Gov. Inslee vetoes bill that would keep legislative records secret

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Voters by the thousands across Washington, along with parties both inside and outside the state stopped a controversial bill from becoming law.

Gov. Jay Inslee vetoed a bill that would have kept some state lawmakers' records secret.

Thursday evening’s developments showed a rare moment of near bipartisan agreement between the governor’s office and the legislature. Both houses sent letters asking the governor to veto SB 6617, and he did just that after hours of negotiation. The public spoke loud and clear that they felt there was a lot wrong with this bill and it was killing their right to know what's happening in Washington.

Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon spoke to reporters in the halls of the statehouse as news spread of the letters sent by lawmakers and that the governor had vetoed the bill. He said he heard from his constituents and so did all the other lawmakers in both the House and Senate; people did not want a bill that would hide their records from the public for many different reasons, “In the eight years I've served in the house of reps I have not received this level of organic constituent... outcry over an inadequate public process.”

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Thousand called the governor and their elected reps and said other government agencies had to answer to public disclosure laws and they should, too.

Lawmakers rushed the bill with no public hearings after a judge ruled against them in a lawsuit filed by media organizations -- including KIRO 7.

Fitzgibbon said that some constituents complained that lawmakers were self serving in quickly passing a bill that would benefit them, at the expense of other legislation that could help voters, “The fact that it moved through at this late hour when other really important constituent priorities like action on gun safety in schools are not able to move through the process that quickly because they don't have support from all four of the legislative caucuses.”

Around 8 p.m., lawmakers sent out notices of their signed letters asking the governor to veto the very bill they had rammed through both chambers. Inslee took that advice and sent out his notice shortly thereafter that he had indeed vetoed SB 6617.

Lawmakers will now work with the media and others on a better solution for public accountability. Fitzgibbon said that voters made it very clear to lawmakers on either side of the aisle that the way they passed this bill was flawed, “We did not go through the right public process of the bill and we had not made a decision that was adequately informed by the views of our constituents.”

House Republicans had their own view though – In a letter, they released following the Governor’s veto of SB 6617, they say Democrats control both chambers and the Governor’s office in Olympia and they wanted this bill.

The Republicans said they wanted to vote on a different bill and that they support transparency.

Associated Press