WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Rep. Wylie’s 3/2/18 Update: Public Records Bill Veto

March 2, 2018

Dear neighbors,

I want to start by acknowledging that we made a mistake.

You were right to be outraged by the manner in which the House and Senate passed SB 6617.

I wrote to you about this bill soon after its passage to let you know I voted for it because it would expand the information that would be legally available to the public for the first time in decades.

But I was greatly troubled by it.

The hastiness and lack of transparency in the process to get it through both chambers left a lot to be desired, and gave a lot to be upset about.

As lawmakers, we were not wrong just on the process, though, we also got it wrong for not doing a better job balancing privacy for constituents, open government and respect for the public, and the ability to get our work done.

The people spoke loudly. Phone calls and emails flooded legislative offices, and that gave me pause. I realized that the unacceptable process in which this legislation passed had eclipsed any of the bill’s merit in opening up legislative records.

filing cabinet

We had to fix this because you deserve better. So I, along with my colleagues, asked the governor to veto the bill.

He did, and will convene a task force with representatives from his office, the Attorney General’s office, the news media, open government advocates, lawmakers, and others, to engage in a very public process and bring back recommendations to the Legislature next year.

We must get the content right and we will do it in a transparent process next time around. 

I intend to operate my office under the more open requirements in that vetoed bill. But more importantly, we will be looking at all of the issues to be both as open and transparent as possible and to do so in an efficient way that allows our work to get done.

I will share more as we go forward. I thank all of you who cared enough to come forward and demand accountability from your legislators.

We are a Citizen Legislature. Sometimes we make mistakes but it is never too late to do the right thing.

I promised to keep working on this. I did and I will.

Sincerely,

Wylie Sig