Sponsors must identify the "top five contributors" when
required to be included in political advertising, as provided in WAC
390-18-010. When the "top five
contributor" list includes one or more political committees, the sponsor must
further identify and separately include in the advertisement the collective
"top three donors to PAC contributors" to all such political committees. This
section explains how the sponsor should identify such "top three donors to PAC
contributors."
(1) For purposes of
RCW
42.17A.320, "top five contributors" means the
five persons, as defined in
RCW
42.17A.005, giving the largest aggregate
contributions of $2,000 or more during the 12-month period preceding the date
on which the advertisement is published or otherwise presented to the public.
The sponsor may calculate the 12-month period from the date the advertisement
is submitted to a third-party publisher for reasonably prompt publication, so
long as there is no anticipated or intentional delay in the publication or
presentation. If more than five contributors give an amount equal to the
largest aggregate contribution exceeding the threshold value and the funds are
received during the relevant 12-month period, the political committee
sponsoring the advertisement must select five of these contributors to identify
as the top five contributors.
(2)
(a) If a political committee keeps records
necessary to track contributions used according to the use intended by its
contributors, that committee may identify the top contributions to the
advertisement, as opposed to identifying the overall top five contributors to
the committee, if such identified contributors made contributions that were
intended and actually used to pay for the advertisement.
(b) For purposes for identifying the top five
contributors, the sponsor should not include contributions earmarked, tracked,
and used for purposes other than paying for the advertisement. However, if a
sponsor uses a contributor's contributions earmarked for advertising for a
different candidate or slate of candidates than the candidate or candidates
intended by the contributor, the sponsor must include such contribution in
determining the "top five contributors" of the actual advertisement for which
the contribution was used.
(3) For purposes of
RCW
42.17A.350"top three donors to PAC
contributors" means the three individuals or entities, other than political
committees, who gave the largest aggregate contributions to one or more
political committee listed as a "top five contributor," totaling $2,000 or more
during the 12-month period preceding the date on which the advertisement was
published or otherwise presented to the public. The sponsor may calculate the
12-month period from the date the advertisement is submitted to a third-party
publisher for reasonably prompt publication, so long as there is no anticipated
or intentional delay in the publication or presentation.
(a) If any of the contributors to a "top
five" political committee is itself a political committee, the sponsor must
identify the top three contributors to that political committee. Such process
continues until the sponsor has identified the top three nonpolitical committee
contributors for each "top five" political committees. If more than three
contributors to a "top five" political committee have given an amount equal to
the largest aggregate contribution, the sponsor may select three of these
contributors to identify as the "top three donors to PAC
contributors."
(b) If there is more
than one political committee identified as a "top five contributor," the
sponsor must identify the top three nonpo-litical committee contributors to
each "top five" political committee, and then determine the "top three donors
to PAC contributors" collectively from that list.
(c) The sponsor should not include
contributions to a "top five" political committee contributor for purposes of
identifying the "top three donors to PAC contributors" if both:
(i) The contribution to the "top five"
committee was reported as an earmarked contribution for a purpose other than
the advertisement in question; and
(ii) The "top five" committee has provided
written verification to the sponsor before the initial publication or public
presentation of the advertisement, confirming that such contribution was
tracked and used for such other purpose.
(4) For purposes of determining the "top
three donors to PAC contributors," the sponsor must make reasonable efforts to
identify the contributions made to a political committee. Reasonable efforts
include searching through reports of contributions filed with the commission or
any other state, as well as requests made to any political committee that has
not disclosed its contributions to the commission or in any other state. After
making reasonable efforts, the sponsor may reasonably rely on the information
reported to the commission, and will not be liable for any omission or
miscalculation because a contribution to any "top five" political committee has
not been reported to the commission.
Notes
Wash. Admin. Code §
390-18-025
Amended by
WSR
18-24-074, Filed 11/30/2018, effective
12/31/2018
Amended by
WSR
20-02-062, Filed 12/24/2019, effective
1/24/2020
Amended by
WSR
23-12-036, Filed 5/30/2023, effective
6/30/2023
Statutory Authority:
RCW
42.17A.110 and
42.17A.320. 13-12-015, §
390-18-025, filed 5/24/13, effective 6/24/13. Statutory Authority:
RCW
42.17A.110. 12-03-002, § 390-18-025,
filed 1/4/12, effective 2/4/12. Statutory Authority: RCW 42.17.370. 07-08-044,
§ 390-18-025, filed 3/28/07, effective 4/28/07. Statutory Authority: RCW
42.17.370 and 42.17.562. 06-11-132, § 390-18-025, filed 5/23/06, effective
6/23/06. Statutory Authority: RCW 42.17.370(1). 02-12-007, § 390-18-025,
filed 5/23/02, effective 6/23/02.
