OLYMPIA, Wash. — The organization behind a series of initiatives on the November ballot is being fined after the Public Disclosure Commission alleges it violated campaign finance laws.
"Let's Go Washington" is being fined $20,000, with half of that suspended on certain conditions. The Public Disclosure Commission alleges that the organization failed to report sub-vendors used by signature gathering firms and didn't produce campaign records when requested.
The disclosure commission interprets and enforces campaign laws and discloses political finance data.
Let's Go Washington, "has an obligation to inquire and confirm whether its contractors have used sub-vendors. Failing to ask or failing to follow up on a contractor’s non-response or refusal to provide the information is insufficient. If this were the standard, any committee could simply ignore the issue and argue it has no knowledge of its contractor’s actions and nothing to report," the commission wrote in its order.
Representatives for Let's Go Washington argued the charges should be dismissed.
Brian Heywood, who sponsored the effort to get the issues on the ballot, previously issued a written statement about the allegations:
"Let’s Go Washington has been transparent in all of its campaign reports. The PDC does not dispute that we have reported every penny we have received and spent advocating for the people’s initiatives. This issue concerns only technical details of how we reported that information."
The case was opened against the organization in July of 2023 after receiving a complaint - followed by a second and third complaint. A meeting on the case was heard Oct. 3.
The disclosure commission also alleged the campaign organization didn't indicate how much funding went to signature gathering for each initiative. Let's Go Washington later filed amended reports that brought the organization into compliance.
Let's Go Washington sponsored the November initiatives to repeal the Climate Commitment Act and the capital gains tax, as well as changing state policies regarding long-term care and natural gas use.
Let's Go Washington spent about $9 million to get the initiatives on the ballot.
