Too many WA legislators think they’re above the law and it’s costing us money | Opinion

When it comes to government transparency, too many Washington state legislators just don’t get it.

They can’t seem to resist finding ways to justify working in the dark when they know they’re supposed to be conducting all their business in the light.

It’s a morally wrong attitude — and it’s also a costly one.

The latest slick strategy they’ve come up with to deny public records requests is a term called “legislative privilege,” and according to a recent McClatchy report, it’s being used more and more as a way for the Legislature to do an end run around the state Public Records Act.

Specifically, a number of requests for documents regarding the 2021 Washington State Redistricting Commission fiasco were denied based on “legislative privilege.”

Since when did legislators get such special privileges?

Since some decided they needed a way to keep certain documents hidden, that’s when.

Apparently, the term is loosely based under a section of the state constitution that says, “No member of the Legislature shall be liable in any civil action or criminal prosecution whatever, for words spoken in debate.”

Protecting lawmakers from prosecution for words they speak on the House or Senate floor is one thing. But thinking that same protection applies to public records is a major stretch.

Now a lawsuit has been filed in Thurston County Superior Court to settle the matter.

Who knows how much this court case will cost taxpayers? It’s a waste, regardless.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time the Legislature has been sued over attempts to put itself above other governing bodies like city councils, school boards, county commissions and even public agencies like the state Office of the Attorney General.

In 2017, several Washington state news organizations went after certain work-related documents from all 147 legislators.

Nearly all those requests were denied, so a court case ensued and the media won.

The following year, during the legislative session, the Legislature again tried to find a way to keep its documents secret.

Lawmakers declared an emergency and rammed through a bill that would exclude them from the disclosure laws that other elected officials must follow.

The infamous bill — SB6617 — was crafted behind closed doors with little notice given for a quick public comment period. Then, with a speed not often seen in Olympia, it was approved by a veto-proof margin.

In response, the public came unglued.

It didn’t take long before Gov. Jay Inslee’s office was bombarded with email, letters and phone calls from outraged citizens urging him to veto the bill despite its majority support from legislators.

In the end, the backlash was successful. Inslee vetoed the measure and lawmakers backed down from the egregious attempt to put the Legislature above the Public Records Act.

This latest effort to conceal documents may not be as blatant as the attempt in 2018, but it is just as concerning.

The term “legislative privilege” is so vague and so sweeping, any number of public records requests could be denied.

In case they have forgotten, here’s what the state Public Records Act says:

“The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may maintain control over the instruments that they have created.”

If only our legislators would take those words to heart.