Court Opinion

ID: 9625658
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:46:51.825374+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:12.617588
License: Public Domain

Rosellini, J.
(concurring in the result) — The majority opinion proceeds upon the assumption that, under the pub-*510lie disclosure act (RCW 42.17.090), a political committee established to support the candidacy of a particular office seeker loses its identity as such when the election occurs and becomes no longer subject to the provisions of this initiative, unless new contributions are received or promotional expenditures are made thereafter. In other words, the majority assumes that the act does not apply to a committee formed before its effective date if the candidate which it supports has already been elected, and no further contribution has been received or promotional expenditure made.
I cannot agree with this assumption for two reasons: First, the act is expressly made applicable to committees in existence on its effective date. (RCW 42.17.040; RCW 42.17.080(1)) Second, the act imposes upon political committees duties which are to be performed after the election is held. RCW 42.17.080(2) (b) requires that a report be made within 10 days after the date of a primary election and within 21 days after the date of all other elections. The section provides that this report shall be the final report only if all obligations are paid, the campaign fund is closed, the campaign is concluded in all respects, and the committee has ceased to function and has dissolved. The section requires the filing of a final report after the last debt or obligation is paid; and RCW 42.17.080(1) requires the reporting of the disposition made of any surplus of contributions over expenditures.
RCW 42.17.090 also provides, in subsection (1) (b), that each report required under the chapter shall list the name and address of each person who has made one or more contributions during the period covered. Since a final report is required when the committee is dissolved, it follows that the committee must report all contributions received and expenditures made (including the disposition of surplus) , after the election and upon its dissolution.
The act makes special provision for initial reports by political committees formed before its effective date. RCW 42.17.080(1) provides, inter alia:
*511In addition to any statement of organization required under RCW 42.17.040, the initial report of the campaign treasurer of such a political committee in existence at the time this chapter becomes effective need include only:
(a) The funds on hand at the time of the report, and
(b) Such other information as shall be required by the commission by regulation in conformance with the policies and purposes of this chapter.
RCW 42.17.040 requires a political committee supporting a single candidate to give the organization’s name and address, the names and addresses of its affiliates and its officers or leaders, its treasurer and its depository, the name, office sought, and party affiliation of the candidate, the distribution to be made of any surplus funds, and such other information as the commission may by regulation prescribe, in keeping with the policies and purposes of the chapter.
The act declares that its provisions are to be liberally construed to effectuate its policies and purposes (RCW 42.17.920). Those policies and purposes are set forth at length in RCW 42.17.010. Among these is the following:
(10) 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.
Reading all of these provisions together, I cannot escape the conclusion that the people intended the provisions of this initiative to apply to all-political committees (that is, committees formed to support candidates or parties or ballot propositions) which had not been dissolved prior to its effective date. The Dan Evans Committee was such an organization. It did not lose its identity as such simply because its candidate was elected. It remained a campaign committee, even though the campaign was over, until its affairs were concluded and its surplus funds were disposed of.
Thus, I disagree with the majority in its conclusion that the Dan Evans Committee was not required to report its receipts and expenditures after the effective date of the *512public disclosure act. However, the record contains a report voluntarily made by the committee, declaring that no contributions had been received after the effective date of the act (RCW 42.17.080 only requires that the amount of funds on hand be disclosed under these circumstances.), showing the amount on hand at the beginning of the period reported, the expenditures made, and the disposition made of the remainder of the surplus, which was paid into a “Dan Evans Trust Fund” when the committee was dissolved.
The plaintiff has not shown any of the facts stated in this report to be untrue. If contributions were received and returned to the donors, the record does not disclose that fact. Thus, on the record before us, it appears that the committee has, while disclaiming any duty to do so, substantially complied with the requirements of the act. Having shown the trial court no facts to the contrary, the plaintiff cannot successfully maintain that the court erred in granting the respondents’ motion for summary judgment. He was given an opportunity to engage in discovery proceedings in the court below but admits that he failed to take advantage of this right, through no fault of the respondents. He cannot controvert the respondents’ factual showing with bare allegations.
The plaintiff makes a contention (not discussed in the majority opinion) that the Dan Evans Trust Fund is a mere sham and is in fact a continuation of the Dan Evans Campaign Committee. The committee had the right to dissolve itself under the act, after its last obligation was paid, and to dispose of the surplus as it saw fit. The trust fund is not available for campaign purposes, as I read the declaration of trust, within the meaning of RCW 42.17.020(22), defining a “political committee.”
For the above reasons, I agree that the action was properly dismissed.
Hunter, Wright, and Horowitz, JJ., concur with Rosellini, J.