Gregoire signs bill on public records

BY BRAD SHANNON

Gov. Christine Gregoire signed into law Monday a public disclosure bill that offers some improvements in public access to government-held information, sponsors say.

Others are skeptical the changes make much practical difference.

Under House Bill 1758, state and local government agencies no longer can reject a records request solely because it is considered "overly broad" or vaguely seeking too many records.

The new legislation also lets agencies release documents in stages or installments. That means agencies could hold off on responses if there is no effort by the requester to pick up information already made available, said state Attorney General Rob McKenna, a Republican who had promised during his campaign last year to seek more open government and who pushed for the legislation.

"I think we're going to avoid quite a bit of litigation in cases invoking the 'overbroad' exemption," McKenna said Monday after the bill signing at Gregoire's Capitol offices.

Installment release

Just as important as removing the exemption was letting governments release documents in installments, which speeds disclosure overall and will smoke out those requesters of documents who are using records law to harass officials, McKenna said.

"It's a great step in the right direction," said Rowland Thompson, executive director for Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington, which represents publishers of daily newspapers around the state. "We've been going the wrong way for quite a while."

But Roger Wynne, a Seattle assistant city attorney who testified opposite news groups on some aspects of the legislation, said concerns were overblown on both sides of the issue concerning "overly broad" records requests.

Wynne said he doubts the law will have much effect because agencies had ways of dealing with those requests. Still, Wynne said, "Given people were concerned about it, this bill takes a balanced approach."

McKenna pushed for the bill with House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, who sponsored it then fought off efforts to water it down. At one point, the Senate attached amendments that would have exempted lawmakers from disclosing their own correspondence, but Kessler led the fight to strip the bill of that.

Olympian reader Marguerite Brown had been outraged when the Senate attached its amendment. But she was happy to learn the bill passed without it.

"I think that's an improvement over what was going on before," Brown said.

Gregoire's signature means the law takes effect July 23, or 90 days after the session ended.

The legislation also gives McKenna until February 2006 to develop a model public-disclosure rule that will guide his agency and provide an example for others to follow. McKenna said he wants the rule to include a records index that can make it easier for the public to learn what documents a government agency has.

McKenna, who is addressing an information systems group today in Tacoma, said he plans to challenge them to develop software that would make it easier to track and search for records by keywords in an agency's databases.

Despite the bill's passage, one major records-disclosure issue was left unresolved -- namely the extent that governments can invoke an attorney-client privilege to shield government information from disclosure.

McKenna originally had hoped the legislation would clarify or limit the attorney-client privilege of government lawyers in law. He was responding to a controversial state Supreme Court decision in a records case involving light- rail transit in Seattle.

McKenna feared some agencies might use it to withhold documents or information just because a lawyer had been given copies or was present when a discussion occurred.

After lawmakers couldn't agree on language, the issue was left for another day. McKenna now plans a series of forums around the state to explore the matter.

He said the forums would be co-sponsored in some areas by newspapers.

State Auditor Brian Sonntag, who is on the board of the Washington Coalition for Open Government and a longtime advocate for opening up government records, said the bill is a good step.

"I think those forums will be enlightening. I may even try to attend some of those and participate if the attorney general thinks I could be of any help," Sonntag said.

He added that disclosure helps him in his job mission, which is to hold agencies accountable for their use of taxpayer dollars. "The more open governments are about their business in one aspect, we find they are more open and responsive in the other parts they are doing business," Sonntag explained. "That has a direct effect on our auditing of those state and local government agencies."

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