Lawmakers have awakened a sleeping giant - Demand for transparency grows
For years we have been calling for reforms to the legislative process to ensure real transparency and public involvement. With each new title only bill, waiving of the rules and ludicrous speed action on a bill, however, I've started to wonder if I was merely tilting at windmills. Now thanks to the indefensible process used to adopt SB 6617 last week, it appears lawmakers have awakened a sleeping giant. Consider the following newspaper articles:
- AP FACT CHECK: Lawmakers off mark on public records facts
- Bellingham Herald: Legislators vote themselves secrecy privileges; if Inslee doesn’t veto, voters must act
- Centralia Chronicle: Timing Sinks All Excuses for State Lawmakers’ Secrecy
- Centralia Chronicle: Lawmakers Go Into Damage Control With Backlash Over Public Records Bill
- Centralia Chronicle: State Democrats and Republicans Find Something to Agree On — Secrecy
- Columbia Basin Herald: Public records bill should be vetoed
- Ellensburg Daily Record: Public Record Act applies to Legislature
- Everett Herald: Hundreds of Washingtonians urge Inslee to veto public records bill
- Everett Herald: Lawmakers again exempt themselves from records act
- Everett Herald: Inslee must veto attempt at records runaround
- Kitsap Sun: Stop the secrecy in Olympia
- Longview Daily News: Governor, veto bad bill
- Longview Daily News: Stop legislative end run around Open Records Act
- Olympian: Gov. Inslee must veto legislative records bill
- Peninsula Daily News: Urge Gov. Inslee to veto public records end-run
- Seattle Times: Gov. Jay Inslee must stand up for the people and veto legislative-secrecy bill
- Seattle Times: Gov. Inslee: Veto anti-transparency bill in full
- Seattle Times: Insistence on public-records secrecy for lawmakers is slap in the face to public they serve
- Seattle Times: ‘The fast-fast-fast-track’: Lawmakers rushed secrecy plan to beat deadlines
- Seattle Times: Our historic decision to counter violation of public trust
- Seattle Times: Public Records Act - Readers weigh in
- Seattle Times: Hundreds urge Inslee to veto bill exempting Washington legislators from public-records law
- Seattle Times: Washington state lawmakers make speedy move to shield their records from the public
- Seattle Times: Newspapers around Washington publish A1 editorials calling for Gov. Jay Inslee to veto records bill
- Seattle Times: Not ‘veto-proof’: Inslee can and must kill legislative-secrecy bill
- Skagit Valley Herald: Governor, citizens: Please stand up for open government
- Spokesman Review: Washington state lawmakers scramble to keep public in the dark
- Spokesman Review: Veto the Legislature’s secrecy bill
- Spokesman Review: Are lawmakers right that their special Public Records law is more transparent?
- Spokesman Review: Residents to Inslee: Veto Legislature’s Public Records exemptions
- Tacoma News Tribune: Are legislators telling the truth about the controversial public records bill they just passed? Not so much
- Tacoma News Tribune: Inslee must veto shameful public records bill
- Tacoma News Tribune: This public records bill is a snow job
- Tri-City Herald: Inslee’s statement on vetoes doesn’t fly
- Tri-City Herald: When lawmakers act in secret, it’s bad for more than just the media
- Tri-City Herald: Inslee must slap down Legislature’s end-run around public records law
- Tri-City Herald: Not all legislators caved
- Vancouver Columbian: Gov. Inslee Must Veto Public Records Bill
- Walla Walla Union Bulletin: State lawmakers can’t be above the law
- Walla Walla Union Bulletin: Why our editorial is on the front page
- Walla Walla Union Bulletin: ‘Emergency’ bill latest to take aim at public records
- Washington Post: Washington lawmakers exempt themselves from records law
- Wenatchee World: Governor Inslee: Veto this bad bill
- Yakima Herald Republic: It is critical to keep public records public
- Yakima Herald Republic: Legislature votes to keep your business hidden from you
There were also these posts:
- Former Attorney General Rob McKenna: Bipartisanship gone bad: Anti-transparency bill is insulting
- Jean Godden: I paid a price on public records law. And I hope Inslee holds lawmakers accountable, too
- KEPR News: Transparency vs. Secrecy: Why everyone's talking about SB 6617
- KING 5 News: Gov. Inslee's office flooded with requests for veto on public records bill
- King County Council: SB 6617 veto request
- KIRO radio show: Calling on Gov. Inslee to veto public records bill
- KNKX radio show: Newspapers To Inslee: Veto Public Records Exemption
- KUOW radio show: Inslee Faces Immense Pressure To Veto Public Records Bill
- KUOW radio show: Everything you need to know about Olympia's legislative privacy fight
- KVEW News: Story on SB 6617 (public records)
- KVI radio show: Gov. Jay Inslee's televised refusal to veto a deeply unpopular Senate bill (SB 6617)
- League of Women Voters of Washington: SB 6617: The Good, the Bad, and the Really Really Ugly
- National Reporters Committee For Freedom of The Press: Washington state lawmakers slam the door on the public and open government
- Shawn Vestal: Inslee can stand up to Trump, but can he stand up to the Legislature?
- Spokane Inlander: Washington State Legislature praises itself for expanding transparency. Media and open government groups call BS
- Stranger: Evil Geniuses in State Legislature Vote to Shield Themselves from Public Records Act
- Stranger: Inslee Said on National TV He Can't Veto the Secrecy Bill. That's Not True
- Stranger: Here Are the Seattle City Council Members Asking Inslee to Veto the Legislative Secrecy Bill
- Washington State Sunshine Committee: SB 6617 veto request
Think it's just the media expressing outrage? Type "SB 6617" in your Facebook search field and see what comes up. The public is sleeping no more.
Additional Information
Timeline: Legislative public records debate
Should state lawmakers be held to same public disclosure requirements as local officials?
Policy Guide: Open and Accountable Government
