Governor Inslee has vetoed a controversial bill that would have exempted the legislature from the state’s public records law.  Lawmakers hurriedly passed the bill last week, sparking a public outcry across the state.

The governor vetoed SB 6617 late Thursday evening, following unprecedented public opposition and front-page editorials condemning the legislature’s action. The swift passage of the bill without public input just two days after it was introduced drew fire from residents, newspapers, and transparent government advocates who saw this as an attempt by legislators to maintain secrecy by shielding themselves from disclosures required of other state and local officials.

According to news reports, more than 19,000 phone calls, e-mails, and letters had poured into the governor’s office by Thursday afternoon urging him to veto the measure. Governor Inslee had said publicly that he might let the bill become law without any action on his part, given the large majorities by which the measure passed. The vote margins were large enough for a possible veto override.

However, legislative leaders let the Governor know Thursday that they would not attempt to override his veto. Identical letters signed by 41 House and 16 Senate Democrats stated that they “made a mistake by failing to go through a full public hearing process on this very important legislation.” “We think that the only way to make this right is for you to veto the bill and for us to start again,” they added.

House Republicans also sent a letter telling Gov. Inslee that a veto “would be a good start.” The Republicans also asked Democrats, who control the House by a slim 50-48 majority, to allow a hearing next week on a Republican-sponsored bill (HB 2886) that would have applied the state Public Records Act to the legislature but which never received a hearing.

In other breaking news, Gov. Inslee and the sponsor of a bill to tax carbon emissions said yesterday that SB 6203 is dead for this session. The bill would have imposed an energy tax equal to $12 per metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions on the sale or use of fossil fuels within the state of Washington and the generation or importation of electricity in Washington generated using fossil fuels, beginning July 1, 2019. The tax rate would have increased in future years to $30 per metric ton.

Gov. Inslee told the Associated Press  on Thursday that the bill did not have the votes to pass the Democratically-controlled Senate. The bill would likely have failed in the Democratically-controlled House as well, as it has in past sessions.  The bill was sent to  the Senate’s so-called “X file,” the graveyard for abandoned legislation.

Keep up with legislative actions during the closing days of this session by visiting washingtonvotes.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter #waleg.

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