Serving yourself first

The Washington Legislature has regularly declared that public disclosure laws do not apply to it. A judge in January ruled that the legislature was not exempt from them.

In response, and in a rush rarely equaled in Washington legislative history, a bill exempting the legislature from public disclosure laws was passed. The bill passed overwhelmingly in both houses.

The public outcry was immediate and, and according to Governor Jay Inslee’s office, unprecedented.

Inslee vetoed the bill after some negotiations with legislators and news media organizations which had filed a lawsuit earlier to get records from the legislature.

The move by the elected officials was bad enough. Open, transparent government is paramount to a trusted government and a working democracy. They, despite words to the contrary, opted to close access to many of their records and retroactively locked up previous ones.

The specifics of the Legislature’s bill would have protected members from disclosure of certain matters. Both Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate supported the bill which was sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Mark Schoesler of Ritzville and Senate Majority Leader Sharon Nelson of Maury Island.

As disturbing as the blatant effort by the legislators to keep the public from gaining access to records is, there is a more disturbing aspect of the situation.

That is the unbounded arrogance and elitism of our public servants. They, for the most part, accept the idea that they are above the law and can operate with their own rules. What is good for the goose is apparently not good for the gander.

The widespread support for the bill to shut down public disclosure is disturbing evidence that the self-protective arrogance is not limited to just the sponsors of the bill. It indicates that for what little they can agree upon looking after themselves comes first. It was a true bipartisan consensus.

More is to come from this. A compromise may be achieved. The lawsuit by media organizations may be resolved.

Still, the stain of the quick passage of this self-serving bill may last longer than the bill itself.

By the people, for the people is a great guideline, except of course if it interferes with operating above the law.

Reportedly, leaders of both parties from both houses released a statement that the bill was important so that the two bodies could do their work.

Yes, but, for whom?

Gordon Forgey

Publisher