WA Lege Day 53: New campaign disclosure rules pass Senate

OLYMPIA — Campaign committees would be less likely to hide who they are and where they get their money under a bill passed today by the Senate.

With a 46-0 vote, the Senate passed SB 5021 , which requires political action committees to list the name of the person or group sponsoring them and raises the fine for major violations to $10,000. It was amended, however, to allow much lower fines for what Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, called “small, unintentional mistakes.”

Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, said the bill is  not about reining in campaign spending. “It addresses who’s giving.” he said, but it’s not a panacea. “There will always be people who try to violate our rules.

The bill now goes to the House.