Washington Coalition for Open Government

Timely op/eds on ongoing access issues appeared recently in The Northern Light and The Seattle Times.

Our September 2025 newsletter is out, with updates on Olympia’s efforts at secrecy, the governor’s overdue policy on message retention and WashCOG’s renewed efforts to reach out to other advocates of access.

Gov. Bob Ferguson will “soon” announce a decision on whether state agencies can resume auto-deleting internal electronic messages, his aide told some media. But does that mean days, weeks or months? And will his decision promote transparency?

Our state Legislature’s march toward secrecy is speeding up, despite lawsuits, massive public outcry and even a ruling that was largely against them from the state Supreme Court.