In particular, GMA argues Washington’s laws requiring it to register and report donations as a political committee put a burden on the trade group “not justified by any substantial government interest.”
The group also said Washington’s law “discriminates” against out-of-state citizens by barring political committees from transferring money to another political committee unless the first group has received at least 10 donations of $10 from Washington donors. That’s meant to prevent political groups from hiding donors by shuffling money among various shell groups. But the GMA complaint argues it is unconstitutional.
The organization’s lawsuit seeks to halt Ferguson’s enforcement effort against GMA and to have the disclosure requirements declared unconstitutional. It also seeks to force the state to cover GMA’s legal costs.
“The Attorney General is challenging GMA’s efforts to speak with one voice about the adverse consequences of a now-defeated initiative proposing to require burdensome, costly and scientifically unsupported labeling requirements on foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs),” said association spokesman Brian Kennedy. “Vigorous public debate should be encouraged, rather than restrained, by state law.”
Ferguson said the case could drag out for months or years. “From my standpoint there is no compromise on this. The voters expect and demand transparency,” he said.'
No comments:
Post a Comment