Anyone looking for a more glamorous title than just “Senate Bill 5021” might try to immortalize the measure as the “Sad, Sad Legacy of Moxie Media.” We know one legislator who might prefer the bill be known as the “Pride of Pridemore.” Whatever moniker ultimately emerges, you can already call SB 5021 unanimously approved as of Thursday.
Last year Moxie Media of Seattle was exposed for multiple shenanigans during the election campaign, including diverting contributions into multiple newly created political action committees without following state disclosure laws. Although unscrupulous campaign strategies litter the histories of both political parties, this time it was Democratic activists who were performing the shell games. State Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, became properly fed up, declared that voters deserve to know who’s funding campaigns and decided to take strong action.
And last week, his SB 5021 was unanimously approved in the state Senate. A companion bill awaits approval in the state House, where we see no reason why similar unanimity cannot be achieved. Among the Senate bill’s provisions are criminal sanctions and direct fines of up to $10,000 for serious violations of campaign disclosure rules. A Clark County colleague of Pridemore’s in the Senate — Republican Don Benton of Vancouver — was quoted in The Olympian newspaper, stating that the bill goes “a long way to making our campaigns more transparent, cleaner” and to letting voters know who is paying for campaign materials.
Specifically, the bill would prohibit any two PACs from having the same name but different purposes, and a PAC’s name must include the name of the person or entity who created it. Currently, the reporting of “electioneering communications” valued at $5,000 is required, but SB 5021 would lower that threshold to $1,000. And the bill would increase maximum fines for multiple violations to $10,000, up from the current $4,200. Some intentional violations would be classified as misdemeanors, and false or forged filings would constitute a felony.