The Joint Legislative Task Force on Public Records convened its second work session on October 9, where experts presented on the value of open government. You can find meeting materials, including the TVW web recording, on the Legislature’s website.

After the Governor’s veto of SB 6617, exempting lawmakers from the state Public Records Act (PRA), the Legislature established the Joint Task Force on Public Records to examine the standards disclosing public records within the legislative branch. The task force is made of legislators, media sources, an open government advocate, and members of the public.

AWC’s Government Relations Director, Candice Bock, was appointed to the task force to provide the perspective of cities and towns that operate under the PRA. The task force is expected to meet up to four times before the end of 2018 and report their findings back to the Legislature in 2019.

The next meeting of the task force is tentatively set for November 5 and it will feature a panel of local government representatives talking about how cities and counties work with the PRA.