Email now the PDC's official means of communication

Beginning June 7, Washington state law establishes email as the Public Disclosure Commission's official means of communication.

The new provision was part of Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2938. This is the second in a series of guides intended to help explain the legislation.

ESHB 2938 amends RCW 42.17A.055 to require that "(a)ll persons required to file reports under this chapter shall, at the time of initial filing, provide the commission an email address that shall constitute the official address for purposes of all communications from the commission. The person required to file one or more reports must provide any new email address to the commission within ten days, if the address has changed from that listed on the most recent report."

For purposes of the new law, the email addresses supplied on candidate (C-1) and committee (C-1pc) registrations, personal financial affairs statements (F-1), lobbyist registrations (L-1), public treasurer's annual reports (T-1) and other required reports will be the official point of contact for the PDC correspondence including enforcement notices.

Changes in email addresses must be reported within 10 calendar days. Those updates can be accomplished in one of two ways:

• Filers who are actively reporting can make the updates themselves. Candidates and committees should file an amended registration electronically. For lobbyists and lobbyist employers, this FAQ reviews how to change email addresses.
• For committees that have ceased operation or filers that report only annually (such as elected officials without an active campaign), the updates can be made by sending an email with the filer name, filer ID (if applicable), old email address and new email address to pdc@pdc.wa.gov.

The legislation also provides that "the executive director may waive the email requirements and allow use of a postal address, on the basis of hardship." Waiver requests should be made in writing with a clear explanation of the hardship involved.

Questions?

This guide is intended as a resource to aid compliance with ESHB 2938, and is not intended to replace applicable RCW or WAC provisions. The PDC encourages the public to consult ESHB 2938 and the emergency rules adopted by the Commission to implement ESHB 2938, which are available at our website: www.pdc.wa.gov/ESHB_2938_news.

PDC staff are available to answer questions. Email pdc@pdc.wa.gov with your questions or suggestions for how we might continue to improve our guidance resources.