OLYMPIA, Wash. (Legal Newsline) – The Washington State Attorney General’s Office announced the filing of a complaint in Thurston County Superior Court that alleges campaign finance violations by the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC).
Attorney General Bob Ferguson charges that WSLC failed to timely and properly file reports of in-kind and cash contributions – a requirement under the state’s campaign finance laws.
WSLC is the state federation of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and has about 400,000 union members from Washington, according to the attorney general's office.
The issue at hand allegedly started when the Freedom Foundation sent a citizen action complaint to the attorney general’s office claiming that WSLC violated the state’s public disclosure laws.
After a review of the allegations by the Public Disclosure Commission, the attorney general’s office found that WSLC had not violated state law in most of the allegations. It appeared, however, that WSLC violated the requirement to report in-kind and cash contributions.
The lawsuit now charges that WSLC failed to report $133,345 in cash contributions and also failed to report in-kind contributions that included staff time, office space, postal and Web services and telephones.