Public Disclosure Commission

What Public Disclosure Commission does

The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) is a state government regulatory agency established in 1972 to administer and enforce Washington State's campaign finance, lobbying disclosure, and personal financial affairs laws under Title 29B RCW and Title 390 WAC. Headquartered in Olympia, Washington with 24 staff, the agency regulates political candidates, political committees, incidental committees, lobbyists, and elected officials, while serving the public with access to disclosure records.

PDC operates an integrated digital compliance and disclosure platform anchored by MyPDC/ORCA, the agency's online electronic filing system used to file campaign finance reports (C-3, C-4), independent expenditure and electioneering communication reports (C-6), lobbying reports, grassroots lobbying reports (L-6), and personal financial affairs disclosures (F-1). The platform also includes a Political Disclosure Data Portal, an Enforcement Case Search, an enforcement case document archive, a public records request system, and an email subscription service. In 2026, PDC modernized the C-6 reporting experience and migrated filer authentication from Secure Access Washington to WA.gov.

PDC is funded by state appropriations and does not generate commercial revenue; products and public records are provided at no cost. Enforcement is conducted through investigation and referral to the Washington State Attorney General's Office, exemplified by the 2026 Washington Supreme Court affirmation of a $24.6 million civil penalty plus attorney's fees against Meta (Facebook) — the largest campaign finance judgment in U.S. history.

Name

Public Disclosure Commission

Legal name

Washington State Public Disclosure Commission

Website

https://pdc.wa.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission is a state regulatory agency founded in 1972 that enforces campaign finance, lobbying, and financial disclosure laws through its MyPDC online filing platform, serving candidates, committees, lobbyists, elected officials, and the public of Washington State.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Olympia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) is a Washington State government agency that administers and enforces state campaign finance, lobbying, and political disclosure laws. It collects financial disclosure reports from candidates, political committees, and lobbyists; operates an online filing and public access system; and provides regulatory oversight, training, and enforcement of compliance with Washington disclosure statutes.

Product overview

The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) operates a comprehensive campaign finance and political disclosure regulatory platform for Washington State. The core system consists of an online reporting platform (MyPDC/ORCA) that enables candidates, political committees, lobbyists, and lobbyist employers to file mandatory disclosure reports electronically. Key integrated products include the C-6 Independent Expenditure Reporting System for political advertising disclosure, a Political Disclosure Data Portal providing public access to filed documents, and an Enforcement Case Search system for viewing compliance matters. The platform also includes a Public Records Request System, Email Subscription Service, and specialized reporting modules for grassroots lobbying (L-6) and personal financial affairs (F-1). All services support Washington State's campaign finance laws under RCW 29B and administrative rules under WAC 390.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Campaign Finance Disclosure Filing
• Lobbyist Registration and Disclosure
• Public Disclosure Data Portal
• Compliance and Enforcement Services Regulatory compliance assistance and enforcement actions, including review of filed reports, complaints, investigations, and imposition of penalties for violations of Washington's campaign finance and lobbying disclosure laws. For use by regulated filers subject to PDC jurisdiction and by members of the public who file complaints.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Washington State Attorney General's OfficecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2026The PDC refers enforcement matters to the Attorney General's Office for prosecution. The AGO filed a lawsuit against Facebook/Meta based on PDC investigation findings, resulting in a $24.6 million judgment plus attorney's fees upheld by the Washington state Supreme Court in June 2026.
• Federal Election CommissionminorOthersFederal agency with jurisdiction over federal campaign finance. Referenced as a resource for voters and the public seeking federal election information.
• Federal Communications CommissionminorOthersFederal agency providing TV station campaign advertising data referenced on PDC's Other Resources page.
• Washington Secretary of StateminorOthersState agency responsible for election administration and voter registration. Referenced for election results and voter registration services.
• Washington State Executive Ethics BoardminorOthersState ethics board referenced as a related resource for government ethics and disclosure matters.
• King County Board of EthicsminorOthersLocal ethics board referenced as a related resource for local government ethics matters.
• Seattle Ethics & Elections CommissionminorOthersLocal commission handling Seattle-specific ethics and election matters, including the Democracy Voucher Program which PDC provides guidance on.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Federal Election Commission: Federal agency with jurisdiction over federal campaign finance disclosure and enforcement. The closest functional analogue to PDC at the federal level, operating the analogous disclosure-and-enforcement mandate across all federal candidates and committees.
• New York State Board of Elections: New York's state agency responsible for campaign finance disclosure and election administration. Comparable to PDC in administering statewide campaign finance filing systems and enforcing state election law.
• California Fair Political Practices Commission: California's independent state campaign finance, lobbying, and public-official disclosure regulator. Closest functional state-level analogue to PDC, with a similarly broad disclosure mandate and enforcement authority.
• Texas Ethics Commission: Texas state agency that administers campaign finance and personal financial disclosure for state officeholders and lobbyists. Directly comparable to PDC in mandate and online disclosure infrastructure.
• Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission: Municipal-level counterpart within Washington State that administers the Seattle Democracy Voucher Program and local lobbying/ethics rules. Already listed as a coordination partner of PDC and operates a parallel local disclosure regime.

Others

• OpenSecrets: Center for Responsive Politics project that tracks money in U.S. politics using state and federal disclosure data. Functions as a downstream data consumer of PDC filings and an adjacent transparency ecosystem participant.
• National Institute on Money in Politics: Nonpartisan nonprofit that aggregates and analyzes state campaign finance data, including Washington filings. Not a regulator, but a direct ecosystem participant that consumes PDC's disclosure outputs and competes for analytics attention.

Regional players

• Oregon Government Ethics Commission: Neighboring Pacific Northwest state ethics and lobbying disclosure agency. Operates a comparable disclosure-and-enforcement mandate in Oregon, making it a strong regional comparable to PDC.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Wa_PDC
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/public-disclosure-commission

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Public Disclosure Commission