The Joint Legislative Task Force on Public Records convened its third work session on November 5, where members heard testimony from city and county leaders on the administration of public records at the local government level. Pat Johnson, Mayor of Buckley, provided the task force with the city perspective stating, “We understand the legislature is concerned about the impacts, what they are, and complying with the Public Records Act because we deal with it every day. But we believe the benefits of transparency outweigh the costs. AWC strongly supports a single version of the public records act and is concerned with the concept of carving out different rules with the legislature.”

Thank you, Mayor Johnson, for your impactful testimony, which was also featured in a Seattle Times Editorial.

After the Governor’s veto of SB 6617, a controversial bill passed by lawmakers that exempted the Legislature 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 unique perspective of cities and towns that operate under the PRA. The task force is expected to meet one last time before the end of 2018 and report their findings back to the Legislature in early 2019. The final meeting of the task force is set for December 7 in Olympia. You can find meeting materials, including the TVW web recording of the November work session, on the Legislature’s website.