Olympia Watch
Transparency News This Week
WashCOG’s weekly report on what’s happening in the state legislature and your guide to action.
WashCOG seeks to keep you abreast of what’s happening on transparency in Olympia during the 2025 legislative session. We’d appreciate feedback on whether you find this useful. Please email WashCOG Government Committee chair Robert McClure at journalistmcclure@gmail.com. Thank you.
March 17-21, 2025
With the legislative session well past its halfway mark, many bills are “frozen” and unlikely to advance. So there is less to track. Our primary focus this week is:
SB 5400, “Supporting Local News Journalism,” which is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday. (Any resident can sign up to submit comments or testify.) The bill would authorize a "local journalism investment surcharge" on major technology companies doing business in Washington. The proceeds would help support eligible news organizations that are facing financial peril because of the technological changes the internet brought to their advertising-supported business model. This surcharge to support local newsrooms would help preserve the government transparency that voters rely on to make informed decisions. Please urge your legislators, particularly senators, to make sure this concept and the corresponding funding get rolled into the state budget as negotiations unfold. To find out who represents you in Olympia, please go here. (https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder) You can contact members of the Ways & Means Committee here. (https://leg.wa.gov/about-the-legislature/committees/senate/wm/)
March 10-14, 2025
Time for action — at a legislative Town Hall meeting near you
Thursday night marks the start of legislative Town Halls — your annual opportunity to advocate for state government transparency with the legislators who represent you in Olympia.
Will you please consider attending the Town Hall in your district to press the case for open government? The schedule is here. Some are in person, some virtual. All are worthwhile for promoting government transparency with your state senator and your two state representatives. (If you don’t know your district number, just plug in your address here.)
Here are the top three issues WashCOG hopes you will highlight:
“Legislative privilege” - State legislators now claim they are exempt from the voter-approved Public Records Act’s requirement to release documents they generate in the course of serving the people. There’s a long history around this issue, but it all boils down to this: Legislators should disclose the documents they generate while acting as public servants. So the people can see what they are doing. (The statute already allows lots of exemptions for privacy, etc.) Legislators should be treated as other state workers, as an overwhelming majority of voters decreed in approving the forerunner of the Public Records Act. Court rulings may allow legislators to hide behind this ruse, but the documents they generate should be open to public inspection by their constituents. That seems basic.
HB 1610, “Critical Energy Infrastructure,” is supposedly needed to protect physical and cyber operations of the energy infrastructure. But is so broadly written that it would be difficult or impossible to obtain information after an attack on energy infrastructure that reveals how well or how poorly our institutions responded to an attack. It’s also unnecessary because the really important things already have exemptions under the Public Records Act. As Rep. Peter Abbarno put it in House floor debate, “This is just another carve-out of the Public Records Act that is unnecessary.” And, we would add, dangerous.
SB 5400, “Supporting Local News Journalism,” is currently stuck in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. It would authorize a small charge on major technology companies doing business in Washington to help support news organizations facing financial peril because of the technological changes the internet brought to their advertising-supported business model. This modest fee to support local newsrooms would help preserve the government transparency voters rely on to make informed decisions. Urge your legislators to have this inserted into the state budget.
March 3-7, 2025
ACTION ALERT! Please help us fight HB 1610, relating to “the disclosure of critical energy infrastructure information.” It would provide a sweeping exemption from the Public Records Act for “critical infrastructure information in the possession of any agency.” Wow! That means basically all information on dams, pipelines, the electrical grid, solar farms and any other energy could be withheld from public view. This is unnecessarily broad. Honestly, does anyone think terrorists are going to file Public Records Act requests for the energy infrastructure they are about to attack?
We’re happy to talk about targeted and specific exemptions, but this is just a blank check to withhold so much information that it should be defeated. If something goes wrong with our critical energy infrastructure, the public needs accountability, and that demands transparency. This appears to give government the right to withhold information the public should have in the wake of any attack on critical energy infrastructure. It’s couched as anti-terrorist but in practice would potentially shield vast amounts of information all the time.
Please go here, and plug in your home address to get the email addresses of your legislators. Then ask them to vote against this bill. And now, an update on some other bills we’ve been following:
SB 5400, “Supporting Local News Journalism,” which raises the business and occupational tax on large technology firms to support local news-gathering, did not make it out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee by the cutoff deadline on Friday. We hold out hope that, because it could have fiscal effects, it can be incorporated into the state budget.
HB 1055, which is titled “Enhancing Access to Public Records” but actually would chart a course to do the opposite, appears dead.
HB 1964, which would have placed onerous restrictions on PRA requesters seeking lists of email addresses held by government, appears dead.
HB 1765, seeking to restrict access to municipal email lists, appears dead.
SB 5049, which makes minor changes to help the functioning of the state Sunshine Committee, passed the Senate and was referred to the House State Government & Tribal Affairs Committee.
HB 1222, which grants a Public Records Act exemption for certain materials in the possession of the state Gambling Commission, passed the House and was referred to the Senate State Government, Elections & Tribal Affairs Committee.
SB 5102, “Establishing a public records exemption for the proprietary information of public risk pools,” appears headed to the Senate floor.
HB 1337, which makes minor changes to improve the transparency of the search process for university presidents, awaits action in the Rules Committee.
HB 1885, which would forbid legislators to claim “legislative privilege” when withholding information requested by the public under the Public Records Act, is dead.
Feb. 24-28, 2025
This is an important week in Olympia, not because there’s a lot of action on the bills we are following there, but rather because no hearing is scheduled this week for one really important bill. It’s SB 5400, and it would provide funding to help preserve local journalism jobs at about 100 news outlets in the state. The bill is in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Friday, Feb. 28 is the last day to read bills in committee. And we do not see SB 5400 on the list for this week.
Please send an email to Sen. June Robinson, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Comittee, at june.robinson@leg.wa.gov. Please emphasize that voters are in need of the kind of verifiable information that local news organizations provide, information that is vital to our civic culture and transparency about what is going on in our goverment.
Feb. 17-21, 2025
House Bill 1964 “Concerning persons requesting disclosure of lists of individuals under the public records act.”
This bill would present significant hurdles to citizens who request public records. This bill would require requesters *under penalty of perjury* to verify that their request is for “non-commercial purposes.” No one requesting information from their government should be required to sign a declaration of any kind or “state the purpose” of their request. It is the first step on a slippery slope to government hoarding of information out of sight of citizens. This will be heard at 1:30 Tuesday at the House State Government & Tribal Affairs Committee.
House Bill 1337: “Concerning the appointment of presidents of institutions of higher education.”
This bill, which originally sought to bring a tiny amount of transparency to search processes for university presidents by requiring a single public meeting with finalists, is being severely downgraded. The new version would drop the requirement for public meetings. The bill would then require only that the student and faculty representatives on the board of regents be allowed to vote on final selection. This is scheduled to be heard at 1:30 Wednesday in the House Postsecondary Education & Workforce Committee.
Feb. 10-14, 2025
Here is WashCOG’s weekly update of developments in Olympia on government transparency, along with some actions you can take:
We’re distressed to report that a bill aimed at kneecapping the Public Records Act, HB 1055, passed its House committee of origin last week with unanimous bipartisan support. Stay tuned on this; no need for action now. But this is emerging as the largest challenge to transparency this year. It’s a “study bill,” but it’s to study a dangerous anti-transparency change to what voters approved by a wide margin.
Please urge Senate Labor & Commerce Committee Chair Rebecca Saldana to move up SB 5400, “Supporting Local News Journalism,” on her committee’s agenda for Friday. It already was passed over at last week’s meeting because of time constraints; why is it now at the bottom of an even-longer agenda? Her scheduling this as the very last bill on Friday’s crowded agenda virtually assures it won’t pass in time to become law. Please support local journalism that is key to government transparency. Saldana’s email address is rebecca.saldana@leg.wa.gov or just click here.
HB 1610 comes up for a vote Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 11, in the House State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections Committee. It would exempt “Critical energy infrastructure information collected in support of the state energy resilience and emergency management office.” WashCOG’s Government Committee is investigating the implications of the bill.
We’re concerned about SB 5623, which would establish the responsibility of the Legislature to be presented the recommendations of Sunshine Committee, which examines exemptions to the Public Records Act and sometimes seeks to end exemptions that are unwarranted. The bill is sitting in the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections Committee. Please email Chair Javier Valdez at javier.valdez@leg.wa.gov to urge him to bring the bill up before the cutoff deadline.
Similarly, HB 1337, which would bring at least a small amount of transparency to searches for university presidents, is bottled up in the House Postsecondary Education & Workforce Committee. Please urge committee chair Rep. Paul Dave to give the bill a hearing. His email is paul.dave@leg.wa.gov or just click here.
Don’t miss this recent Seattle Times article spotlighting Gov. Bob Ferguson’s emerging tendency toward secrecy. He has stopped conducting the traditional weekly press conference televised on TVW during the legislative session; he’s requiring state agencies to clear press releases with the governor’s office by sending them 48 hours ahead of release (what happens when a train derails? Et cetera. Totally unworkable); and he’s requiring advance notice most any time anyone in the state’s 75,000-person workforce does an interview with journalists. This is reminiscent of so many command-and-control bureaucracies worldwide. Washington deserves better. You can send the governor an online comment here.
Feb. 3-7, 2025
Three bills affecting government transparency are on tap this week, all up for committee consideration on Friday, Feb. 7:
House Bill 1055: Very dangerous. Please take action to oppose this. This bill speaks of “enhancing access to public records,” but would do the opposite. It calls for a study of establishing an “independent” state transparency ombuds office and specifically directs the study to examine Pennsylvania’s version. The Pennsylvania model is terrible. It would represent just another hurdle in front of Washington requesters — a hurdle specifically to delay and even deny access to the courts to decide Public Records Act disputes. Voters explicitly chose courts to resolve these cases when they overwhelmingly passed the initiative that led to the Public Records Act. This bill comes up Friday before the House State Government & Tribal Affairs Committee.
Senate Bill 5049: This legislation would allow Washington’s “Sunshine Committee” to adjust its meeting schedules to better incorporate in-person appearances by legislators outside the time-intensive legislative session. The Sunshine Committee is supposed to figure out to what degree the 600+ exemptions to the state’s Public Records Act still make sense all these years (or in many cases, decades) later. This bill comes up Friday before the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections Committee.
Senate Bill 5400: “Supporting local news journalism,” would send $20 million annually to support news reporting that has suffered in so many local communities, especially those outside urban areas. Fourteen of the 49 members of the Senate are co-sponsors. WashCOG’s legislative priorities for the year include urging the Legislature to take action to preserve journalism as a civic good. WashCOG is studying this legislation with an eye toward supporting this effort to increase civic participation and transparency in government. This bill comes up Friday in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee.
Jan. 27-31, 2025
Senate Bill 5400: “Supporting local news journalism”
This bill would send $20 million annually to support news reporting that has suffered in so many local communities, especially those outside urban areas. It has 14 of the 49 members of the Senate as co-sponsors and is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday at the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce. WashCOG’s legislative priorities for the year include urging the Legislature to take action to preserve journalism as a civic good. WashCOG is studying this legislation with an eye toward supporting this effort to increase civic participation and transparency but has not yet taken a position on this specific legislation.
2) Senate Bill 5102: “Public records exemption for proprietary information of public risk pools.”
This bill was in the Rules Committee. WashCOG signed in against this bill. It would create a Public Records Act exemption that would apply to the data and formulas that public agencies’ self-insurance risk pools use to calculate rates or assessments for their members, as well as the actuarial analyses and reports prepared by or for the risk pools. It would hide the formulas, data, actuarial studies and reports that self-insurance risk pools use to calculate the rates they charge their public agency members.
3) Senate Bill 5049: “Concerning the public records exemptions accountability committee.”
WashCOG supported this good bill with testimony last week by our excellent lobbyist, Donna Christensen. This legislation would allow Washington’s “Sunshine Committee” to adjust its meeting schedules to better incorporate in-person appearances by legislators. The Sunshine Committee is supposed to figure out to what degree the 600+ exemptions to the state’s Public Records Act still make sense all these years (or in many cases, decades) later. The bill has been amended to eliminate archaic and misdirected efforts to subject members of the committee (volunteers, mostly) to the state ethics law designed for state employees, potentially discouraging public participation. Even worse, it abandons the idea that the Sunshine Committee’s findings should be explicitly considered by the Legislature and given an up-or-down vote.
Jan. 20-24, 2025
Senate Bill 5102: “Public records exemption for proprietary information of public risk pools.”
This bill was passed by the Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections Committee and sent to the Rules Committee. It would create a Public Records Act exemption that would apply to the data and formulas that public agencies’ self-insurance risk pools use to calculate rates or assessments for their members, as well as the actuarial analyses and reports prepared by or for the risk pools. It would hide the formulas, data, actuarial studies and reports that self-insurance risk pools use to calculate the rates they charge their public agency members. WashCOG signed in against this bill.
Senate Bill 5049: “Concerning the public records exemptions accountability committee.”
This bill to tinker with the workings of what’s known as Washington’s “Sunshine Committee” is perhaps well-meaning but doesn’t go nearly far enough. The Sunshine Committee is supposed to figure out to what degree the 300+ exemptions to the state’s Public Records Act still make sense all these years (or in many cases, decades) later. This bill inexplicably subjects members of the committee (volunteers, mostly) to the state ethics law designed for state employees and elected officials, potentially discouraging public participation. Even worse, it abandons the idea that the Sunshine Committee’s findings should be explicitly considered by the Legislature and given an up-or-down vote.
Senate Bill 5400: “Supporting local news journalism”
This bill, filed this week, would send $20 million annually to support news reporting that has suffered in so many local communities, especially those outside urban areas. It has 14 of the 49 members of the Senate as co-sponsors and is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday at the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce. WashCOG’s legislative priorities for the year include urging the Legislature to take action to preserve journalism as a civic good. WashCOG has not yet taken a position on this specific legislation.
Jan. 13-17, 2025
HB 1055: “Relating to enhancing access to public records through studying the efficacy of establishing the Washington office of transparency ombuds as an independent state agency”
Directs a study of a possible administrative agency to handle initial Public Records Act disputes. Directs that the study focus on an agency created in Pennsylvania, which has approved only about one-third of requesters’ appeals. Would create huge burdens on requesters seeking to access judicial enforcement of the PRA, as voters approved overwhelmingly at the ballot box. WashCOG vigorously opposes this legislation.
Senate Bill 5102: “Public records exemption for proprietary information of public risk pools.”
Creates a Public Records Act exemption for certain information used and created by public self-insurance risk pools. Public hearing 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs Elections Committee. Possible final action 10:30 a.m. Friday. WashCOG opposes this bill. It would create a Public Records Act exemption that would apply to the data and formulas that public agencies’ self-insurance risk pools use to calculate rates or assessments for their members, as well as the actuarial analyses and reports prepared by or for the risk pools. It would hide the formulas, data, actuarial studies and reports that self-insurance risk pools use to calculate the rates they charge their public agency members.