State of Washington, Public Disclosure Commission v. Washington Education Association

PDC discovers "the most serious campaign finance violations in state history." State Attorney General and WEA settle out of court

The election opportunities of 1996 provided a temptation too great for the WEA to resist. On the ballot were two initiatives which WEA officials could not permit to become law despite initial public support – school vouchers and charter schools. The WEA devised a $1.5 million dollar political plan of attack despite its less than $12,000 per month in political income.

Teachers who detected the WEA's massive 1996 political ramp-up began to investigate. Their efforts led them to EFF. EFF's president Bob Williams, a former state legislator and government auditor, was able to unearth a host of campaign finance violations including a clandestine political action committee.

Williams' investigation revealed that the WEA, which collects $43 million annually from its members, is the most powerful political machine in our state. It boasts a dozen political action team members, 22 full-time regional directors, and more than 300 local representatives who are released from their teaching responsibilities (full time or half time) in order to carry out union activities – including politics.

Internal WEA documents reviewed by EFF also indicate the National Education Association (NEA) plays a strong role in planning the political activities and direction of the WEA's political involvement. For example, internal documents examined by EFF disclose that, for the past eight years, the NEA, not the WEA, has paid the salary of the state affiliate's executive director. Likewise, the leading strategist for the WEA's political activities is also an employee of the National Education Association. Furthermore, as EFF's investigation into the WEA intensified, concealed transfers of money between the NEA and the WEA for campaign purposes were discovered.

Williams presented his evidence to the Public Disclosure Commission. After pursuing its own investigations, the executive director of the PDC described the WEA's 1996 campaign activities as "the most serious campaign finance violations in state history." The PDC referred the case to the Washington State Attorney General, who filed a precedent-setting lawsuit against the WEA on February 12, 1997.

The state's suit addressed only the most glaring violations committed by the WEA. Specifically, the state charged that the WEA's "Community Outreach Program," funded through a mandatory dues assessment, failed to file and report as a political committee. Other elements included failure to report contributions, concealing the source of NEA contributions and improperly reporting contributions from WEA to WEA-PAC as "loans."

Sadly for everyone interested in open, free elections and in a workers' basic civil rights, our state courts never heard the case as prepared by our attorney general. The investigation was suddenly shut down.

Subpoenas critical to the case – for example, one requiring copies of all checks passed between the parties involved in the money laundering scheme – were never enforced. Instead, the attorney general's office was secretly negotiating a settlement with the WEA.

On February 27, 1998, the Washington State Attorney General announced a settlement with the WEA that dismissed "all lawsuits, administrative charges and pending complaints" between the teachers' union and the state. In return for the dismissal, the WEA agreed to pay the state a $80,000 penalty, $20,000 in investigation costs, and the $5 per teacher refund ($330,000 total) and to abide by "guidelines" drafted by the attorney general's office.

An excerpt from the attorney general's "guidelines" reveal the heart and intent of her decision:

The PDC is aware that membership organizations, such as the WEA, collect dues from their members which go to their general treasury. . . . Such general treasury funds may be expended as contributions to candidates and political committees, including affiliated political committees such as WEA-PAC without creating a political committee. The PDC interpretation of RCW 42.17.680(3) is that it does not apply to the dues deductions that generate WEA's general treasury funds because as presently constituted the WEA is not a political committee. WAC 390-17-100.

Immediately after the behind-closed-doors settlement was announced and the guidelines were issued, we realized WEA attorneys would use the guidelines as their chief argument for dismissal of all charges against them in our pending lawsuit. To gain an understanding of how the guidelines should be treated, we sought public documents related to the crafting of the settlement.

When the state refused to disclose documents related to the secret negotiation, we were once again forced to file suit, this time against the state attorney general for refusing to produce public records. The court ordered the state to hand over the documents and the attorney general was penalized $33,000 for the attempt to conceal them.

While the documents do not reveal who first suggested seeking a settlement, the very first draft was prepared by Judith Lonnquist, attorney for the Washington Education Association. This draft was transmitted to the state on February 3, 1998. In it, the WEA establishes the tone, format, facts, legal interpretations, admissions and remedies. A comparison of the initial WEA draft and the final settlement from the attorney general demonstrates that the state permitted WEA officials to write their own settlement.

The preparation of the "guidelines" also appears to have been controlled by the WEA. In the February 3 draft of the settlement, WEA attorney Lonnquist added a notation: "WEA would like to have these guidelines finished before final settlement and made an attachment to the agreement." Of course, this is exactly how events transpired.

Settlement Documents:

Original Proposal

Settlement Agreement

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org

Quotables:

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical." - Thomas Jefferson

"If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind." - John Stuart Mill