AARP PAC agrees to $5,000 fine for late reporting of more than $400,000 in contributions

The Washington Public Disclosure Commission today approved a $5,000 fine to settle a case against a 2024 ballot measure committee that admitted reporting contributions valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars late.

AARP No on I 2124 Sponsored by AARP Washington State had reached a settlement with PDC staff in which the committee agreed that it had violated state law and would pay a penalty.  

The Commission voted in favor of the settlement at its April 24 meeting. Under the terms, the AARP committee is subject to a penalty of $5,000, with $2,500 suspended, provided the committee pays the fine within 30 days of the order and remains in compliance with PDC reporting requirements.   

In August 2024, PDC staff opened a case against the committee after receiving a complaint that the PAC had failed to timely and accurately report contributions and expenditures, and had failed to provide complete description of in-kind contributions.  

In-kind contributions are non-monetary contributions. For example, an in-kind contribution could involve a professional graphic designer donating their services to a campaign, or a contributor donating office supplies. Campaigns must report these contributions and provide descriptions of them on campaign expenditure reports (C-4 reports).  

After a PDC investigation, the committee stipulated to violations of RCW 42.17A.235 and 42.17A.240 for failing to timely report in-kind contributions totaling $443,561 from its sponsor, AARP Washington State. The majority of that amount, more than $433,000, was reported three days after the November election. The contributions identified were reported between 10 and 111 days late. 

The committee also stipulated to violations of RCW 42.17A.240 and WAC 390-16-037 for initially failing to adequately describe the contributions in reports. The committee worked with PDC staff to file amended reports correcting this issue, which was listed as one of the mitigating factors involved in the case. Other mitigating factors involved the committee treasurer’s unfamiliarity with PDC filing requirements, and that PDC staff found no evidence of intentional concealment. The treasurer stated she was not aware of the need to file an expenditure report seven days before the election, which resulted in significant expenditures being reported after the election.