prime sponsor and ranking member of the committee, state Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, and committee chair, Sen. Javier Valdez, D-Seattle.
The new bill was filed in response to a request from the Washington state PDC Committee and, according to Wilson, attempts to make campaign finance transparency routine and simple for those participating in political activity.
“This really starts to set some calendar expectations,” Wilson said. “And I like that part and promote that part because routine is something that you can set on a schedule on a calendar and you can practice at.”
Under the new law, committees would first be required to submit a filing to declare if they intended to be politically active that year. Those that will be active or fail to declare they are not active would need to file an expenditure report on the 10th of every month. Committees that declare they are not active can refile at any time from January to June and declare activity later on in the season if their situation changes.
Inactive candidates and committees can satisfy the monthly reporting requirement by filing a certification if the total amount of money received and spent since the last report is $750 or less.
Those actively participating in political activity for a proposal or candidate in the primary or general elections must file financial reports on the 25th of every month for the “election period” from July through October.
The small bill with significant bipartisan support appears to be poised for a speedy trip through the legislative process. It now heads to the Senate Rules Committee, which will be responsible for scheduling it for a vote on the Senate floor. That being said, there is no rush as the bill is making progress well before legislative cutoffs that will kill bills that make slower progress or none at all.
