Two bills impacting public records will go before the House and Senate State Government & Tribal Relations Committees the week of January 13.

HB 1888, sponsored by Reps. Zack Hudgins (D—Tukwila) and Javier Valdez (D—Seattle), proposes new exemptions to the Public Records Act and establishes a requirement to notify employees of records requests containing personal information.

One of the proposed exemptions would apply to payroll deductions, including the amount and identification of the deduction. The bill also appears to bring back the exemption for dates of birth, despite the 2019 Washington Supreme Court ruling that public employees’ dates of birth are subject to public record requests.

HB 1888 proposes a notification requirement that would compel public agencies to send notices to an employee whose personal information is part of a public records request, to any union representing that employee, and to the original requestor. The notice to these parties must include the following:

• The date the request was received.
• The nature of the records request relating to the employee.
• The date that the agency intends to release the requested records. This date must be at least 10 days after the notice is sent to the required parties.
• Instruction to the required parties that the records will be released unless a court order blocking the release is obtained.

SB 5246, sponsored by Sens. Sam Hunt (D—Olympia) and Hans Zeiger (R—Puyallup), brings several changes to the Public Records Act based on recommendations from the Sunshine Committee. A few of the proposed changes will directly impact cities and towns, including new exemptions to public disclosures, new information subject to public disclosures, and new processes for releasing information.

The bill proposes that the following items be subject to public records disclosures:

• Applications for vacancies in elective office
• Employees’ residential city, state, and zip codes
• Employees’ dates of birth

Newly proposed exemptions from public records disclosures outlined in the bill include:

• Passport and visa numbers
• All identifying and contact information of employee dependents
• All identifying and contact information of public agency volunteers

The bill also proposes the addition of a section to RCW 42.56 that exempts bids, quotes, and proposals submitted to a public agency for goods and services until the agency announces the apparent successful bidder or decides not to accept any of the bids.

The bill also proposes changes to exemptions for information regarding ongoing and active investigations of employment-related discrimination. As the bill is currently written, once an investigation is concluded and the agency has notified the complaining employee of the outcome of the investigation, the exemption to public disclosure no longer applies. However, as the bill is written, it does not incorporate amendments made last session regarding permissible redactions, and the bill will need to be updated prior to its hearing.

Dates to remember

HB 1888 is scheduled for public hearing before the House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee on Tuesday, January 14, at 1:30 pm. The bill is scheduled for executive session on Friday, January 17, at 8 am.

SB 5246 is scheduled for public hearing before the Senate State Government, Tribal Relations and Elections Committee on Friday, January 17, at 1:30 pm.