Today’s historic actions on the Senate floor would not be occurring if lawmakers had been living under the recommendations we’ve made to improve legislative transparency. They include:
- Require 72-hour public notification before any bill could receive a public hearing;
- Prohibit title only bills (no public hearing or vote should occur on a “ghost bill”); and
- Prohibit votes on final passage until the final version of the bill to be approved has been publicly available for at least 24 hours.
These common-sense transparency recommendations provide the public the opportunity to weigh in on proposed legislation and would have facilitated more public involvement since the beginning of session and would have helped provide the time and framework for a budget agreement to be reached through the normal committee hearing and oversight process. We appreciate various Senators referring to our transparency recommendations on the floor today, and we look forward to working with members of both parties to put these protections in place, to help build an open and transparent governing process.
Additional Information
- Columbian (Vancouver): Legislators routinely set aside principles of open government
- KUOW:Wash. Legislature: As Pace Picks Up, Complaints About Lack Of Transparency
- Olympian: Quest for open government is noble cause in this state
- Columbian (Vancouver): State leaders have strong recommendations for making Legislature more transparent
- Spokesman Review: Bill creates prudence on hasty money measures
- Everett Herald: Shine a light on the legislature
- Seattle Times: Ensure public scrutiny of legislative deal-making
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[Reprinted from the Washington Policy Center blog; photo credit: brokekid]
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