CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
BACKGROUND -- Initiative 134, sponsored by corporate and right-wing conservative interests, passed in 1992. The "public face" of its campaign was to reduce special-interest influence on government by imposing campaign contribution limits to statewide and state legislative races.
What wasn’t mentioned in the public campaign on behalf of I-134 was an underlying motive by business interests that targeted unions and aimed to reduce their political activity. It set out to require public-sector unions to get annual written reauthorization to divert any portion of dues to political spending. But its vague language and subsequent interpretation have been the subject of more than a decade of legal wrangling—most notably between Washington Education Association (the K-12 teachers’ union) and the Evergreen Freedom Foundation (a right-wing think tank).
The Public Disclosure Law (part of the Open Government Act) clearly states that "the public’s right to know of the financing of political campaigns and lobbying and the financial affairs of elected officials and candidates far outweighs any right that these matters remain secret and private." [RCW 42.17.010(10)] We agree and think that the public has a right to know about the entirety of all laws including this initiative.
LABOR’S POSITION -- In recent years, the Washington State Labor Council has sought reforms to clarify the law and level the playing field. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, unions are routinely outspent by business interests trying to influence elections by as much as 17-1 (www.opensecrets.org). Corporations have no mechanism for shareholders to opt out of political activity, as union members already have under federal law. Therefore, it is unfair -- and probably unconstitutional -- to put up additional barriers at the state level for union members to participate in the political process.
Here are the issues that need to be addressed and the principles of reform supported by the Washington State Labor Council:
-- While some call for the removal of all "special interest" money in our election campaigns in Washington state, the labor movement stands firmly in opposition to these proposals. Given the reality that business interests already outspend labor by 17-1, these proposals would significantly tip the balance even more in favor of wealthy individuals, businesses and corporations.
The mission of the Public Disclosure Commission in Washington State is to provide easy access to the public on what individuals and groups are financially supporting candidates and ballot measures. The other function of the PDC is to investigate allegations of breaking the campaign finance laws or exceeding campaign contribution limits and, upon finding the allegations to be true, issue penalties against the individuals and/or groups who broke the law. The 2008 race for Governor brought several loopholes in the PDC law into the public’s view that need to be addressed. Not surprisingly one of the most conservative PACs in Washington State (BIAW’s Change PAC) was at the center of both disputes. The first "loophole" that the BIAW exploited allowed them to avoid the disclosure of the top 5 contributors to Change PAC by simply creating a "shell PAC" to receive contributions and then having the "shell PAC make contribution to their political account.
The second "loophole" exploited by the BIAW concerned coordinating their expenditures made "independently" by Change PAC to support Dino Rossi. Rossi confirmed that he indeed had conversations with the BIAW during a deposition in October 2008, but maintained that because he had not publically expressed his desire to run for Governor the coordination was legal. Luckily the citizens saw through this and rejected the campaigns from both Rossi and the BIAW.
-- Many in the State of Washington were surprised by the amount of money raised and spent in the 2006 races for Washington State Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Proposals are flying fast and furiously on how to "fix" this and several of them involve public financing of non-partisan judicial races. While setting up a system of public financing has positive aspects, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that money is a form of free speech and, therefore, cannot be prohibited entirely. Therefore, we will never rid electoral politics of money flowing in the form of "independent expenditures" and this solution is only a Band Aid on a larger problem.
The bottom line is our Democracy is founded on the idea of human rights and that the legitimate source of political power comes from the people. As long as money is considered free speech in this country, corporations will be able to exercise this right with far greater force and influence than ordinary citizens because of their vast wealth. As long as economic power equals political power, organized labor will do everything it can to ensure that both working people, and the organizations that represent them, are not disadvantaged further by even the most well-intentioned campaign finance proposals.
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Copyright © 2009 — Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO