Washington's Legislative Ethics Board fined Rep.
That choice is part of why the board's written findings run to 15 pages, laying out its reasoning violation by violation instead of a brief order, and why the case took roughly six weeks to resolve after the hearing closed rather than being settled quietly months earlier.
It also found that Simmons was "not credible" when she denied swaying the outcome.
She has said she consulted the ethics board multiple times since taking office, citing the built-in tension of Washington's citizen-legislature model, where lawmakers routinely keep outside jobs tied to the policy areas they vote on.
Read together, the two cases point to a pattern in how Simmons has used money that passes through her campaign and legislative roles, even though the ethics board and the PDC are different bodies applying different laws to different funds.
Washington's Legislative Ethics Board found Rep. Tarra Simmons, D-Bremerton, personally benefited from a $1 million grant that helped fund her $120,000 nonprofit salary, and that she retaliated against the employee who complained. She denies wrongdoing and will appeal.