May 29, 2025
SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW PAC agrees to $6,000 fine for late reporting of more than $430,000 in expenditures for 2025 election
The Washington Public Disclosure Commission approved a $6,000 fine May 22 to settle a case against a 2024 political action committee that admitted late reporting of contributions valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, and more than two-thirds of its total expenditures for the election cycle.
SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW PAC reached a settlement with PDC staff in which the committee agreed that it had violated state law and would pay a penalty.
Under the settlement, the PAC will pay a $6,000 penalty with $3,000 suspended provided the committee pays the fine within 30 days of the order and remains in compliance with PDC reporting requirements.
PDC staff charged the PAC with reporting more than $430,000 in expenditures late during the 2024 election cycle, and failed to file a required last-minute contribution report for a $2,400 contribution to a candidate made within 21 days of the November election.
In the first charge, PDC staff alleged SEIU reported five expenditures late, totaling $432,400. Three of the expenditures were made Oct. 3, and should have been reported by Oct. 15, but were reported on Nov. 11. The other two were made Oct. 21 and should have been reported by Oct. 29, but were not reported until Nov. 11.
The last-minute expenditure was made on Nov. 1, and was reported 36 days late.
Mandatory expenditure reports are due 21 and 7 days before a primary and general election. Organizations must report contributions within 24 hours of $1,500 or more made within 21 days of the general election.
The total amount of the late-reported expenditures makes up more than two-thirds of the PAC’s total of $613,845 in expenditures.
While the PDC found no evidence to suggest that the PAC’s failure to file the reports on time was done intentionally, and that the PAC was cooperative with the investigation, staff also noted that the committee previously complied with similar reporting requirements, meaning they knew or should have known the requirements in this case.
Commission continues discussion on increases to penalty schedule
Commissioners and staff continued to discuss increasing penalty ranges for violations of the state’s political disclosure laws, with potential adoption late this year.
The current penalty schedules used for stipulations (WAC 390-37-062), brief adjudicatory proceedings (WAC 390-37-143), and full commission hearings (WAC 390-37-182) were created in 2018. Commissioners have expressed interest in updating the penalty schedules several times over the past year, and PDC staff initiated the formal rulemaking process in October 2024.
PDC staff has proposed increases of $500 to $1,000 for most penalties.
At the May regular meeting, Commissioner Douglass North expressed concern that penalties were not high enough to deter sophisticated and well-funded campaigns from violating public disclosure law, and worried that fines of a few thousand dollars given to a million- or multi-million-dollar campaign could be seen as a cost of doing business.
“I think there’s a need to consider, does this sanction, is it going to deter this type of behavior?” North said. “It needs to sting when they do that. And I don’t think that our penalties have stung for the big campaigns.”
Commission Chair J. Leach noted that the commission needs to consider each case on its own, including the size and sophistication of the campaign, which is often listed as an aggravating factor in case investigations.
The Commission is limited to fines of $10,000 per violation, but can refer cases to the state Attorney General’s Office if higher penalties are warranted. In past years, the AGO has handled cases against Meta, parent company of Facebook, and the Grocery Manufacturers Association.
At the May regular meeting, PDC General Counsel Sean Flynn presented the Commissioners with a proposed draft. Commissioners asked that the draft be amended to address whether cases pending at the time the changes take effect would be subject to the higher fines. The Commission plans to consider the updated draft at its June Commission meeting. When finished, the new draft will be available on the PDC’s website for review and comment by the public.
The Commission will need to hold a public hearing and formal comment period before approving any rule changes.
To comment on the proposed increases, email pdc@pdc.wa.gov.
Commission plans to address emergency rulemaking for slate cards and sample ballots in June
The Public Disclosure Commission could vote in June to add language to WAC 390 to allow party committees to show their position on ballot measures on slate cards. The Washington State Democratic Party submitted a petition in March asking the Commission to consider the change.
The Commission voted at its April meeting to begin the emergency rulemaking process, which allows for a faster approval process, but also puts a 120-day expiration date on the rules. The Commission must approve the emergency rules by June 30 if they are to be in effect for the 2025 election cycle.
The PDC solicited feedback from members of the public over the past month. Both the state Democratic and Republican committees are in favor of the change.
Bona fide state party committees are allowed to have two kinds of accounts: Exempt and non-exempt. These committees can accept unlimited contributions from any contributor for exempt funds, but are restricted to using those funds to promote voter registration, get-out-the-vote campaigns, sample ballots, slate cards and some other uses, but not for political advertising.
Currently, parties are allowed to use their exempt funds to create “slate cards” or sample ballots that include the party’s preferred candidates. The cards are allowed under the more restrictive rules for use of exempt funds because they don’t include advocacy statements or promote individual candidates, or candidates’ positions on issues or platforms. If a slate card does include that kind of information, it could be determined to be subject to contribution limits, and therefore not qualify for an exempt fund expenditure.
A slate card also does not constitute a contribution to a candidate’s campaign if it follows these restrictions.
PDC to launch new lobbyist registration reporting system on June 3
PDC Chief Information Officer James Gutholm reported at the PDC’s May meeting that the newest update to the agency’s online lobbying reporting system, involving lobbyist registrations, will go live on June 3.
Updates to the system include a redesigned lobbyist registration system (L-1) and updated processes for setting up lobbyist employment contracts, creating user profiles and other changes.
Among other updates, the new system allows filers to assign agents to contracts for specific time periods and terminate agents, provides access for lobbyist employers to edit contracts and return them to lobbyists with notes, and prompts lobbyists to review their profile for changes each biennium.
Next, PDC IT staff will work to add online reporting for the L-3C, or the lobbyist employer monthly contribution report.
Enforcement update
Between April 16 and May 14, the PDC received 73 new complaints, and at the end of that period had 206 open cases.
Of the open cases, 76 are under initial review, 112 have had an initial hearing and are under formal investigation, 17 are scheduled for brief enforcement hearings and one, the case against SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW PAC heard by the Commission on May 22, was scheduled for a full hearing.
During that time, 49 cases were closed, including 1 closed administratively, six dismissed by Executive Director Peter Frey Lavallee, 11 resolved with warnings, 12 with statements of understanding, nine heard at brief enforcement hearings and one found in violation by the Commission at its April regular meeting.
PDC staff closed two cases against the Kent School District with a statement of understanding and a $1,000 penalty. The cases alleged violations of RCW 42.17A.555, which prohibits using public facilities to support political campaigns, while allowing public agencies like school districts to distribute factual information about levies and bonds. In the first case, the PDC investigated a complaint regarding statements made by the District’s superintendent during a public meeting in 2024 regarding a school levy. The second involved another complaint regarding communications about district levy campaigns.
The district previously received a warning for a possible violation of RCW.42.17A.555 in 2022, and signed a statement of understanding admitting to violations of the same statute in June 2024.