At a very lively meeting of the state's Sunshine Committee today, the members adopted a recommendation concerning public record exemptions for "work product" and "attorney-client privilege." By a 7-3 vote, the members approved the following resolution submitted by Ken Bunting:

BE IT RESOLVED THAT: It is the sense and intent of this committee that the state of applicable law in Washington state, on the attorney-client privilege and the work-product rule as they relate to open government matters, should be essentially what it was before the state Supreme Court’s 2004 Hangartner ruling and its 2007 Soter ruling.

Next step is for the Legislature to weigh in on this contentious issue.  

In other open government news, the 21st Century Right to Know Coalition (WPC is a member) released today its recommendations to President-elect Obama on how to improve federal government transparency. As noted by OMB Watch: 

As President-elect Obama's transition team gets to work, OMB Watch has teamed with dozens of organizations and individuals to provide key recommendations on government openness, reform of the regulatory process, and government performance issues. Started well before the 2008 elections, the projects that produced these recommendations brought together diverse groups of people to work on some of the most pressing problems and concerns that will face Obama when he takes office in January 2009.

OMB Watch convened a group of hundreds of individuals and organizations from across the political spectrum to put together recommendations on government openness, information, and other transparency issues. The recommendations stress the need for the Obama administration and Congress to move the federal government's information disclosure and sharing policies and processes into the 21st century, which includes the efficient, effective use of modern Internet technologies. The recommendations fall into three categories: National Security and Secrecy; Usability of Information; and Creating a Government Environment for Transparency. The group has also lifted up a number of the recommendations as issues the Obama administration should tackle during its first 100 days.

The recommendations from the report were discussed at a meeting in Baltimore back in September.  Here is a copy of the full report: 21st Century Right to Know Recommendations

Though the report was written for President-elect Obama’s transition team, there are recommendations in Chapters D & E that are applicable for the state.