August trial to determine intent, penalties

OLYMPIA — A Thurston County Superior Court judge today postponed the trial to determine whether the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s violation of Washington campaign finance disclosure laws was intentional, and what penalties it should face, to August 15. The trial, which began this morning, was quickly rescheduled when the court addressed GMA’s untimely disclosure of evidence.

OLYMPIA — A trial to determine whether the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s violation of Washington campaign finance disclosure laws was intentional, and what penalties it should face, will begin Monday in Thurston County Superior Court.

After finding that GMA did violate the law and granting summary judgment to the state in March, Judge Anne Hirsch noted there remained a factual dispute whether GMA’s violation of the law was intentional.

OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today released a report of the internal Attorney General’s Office review of the AGO’s role in the Department of Corrections sentencing errors disclosed late last year.

A copy of the report and the Attorney General’s cover letter are available on the AGO website.

-30-

Trial Lawyers Association failed to properly report $81,872 in contributions

OLYMPIA — The Attorney General’s Office today announced that it has filed a complaint in Thurston County Superior Court alleging campaign finance violations by the Washington State Association for Justice (WSAJ). Specifically, the complaint alleges that WSAJ failed to timely and properly file lobbyist employer reports of its contributions, as required under the state’s campaign finance laws.

Nearly 350 Washington students to share in $162,000 recovery

SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced favorable resolutions for Washington consumers with six student loan debt adjustors that overcharged Washington state students and collected unlawful fees. Ferguson also obtained a default judgment against a seventh student loan debt adjustor for the same type of unfair and deceptive actions.

Law promotes plan for non-dangerous drivers to escape cycle of debt

OLYMPIA — Late yesterday, Governor Jay Inslee signed into law agency-request legislation from Attorney General Bob Ferguson for a plan to tackle challenges posed by the significant number of driver’s license suspensions in Washington.

OLYMPIA—Governor Jay Inslee today signed Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s agency-request bill to combat Medicaid provider fraud by reauthorizing the state’s highly effective Medicaid Fraud False Claims Act.

Unscrupulous medical providers seek to profit from the state’s Medicaid program — knowingly performing unneeded tests, knowingly charging for services not provided, and otherwise defrauding and abusing the Medicaid system. 

$2M in cash, assets seized, nearly $500K in lost tax revenue from most recent cigarette seizure

TACOMA — Four people under prosecution by the Attorney General’s Criminal Litigation Unit for charges related to evading cigarette taxes entered guilty pleas mid-trial yesterday. The defendants imported hundreds of thousands of cigarettes from other states or tribal reservations, then sold them at their Puyallup smoke shop without paying required taxes.

Requires safety warnings, ingredients listing, doubles fine for selling to minors

OLYMPIA — The Washington State House of Representatives today approved a bill to reduce youth access to vapor products with a bipartisan vote of 74-20. The state Senate had previously passed the legislation — which combined multiple proposals, including agency request legislation from Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Governor Jay Inslee, as well as a bill introduced by Sen. Bruce Dammeier (R-Puyallup) — in a 37-6 vote.

New law to increase 45-year-old penalty from $100 to $500; enact $1,000 repeat-violator penalty

OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inlsee will today sign into law Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s agency-request bill to increase transparency in government by enhancing penalties for knowing violations of Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA).

The OPMA requires meetings of multimember, public-agency governing bodies such as city councils, county commissions, school boards, and many state boards to be open and accessible to the public.