washingtonstatestandard.com Amid legal concerns, WA suspends contribution limits for candidates and PACs Jerry Cornfield
Washington state’s campaign finance enforcers are allowing candidates for legislative and Supreme Court seats to spend as much of their own money on their campaigns in the final days of this election. And the state Public Disclosure Commission is also not enforcing caps on how much money political committees not tied to a ballot measure can accept in the run-up to next week’s election. The citizen panel voted last week to suspend enforcement of the restrictions, amid ongoing concerns that the statute may not withstand a legal challenge. “The law has not changed,” said Natalie Johnson, spokesperson for the Public Disclosure Commission. “The commission is concerned that the law on the books is not enforceable and is telling staff to not enforce it.” At issue is a statute that limits contributions a committee can accept or a candidate can give themself in a short but critical period of time — seven days before a primary and 21 days before a general election. It sets the bar at $75,000 for those seeking legislative seats and statewide office, and $7,500 for a political committee or candidate running for a local office. Limits on individual contributions to candidates are still in place. And, in the 21 days before the general election, all candidates and political committees must report contributions totaling $1,500 or more from one source within 48 hours of receiving it. Though the commission decision was the product of a public conversation begun earlier this year, its timing so close to the Nov. 3 election vexed election professionals and political observers. Some warned it enables large sums of money to flow to political committees actively engaged in supporting and opposing candidates on Tuesday’s ballot. Dave Ammons, a retired reporter who served on the commission from 2017-21, said he was “perplexed and troubled” by the commission action in a post on Facebook. “The trouble with huge late infusions of money is that they can influence outcomes that may not be known until after the election,” he said. “I wouldn’t bend the knee to court challenges unless there is a direct court order in a live case.” Such an infusion appeared to have occurred Monday when Washington Needs to Compete, a business-backed committee that’s raised in excess of $13 million, funneled $100,000 to Jobs PAC, another business-funded committee that’s spent money supporting and opposing an array of legislative candidates.
