Other Papers Say: Fines needed in big-money races – The Columbian

The following editorial originally appeared in The Seattle Times:

Washingtons Supreme Court strongly reinforced the longstanding principle of political financial transparency this month. However, supporters of public disclosure law must remain on alert. The same 5-4 decision that endorses the publics right to information also shows an opening for a challenge to the accountability mechanism that makes the system function.

With the fresh ruling that political transparency requirements dont violate the Constitutional right of free speech, Attorney General Bob Ferguson must carefully preserve the states full power to punish offenders. Political cycles run faster than the courts can fairly operate, so keeping future campaigns honest requires a penalty for breaking rules that outweighs the benefits of winning an election.

In 2013, the Grocery Manufacturers Association blatantly attempted to conceal the donors PepsiCo, Nestle and Coca-Cola, among others that spent millions on a campaign against Initiative 522. That proposal would have given Washington the nations first requirement to label all foods made with genetically-modified ingredients. It lost, 51.1 percent to 48.9 percent.

It leads one to wonder: if full disclosure had been made, would that have made the difference? said David Ammons, a longtime Associated Press reporter who now chairs the state Public Disclosure Commission. They wanted it to fail, and it did fail by a whisper. Thats the power of money.

Without registering as a political committee until the state filed a lawsuit, the trade group funneled $11 million into the No on 522 effort. A judge found the scheme so egregious, she imposed a $6 million fine, then tripled it for intentionally breaking state law. The $18 million penalty is the largest for a campaign-finance violation in American history and shows future campaigns that Washington rigorously enforces its gold-standard disclosure laws.

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Other Papers Say: Fines needed in big-money races - The Columbian

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