CY2025 F1 (PDC 132328) · Lobbyist data: xhn7-64im · Contributions: kv7h-kjye
| Source | Role | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle's Finest Security & Traffic Control | Security Manager | $60,000-$99,999 |
| Washington State Sheriffs Association | Administrator | $0-$29,999 |
| WA House of Representatives | State Representative | $60,000-$99,999 |
| Ethan Burnett | Rent | $0-$29,999 |
| Spouse: doTerra | Wellness Consultant | $0-$29,999 |
Seattle's Finest Security & Traffic Control, LLC has maintained registered lobbyists in Olympia continuously since 2021:
| Year | Lobbyist Firm |
|---|---|
| 2021 | T K Bentler / Public Affairs Assoc |
| 2022 | Sermonti Public Affairs + T K Bentler |
| 2023 | T K Bentler / Public Affairs Assoc |
| 2024 | T K Bentler / Public Affairs Assoc |
| 2025 | Sermonti Public Affairs |
| 2026 | Sermonti Public Affairs |
Burnett sits on four committees: Community Safety, Civil Rights & Judiciary, Appropriations, and Early Learning & Human Services. The Community Safety assignment creates a direct jurisdiction overlap: the legislator who votes on public safety policy and law enforcement funding earns the majority of his non-legislative income from a private security company that employs lobbyists to influence that same policy area.
Additionally, Burnett earns $0-$29,999 from the Washington State Sheriffs Association, where he serves as Administrative Liaison. He previously served as president of both the WA Sheriffs Association and the WA Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, and as a commissioner on the WA State Criminal Justice Training Commission (a gubernatorial appointment). His 12-year career as Chelan County Sheriff predates his legislative service.
Burnett's top campaign contributor from outside party infrastructure is Phoenix Protective Corp ($3,894), another private security company. This is consistent with a pattern of financial relationships concentrated in the security and law enforcement sector that directly overlaps with his committee jurisdiction.
| Contributor | Total |
|---|---|
| House Republican Organizational Committee | $20,083 |
| Phoenix Protective Corp | $3,894 |
| NFIB WA PAC | $2,400 |
| WA Affordable Housing Council | $2,400 |
| Washington Hospitality Association | $2,400 |
| Snoqualmie Tribe | $2,400 |
We are not alleging wrongdoing. Burnett's financial disclosures are filed and public. His committee assignments are made by House leadership. The private security industry's use of lobbyists in Olympia is legal. The question is structural: should a legislator who earns $60,000-$99,999 from a company with active lobbyists serve on the committee that oversees that company's regulatory environment? Washington's disclosure system requires the filing but has no mechanism to flag the overlap. That is what we do.
This profile was created after a reader flagged an inconsistency in our scoring methodology. The screener formula produced a "Moderate Overlap" badge for Burnett that did not reflect the lobbyist-connected income and committee jurisdiction overlap documented above. We applied a manual override to correct the score and published this profile to explain why. This is exactly how the process is supposed to work: public methodology, public scrutiny, public correction.
Sources: PDC F1 filing 132328 · PDC lobbyist agents dataset xhn7-64im · PDC contributions dataset kv7h-kjye · leg.wa.gov committee assignments · Ballotpedia
Public record of corrections, updates, and reader feedback.
| April 21, 2026 | Profile created (override). Reader feedback identified that Burnett's employer (Seattle's Finest Security) has maintained registered lobbyists in Olympia continuously since 2021, while Burnett sits on the Community Safety committee. The screener produced a score of 7 (REVIEW), which did not reflect this direct jurisdiction overlap. Manual override applied to STRUCTURAL OVERLAP. See Scott profile for the companion correction. |