A new bill in Washington State is working its way through the House of Representatives. House Bill 2074 would make it a class C felony to encourage a politician with a variety of offers of compensation to vote for or against a government action.
The bill’s language says it would be illegal to “…engage in any quid pro quo that could be interpreted by a reasonable person to induce an elector to vote in an election or influence the judgment or conduct of an elector in voting…” It’s not just the person doing the bribing though. The politician who accepted the bribe would also be in trouble. The bribe is described as “…anything of value in any circumstance described…”
The bill specifically mentions political committees. Coincidentally, the bill is currently in the hands of the Community Safety Committee.
