The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

After enormous public outcry, stirred by newspaper editorials across the state, Gov. Jay Inslee vetoed Senate Bill 6617, the Legislative Public Records Act.

There's a great deal of misinformation disseminated about the bill, what it would and wouldn't do, and the newspapers have drawn into question the lawmakers who supported it. I'd like to explain why I voted for this bill.

Since the Public Records Act (PRA) passed in 1972, the Legislature has maintained it is an independent branch of government, not an "agency," and therefore exempt from the PRA, just as the judicial branch of government is...