HB 1667, concerning public records reporting, was recently amended and voted out of the House Appropriations Committee. As reported last week, AWC was concerned that the amendments made in the Appropriations Committee could result in unnecessary and redundant data reporting requirements. AWC and our allies were able to work with legislators and stakeholders to develop a proposal to remove the problematic changes to the bill.
AWC is happy to report that HB 1667 was amended on the House floor and unanimously passed the House of Representatives. The bill will now be introduced in the Senate in the days to come.
HB 1667 aims to improve local government public records reporting requirements established by the 2017 Legislature under ESHB 1594 by streamlining and clarifying some of the reporting metrics. The bill also aids cities by ending the sunset on the Attorney General Local Records Assistance Program and the State Archives Local Grant Program that assist in the improvement of local government public records management. The funding and the programs are currently scheduled to sunset in 2020. HB 1667 makes both programs permanent.