OLYMPIA, Washington (Legal Newsline) — Service Employees International Union Local 925 (SEIU 925) will pay the state of Washington $31,715 due to allegations it improperly reported in-kind and cash campaign violations, the state has announced.
The union has agreed to file reports in accordance with state campaign finance laws. If the union complies, $6,948 of the original $38,663 judgment will be suspended. For this to occur, it must obey all campaign finance laws moving forward, the state says.
SEIU Local 925 Public Service PAC (SEIU 925 PAC), the union’s political action committee, will pay an additional $6,000. $1,500 of that judgment will be suspended so long as SEIU 925 PAC updates its reports and complies with rules moving forward, according to state's Attorney General's Office.
The case began in August 2015 when the Freedom Foundation filed a Citizen Action Complaint against SEIU 925 for multiple allegations of state campaign finance disclosure law violations.
The state’s Public Disclosure Commission looked into the matter and found SEIU 925 may have violated the requirement to report in-kind contributions of staff time for the operation and management of its political action committee.
The state Attorney General’s Office then filed a complaint in October, alleging SEIU 925 failed to report $635,000 in monetary contributions, as well as in-kind contributions such as staff time, office space, postal and Web service, and telephones.