Saturday, November 9, 2013

Big money helps defeat food labeling initiative, but fight not over - Strange Bedfellows — Politics News

Big money helps defeat food labeling initiative, but fight not over - Strange Bedfellows — Politics News: "K & L Gates law firm."

According to a statement from AG Ferguson, the money appears to “have been collected by the GMA from its members prior to registering a political committee.  These subsequent contributions were not reported by the GMA when it submitted its disclosure of contributor members and the value of their contributions on Oct. 18.
Trudy Bialic, co-chair and co-author, speaks at the Yes on 522 election Party after the the 1st returns from votes were announced at the Impact HUB event space on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. (Sofia Jaramillo,seattlepi.com)
Trudy Bialic, co-chair and co-author, speaks at the Yes on 522 election Party after the the 1st returns from votes were announced at the Impact HUB event space on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. (Sofia Jaramillo,seattlepi.com)
Ferguson is pressing ahead with his case that the Washington, D.C., lobby violated state campaign finance laws.
No on 522 has blanketed the air waves, dominated new media, and sent out glossy mailings — all on an unprecedented scale.  Starting in mid-October, polls began to show support for the measure slipping away.  The Yes on 522 campaign raised a respectable war chest, but found itself outspent three-to-one.
Ferguson is likely to win — or negotiate — a substantial fine from the Grocery Manufacturers Association. The association has been represented by the blue chip K & L Gates law firm.
For big business, it’s a cost of doing business. Apparently, no moral obligation was felt to follow to follow the transparency requirements of Washington’s voter-approved campaign finance Washington’s campaign-finance laws.

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