The Public Disclosure Commission voted 3-2 today to dismiss a complaint against Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi that alleged he had used his non-profit foundation as a way to campaign without having to disclose his donors. But that doesn't mean the commissioners were convinced it wasn't an attempt by Rossi to dodge campaign laws. PDC executive director Vicki Rippie told me that even those commissioners that voted to dismiss worry about a loophole in the law that allowed Rossi to conduct political activity with the non-profit Forward Washington Foundation.

"There's concern on the part of all commissioners that the statute as written does not address all of the political activity that is taking place today ... with Forward Washington. ... None of them were totally comfortable with the activity that occurred."

I was on the road today and missed the meeting. The Olympian has a short story on its website.

The PDC staff had recommended that the complaint, filed by the state Democratic Party, be dismissed. Rossi has said that exonerated him and he called for Gov. Chris Gregoire to apologize for what Democratic officials had alleged about him.

Not that there was any chance an apology would happen. But now the PDC vote keeps the issue more alive than it would have been if there was a clear dismissal of the complaint. While the PDC investigation was underway, Rossi and his backers questioned whether the commission would be fair to him. When the staff recommendation was released late last month, it was Democrats' turn to criticize the PDC. Now, there's something for both sides to complain about.

Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz said in a statement today:

"Now that the PDC has acknowledged this loophole in the law, Republican Dino Rossi needs to come out of the shadows and tell Washingtonians who's been bankrolling his political activities all year ...quot; a prospective governor should not engage in covert fundraising and political activity in the shadows."

Ted Dahlstrom, executive director of Forward Washington, said he would not comment until having a chance to talk with the foundation's attorney who attended the meeting.

Rippie said there would be support to change the law to restrict political activity by non-profits, though she said it would have to be carefully crafted to withstand a constitutional challenge. She said the PDC has only seen a few examples of politicians creating non-profits in the state.

"But it is an approach that is quite common at the federal level and not that all uncommon in other states, so one suspects it was only a matter of time before it was imported here."

Forward Washington's activity would have been prohibited political work only if there was direct campaigning for or against a candidate. Just highlighting one candidate's qualifications, or criticizing another's, does not constitute the sort of direct advocacy the law restricts.

Rossi's campaign issued this statement:

From the very beginning, Rossi and the foundation bent over backwards to ensure they were following all public disclosure requirements. They obeyed the law and followed the advice of the PDC. After a very long investigation, the PDC found no evidence that he was a candidate while he was at the Foundation. Perhaps the commissioners felt the need to justify the five month long, taxpayer-funded investigation.

Rep. Shirley Hankins, R-Richland, has agreed to pay more than $4,000 in penalties after the Legislative Ethics Board found she repeatedly violated the law by using her office to promote family business interests. That is the largest settlement ever agreed to by the board.

The ethics investigation followed a series of stories by the Tri-City Herald. You can read the paper's past coverage here. Reporter Chris Mulick wrote about the settlement in today's paper.

The stipulated agreement details work Hankins did on behalf of Northwest Tire Recycling, a company owned by her daughter and son-in-law. The ethics board found a

fact pattern which demonstrates that Respondent has been unable to appropriately separate her legislative interests in tire recycling from the business interests of NWT.

The full order will be available later at the board's Web site. One of the things Hankins did to help her daughter's company was attempt to influence the Department of Ecology.

Respondent repeatedly intervened with the Department of Ecology and often in an argumentative and threatening fashion. DOE employees will testify that while Respondent did not influence agency decisions relative to NWT and the first Goldendale contract "she certainly influenced our workload."

One letter from Hankins to DOE included this passage:

Your office, as well as the Director of Ecology, was contacted. The department was offered assistance of cleanup. Your office and the Director's office have not responded as of yesterday, May 17th. I would like to know why. The Department of Ecology has allowed the site to be cleaned up by an illegal, unlicensed, and un-permitted corporation. They continue to call and harass your only legal and permitted company. I'm not sure why I've spent the last three and a half years on a tire bill that gives your department authority to help solve this state's problems, and that would give your department your only legal and permitted company in this state. Frankly, I'm a little tired of this.

Hankins issued a statement last night. While she signed the agreement, she disagrees with the findings.

While my greatest respect is for the institution of the Legislature, I am extremely disappointed with certain findings of the Legislative Ethics Board. It was never my intent to promote one company over another, but to ensure that the Department of Ecology carried out the job the Legislature asked the agency to do. . . and that was to dispose of tire piles that constitute a serious environmental threat to the health and safety of our citizens.

...

I believe it is in the best interest of the 8th District to expeditiously settle this matter and to move forward. Therefore, I have decided not to contest the matter, but instead, bring it to a close. I will respectfully accept and abide by penalties stipulated by the board.

It will now be interesting to see how House Republican leaders react. Republican Leader Richard DeBolt has moved quickly to discipline members for misconduct. He pushed Rep. Richard Curtis to resign after his sex scandal and removed Rep. Jim Dunn from all his legislative committee assignments after he made an inappropriate sexual remark to a female legislative staffer.

Will DeBolt now use the ethics board settlement to strip Hankins of her committee assignments or otherwise add punishment to what is in the stipulation?