Builders broke campaign-finance laws, state panel says

[The Blue Flower]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008182103_biaw160.html

A subsidiary of the Building Industry Association of Washington violated campaign-finance laws, the state Public Disclosure Commission has ruled.

The five-member commission will pass along its findings to the state Attorney General's Office, which will decide this week whether to prosecute.

The subsidiary in question, BIAW Member Services, committed multiple violations by not registering as a political committee and by failing to report more than $500,000 in contributions, the PDC found.

The decision is a blow to the builders association, which in recent months ran a controversial ad campaign aimed at derailing Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire's bid for re-election.

After a complaint from a citizens group led by two former state Supreme Court justices, the PDC, which oversees campaign-finance regulations, began an investigation into the building association's political activity.

more at link...