OLYMPIA – House lawmakers passed legislation 91 – 5 Friday afternoon to close glaring campaign finance loopholes. Sponsored by Rep. Mike Pellicciotti, D-Federal Way, House Bill 1379 would require political action committees (PACs) to disclose their top donors in political advertisements.
This legislation follows the 2018 DISCLOSE Act, which Pellicciotti successfully sponsored last year with Senator Andy Billing, D-Spokane, to put a spotlight on “dark money” in political campaigns. Before that law, certain non-profits could hide their political contributions to campaigns. Pellicciotti’s current bill now requires PACs to better report these disclosed donors on campaign mailers.
“Voters have a right to know who is spending money in political campaigns,” Pellicciotti said. “We won’t get big money out of politics until we accurately expose these money sources.”
House Bill 1379 will now advance to the Senate. Sen. Guy Palumbo (D-Maltby) has passed similar legislation (SB 5221) in the Senate this session.