OLYMPIA — Advocates for open government sued the state of Washington on Monday over state legislators' attempts to shield records from public view using a justification advocates claim is not in state law.
Lawmakers have been denying and redacting public records requests, claiming "legislative privilege," which they say allows them to withhold some records under a right granted to them by the state constitution.
The Washington Coalition on Open Government and Jamie Nixon, an open government advocate who worked on Washington's 2021 redistricting commission, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Thurston County, accusing the Legislature of violating state law by failing to disclose public records.
The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring that "legislative privilege" is not an exemption that allows public records to be withheld.
"Transparency at all levels of government is critically important so that people can understand exactly how their money's being spent, who is spending it, in what ways," Nixon said. "It's our money. It's our government. And the idea that our chosen employees think that they don't have to show their bosses their work limits voters' ability to make informed decisions at the ballot box."
It's the latest salvo in a decadeslong push to get the Legislature to comply with the state Public Records Act. The Legislature, for years, claimed it was exempt from the 50-year-old voter approved law, allowing legislators to keep secret emails, calendars and other documents that other public agencies have long had to disclose.
The state Supreme Court in 2019 ruled the Legislature had to comply with the Public Records Act, but legislators have since used other means to avoid disclosing some documents.
The state of Washington, through its Legislature, "has claimed a nonexistent exemption" to public records law, "without providing an adequate description to justify withholding the record or redacting its contents," the new lawsuit charges.
"There is no such legislative privilege," the Coalition on Open Government wrote, in announcing the lawsuit. "Hiding public records that are not properly exempt violates the state Public Records Act."
In early January, McClatchy revealed that some lawmakers were citing "legislative privilege" to withhold certain records, arguing they were entitled to keep them hidden from public view under the state constitution.
The Legislature has cited Article II, Section 17 of the Washington Constitution, which reads, in its entirety: "No member of the Legislature shall be liable in any civil action or criminal prosecution whatever, for words spoken in debate."
Such a justification for withholding public records is "arbitrary and capricious," the lawsuit says, with no limitation over how far such an exemption could reach.
State lawmakers had long claimed they were exempt from public disclosure laws. A coalition of news outlets sued to get access to legislative records, such as emails, in 2017. Two years later, the Washington Supreme Court ruled legislators and their offices were subject to the state public records law.
While the lawsuit names only the state of Washington as a respondent, it repeatedly accuses House Speaker Laurie Jinkins of withholding public records and working to "exercise her legislative powers in private."
It alleges that Jinkins, D-Tacoma, has "used her position of authority" to get others to "control and restrict the public's right to know." Jinkins, the lawsuit says, benefits personally by withholding public records that might invite criticism.
The lawsuit says that Jinkins told reporters she did not think she had ever used the "legislative privilege" exemption, even as, seven days earlier, Nixon received records with Jinkins' name on them with 20 to 30 legislative privilege redactions.
Jen Waldref, a Jinkins spokesperson, said Jinkins does not comment on pending litigation but "welcomes the guidance of the courts."
