Happy New Year!

Brace yourself. It's about to get busy. 

This is the year of the short session, a 60-day whirlwind of bills that lawmakers aim to push through as fast as they can.

This newsletter offers a glimpse of what's been happening with open government in Washington lately.  Read it, share it, get inspired and come help us make things better. We can't do it without you. 

Executive Director’s Message

Public record exemptions are the subject of dozens of bills already filed for the state legislative session that begins Monday, and we expect more. A key part of WashCOG's mission is to support legislation that bolsters the laws ensuring the people's right to know and to oppose those that would harm it. Sadly, most efforts tend to do the latter. For example, the Public Records Act now has 700 exemptions. Some are justified, but we monitor closely because the number grows every year, and each exemption shields information from the public. We want to limit secrecy as much as possible and avoid unintended consequences.

Click below to read the year’s first OlympiaWatch. It’s an update written by Robert McClure, our Government Committee chair, that we’ll share with you each Monday during the session.

The Kenneth F. Bunting Award deadline for outstanding journalism that covers government transparency is this Wednesday. If you've read, seen or heard a story by a Washington state journalist / news organization this past year that you felt really told the story of transparency or made an impact on open government, please click the Learn More button below to find out how to nonminate them.

If you are a journalist who has written something that you feel puts a laser focus on open government, we also welcome self-nominations.

State Rep. Gerry Pollet (D-46), shown above in the photo above, received a big honor in October from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association — their Freedom's Light Award — for his many years of work toward open government. Pollet is also a WashCOG board member. He isn't the only state lawmaker to be honored.

State Rep. Jeremie Dufault (R-15) has been named winner of the Ballard-Thompson Award for pledging not to use the legislative secrecy privilege. Fewer than a dozen lawmakers have made that pledge, with many saying they want to see how the court cases over the privilege end first. WashCOG applauds Dufault, Pollet and others who been proactive in standing for transparency. 

The coalition also publicly praised Attorney General Nick Brown for creating a Public Records and Open Government Unit under his office's direction. Chosen to lead the unit was 22-year department veteran Morgan Damerow.

TACOMA — The District 2 Court of Appeals heard arguments in December in the first of two cases against the legislative secrecy privilege. The first was a lawsuit brought by Arthur West over state lawmakers' claims that they have a legislative privilege that allows them to keep many of their documents private from the public despite the Public Records Act. Jamie Nixon and the Washington Coalition for Open Government have a similar case, and the appeals court will hear those arguments on Jan. 29. Please stay tuned. The outcome of these cases could have a major impact on the PRA and open government across Washington state.

The Washington Coalition for Open Government was one of numerous organizations, agencies and individuals to offer the state attorney general comments about a set of proposed model rules that agencies should use to as guidance in following the Public Records Act. WashCOG let the Attorney General's Office know that it approves of what it has worked with media organizations to propose so far - though the coalition would like even more. 

As we mentioned in the last Watchdog edition, WashCOG has intensified its activity on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. You can also go to the bottom of our washcog.org Home Page to see a feed of our our latest Facebook posts.

Our goal is to keep the public as informed as possible about what's happening with open government, both the challenges and victories. We hope you'll follow us and share our social posts with family, friends and anyone else. Help us build our tent. Click below to see some recent posts. 

Many of you have been part of the transparency community for a long time; others are new and even more are just discovering us. We appreciate all of you and hope you'll keep spreading the word about why a clear view of the governance that affects our lives is important. We need to know how decisions came to be — as in who, what, when, where, why and how things are done. Supporters like you joining the cause are essential because the people only have power when they stand together. Share this newsletter. Share our social media posts. Talk about what's happening with public access right here in Washington state. 

Together, let's shine the light. 

Our Contact Information

*Washington Coalition for Open Government*

*PO Box 2633 Redmond, WA 98073*

*(206) 782-0393*

*washcog.org*

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