OLYMPIA — State Rep. Kevin Van De Wege isn’t likely to become a best buddy of Olympic Ambulance owner Bill Littlejohn of Sequim.
Van De Wege on Friday introduced legislation that would allow the state Public Disclosure Commission to recommend felony charges for “egregious violations of campaign finance laws.”
If there’s been any doubt who had raised the legislator’s ire, Van De Wege, D-Sequim, named Littlejohn in his press release that announced the bill.
Presently, the PDC can impose fines for violating campaign contribution laws, such as the $60,000 exacted against Littlejohn last year for concealing contributions to defeat a tax levy sought by Clallam County Fire District 2.
Van De Wege — who represents the 24th Legislative District which covers Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County — is a firefighter/paramedic in Fire District 3.
“They can do hefty fines, but for wealthy folks, I fear it’s not a big enough hammer,” Van De Wege told Peninsula Daily News as he returned to his Sequim home Friday after the first week of legislative session in Olympia.
Littlejohn, who went on record that the 2013 levy proposal — which failed — would have hurt his ambulance business and who admitted his concealing contributions was wrong, said he wasn’t surprised by Van De Wege’s proposed legislation.
“He came to see me, rub my nose in it,” Littlejohn said. “I won’t make any comments about him.”
Would he fight the proposed legislation, from which he would be immune as an ex post facto prosecution?
“I don’t intend to have an issue like that in the future, so I don’t care what they do,” Littlejohn said. “It won’t have any effect on me.”
If Van De Wege’s proposal becomes law, it will require the PDC to refer violations to the state attorney general for criminal prosecution.
It also would brighten the “sunshine that goes into who contributes to campaigns in this state,” Van De Wege said.
Littlejohn’s fine, which later was cut in half, was levied for his giving $7,500 to six of his employees to donate to the Citizens Against Fire District 2 Levy committee.
The levy would have boosted District 2 taxes by 51 percent and would have hit hard at the estimated $200,000 in Olympic Ambulance net revenue from paramedic calls in the area, according to the company.
Olympic Ambulance also stood to lose the long-distance, advanced-life-support transports from Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles to Seattle hospitals because Littlejohn’s paramedics would lose their certifications, he said.
Van De Wege said his proposal wasn’t a personal matter.
“I would not say it’s a grudge at all. I would be inclined to take this action if anybody in the legislative district did this.
“Even if this law passed, [Littlejohn] has every right to contribute to campaigns like that, and I would protect his right to do that.”
Meanwhile in Olympia last week, other 24th District legislators added to the 100 or so bills Rep. Steve Tharinger, also a Sequim Democrat, said were introduced in the session’s first five days.
The proposals included Tharinger’s marine trades bill that would exempt owners of some large boats from up to half the excise taxes they must pay — and sometimes avoid by mooring their vessels in British Columbia.
“What happens is, boats go to Canada or somewhere else, and we lose that business for marinas and chandleries,” Tharinger said.
“It should really increase activity in the marine trades,” he said, especially in Port Townsend and Grays Harbor.
State Sen. Jim Hargrove, a Hoquiam Democrat, sponsored a bill to address domestic violence, a problem he said had been spotlighted by Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice’s knocking out his then-fiancee and by other NFL players’ subsequent reaction against such behavior.
The legislation would make what he called a small increase in the cost of marriage licenses to strengthen Department of Social and Health Services programs of advocacy, referral, and emergency shelters “throughout the state and not just in urban areas.”
Hargrove’s other initiatives were to reintroduce a tax break on logging trucks “to help them bring green products to market” and to propose exemptions for small cartage companies from regulations that govern large moving haulers.
As for a Republican change to Senate rules that requires a two-thirds majority of senators to introduce new taxes, Hargrove said it would affect only brand-new taxes, not increases in existing measures like the sales tax.
“It was more of a statement [by the GOP] than a real impediment,” Hargrove said. “Let’s put it that way.”
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com
