WA Legislature has work to do on public access

In Catholic social doctrine, people have a right and responsibility to participate in their communities, including the political community. Theoretically, democracies provide the best opportunity for participation, but the Washington Legislature tests that theory by continuing to close doors to the public.

One of the more critical closures involves the press. In every state, elected officials note that the best means for people to express their views is through the vote. Voting requires ample information about a legislator’s decisions and actions. Some of that information comes from lawmakers’ websites, but it must also come through unbiased news sources with access to the legislators and the legislative process.

Through the creation of legal fictions such as “legislative privilege,” a made-up concept used by some in the Legislature to prevent public access to documents that have historically been available under the Washington Public Records Act, and new rules limiting reporters’ admittance to the House and Senate floors, the Legislature is making journalists’ access to lawmakers and their work more difficult. That in turn makes it more difficult for constituents to be informed voters.

For voters seeking to connect directly with their legislators, protocols enacted during the pandemic hamper that. Yes, constituents can send an email from the leg.wa.gov website, but legislators receive hundreds of emails every day. It is physically impossible for a legislator to read and answer every email received during the session, even after their staff has filtered out the insulting, threatening or irrelevant.

Voters may also attend town halls, though only a lucky few will be able to ask questions, and often those questions are vetted beforehand to avoid too much controversy.

Hearing responses to the questions of fellow constituents or having an email read eventually may work fine in some instances, but if an issue is of high importance and a constituent has just received notice that it will be heard on the floor in the next 10 minutes, they may need to get information to their legislator quickly. Far too often, it seems only those who can afford a very well-connected lobbyist will have timely access to a legislator.

For those without lobbyists, the final option is to send a note to the House or Senate while legislators are on the floor. Since COVID-19, however, some legislators refuse to receive notes, leaving those without lobbyist contacts no access at a critical moment in the process. In these instances, constituents are left to stalk legislators in the hope of finding them in a hallway, then trying to get a point across in the few minutes it may take to walk between buildings.

In fairness, there are other opportunities for constituents to share their perspective with legislators. Anyone can sign up to testify on bills in committee hearings, and testify virtually, eliminating the time and expense of traveling to Olympia. The virtual option is often the best one, given that testimony is typically limited to 90 seconds — 60 seconds for fiscal committees — providing a very limited opportunity to present a cogent argument.

The ability to craft a persuasive argument is also hindered by the fact that legislators do not engage in detailed debate in committees, leaving people to testify somewhat blindly regarding legislators’ reasons for supporting or opposing a bill. Debate before voting a bill out of committee occurs primarily behind closed doors in caucuses. Once again, only those who already have access to legislators will be able to learn what information might be helpful for them to receive from constituents and stakeholders as they vote on bills.

The barriers to constituents seeking information and access to their legislators are growing. With fewer professional journalists covering the Capitol and more opportunities for legislators to avoid the public, being an informed voter and sharing information with elected officials is not easy. It should be. Legislators work for the public, doing the business of the public. That work should be done in public view as much as possible.

The Washington State Catholic Conference encourages the Legislature to take a hard look at the barriers it has raised to public access and remove self-imposed restrictions that keep the public from being informed and active participants in the legislative process.