PDFWAC 390-16-205
Expenditures by agents and agents' subvendors—How to report.
(1) Expenditures made on behalf of a candidate or political committee by any person, agency, consultant, firm, organization, etc., employed or retained for the purpose of organizing, directing, managing or assisting the candidate's or committee's efforts shall be deemed expenditures by the candidate or committee. In accordance with WAC 390-16-037, such expenditures shall be reported by the candidate or committee as if made or incurred by the candidate or committee directly.
(2) If any person, agency, consultant, firm, organization, etc., employed or retained by the candidate or political committee, subcontracts or otherwise has an agreement with a subvendor or other third party to provide or perform services, the expenditures paid to that subvendor or other third party must also be disclosed.
(3) Fees paid to consultants or other agents must be disclosed by candidates or political committees as an expenditure. In addition, when subvendors are used, the candidate or political committee must disclose any portion of the expenditure retained by the consultant or other agent.
Example A: If a candidate or political committee pays a consultant $5,000 to prepare and mail a political advertising brochure, all costs associated with the project shall be itemized by identifying each service provided, subvendor(s) used and amount attributable to each:
Vendor Name | Purpose | Amount | |
Jones Consulting | Jones Consulting (fee) | $500 | $5,500 |
ABC Graphics | $1,200 | ||
XYZ Printing Co. (5,000 pieces) | $3,000 | ||
Your Mailhouse | $800 |
Or, if Jones Consulting completes the project through a combination of services provided by its principals or employees and its subvendors:
Vendor Name | Purpose | Amount | |
Jones Consulting | Jones Consulting (fee) | $500 | $5,500 |
Jones Consulting (graphic design) | $1,200 | ||
XYZ Printing Co. (5,000 pieces) | $3,000 | ||
Your Mailhouse | $800 |
Example B: If a candidate or political committee pays a consultant or other agent directly to perform tasks such as fund-raising, survey design or campaign plan development, and the consultant does not use subvendors, the expense shall be reported as follows:
Vendor Name | Purpose | Amount | |
Jones Consulting | Fund-raising, survey design, campaign plan development | $5,000 |
Example C: If an expenditure is made directly to a vendor to purchase broadcast political advertisement, the purpose shall include the following details for both the vendor and commercial advertiser:
Vendor Name | Purpose | Amount | |
Media King | Television ads | $51,000 | |
WZUB TV | $30,000 | ||
WXXX TV | $10,000 | ||
WCRB TV | $10,000 | ||
Media King (fee) | $1,000 |
[Statutory Authority: RCW 42.17A.110(1) and 2018 c 304. WSR 18-24-074, § 390-16-205, filed 11/30/18, effective 12/31/18. Statutory Authority: RCW 42.17.370(1). WSR 04-01-128, § 390-16-205, filed 12/18/03, effective 1/18/04; Order 74, § 390-16-205, filed 4/26/76.]