With National Sunshine Week (March 14-20) less than a month away, it's not too early to think about the reforms needed to make the legislative process more transparent.
Whether it's the failure to implement a reasonable budget review period, holding hearings on "ghost bills," or carving out a special legislative exemption from the state's public records act, it is clear that constitutional transparency protections are needed for citizens.
The Catch-22 of course, any constitutional reform must originate in the Legislature. Despite this obstacle, here are some suggested constitutional transparency protections to help make Washington the legislative sunshine state:
- Add the preamble of the state's public records act to Article 1. This would help re-enforce this transparency intent for any wayward court. The preamble reads:
"The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies that serve them. 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. This chapter shall be liberally construed and its exemptions narrowly construed to promote this public policy and to assure that the public interest will be fully protected. In the event of conflict between the provisions of this chapter and any other act, the provisions of this chapter shall govern."
- Add a new section to Article 2 which would require 72-hour public notification before any bill could receive a public hearing. While the requirement currently exists in legislative rules, it is often waived.
- Amend Article 2, Section 19 to prohibit title only bills. No public hearing or vote should occur on a "ghost bill."
- Amend Article 2, Section 22 to prohibit votes on final passage until the final version of the bill to be approved has been publicly available for 24-hours.
These type of constitutional sunshine protections would not be unique to Washington if enacted. Florida's Constitution (Article 3, Section 19) requires a 72-hour public review period for appropriations bills before they can be voted on. Hawaii's Constitution (Article 3, Section 15) requires a 48-hour review period before any bill can be voted on for final passage.
While Washington may not come up in the same sentence with Florida and Hawaii when it comes to sunshine, we could take the lead when it comes to constitutional sunshine protections for citizens.
Jason Mercier is the director of the Center for Government Reform at the Washington Policy Center. He serves on the Executive Committee of the American Legislative Exchange Council's Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force and is a contributing editor of the Heartland Institute's Budget & Tax News. Mercier also serves as treasurer on the board of the Washington Coalition for Open Government and was an adviser to the 2002 Washington State Tax Structure Committee.
