Effort to expand public records exemptions fails
Sen. Marilyn Rasmussen raised some eyebrows recently with her proposed amendment to the state public records act.
The act, which generally requires government agencies to turn over their records to any member of the public who requests them, exempts legislative committees, the secretary of the Senate and the chief clerk of the House from having to open their files, according to Rasmussen.
But she said there had been an oversight.
“Somehow, when they drafted the legislation, they left out our legislative offices,” she told fellow senators. Lawmakers’ phone records, e-mails and other files are subject to disclosure, she said. She found out when someone asked for her records.
“It was a travesty, and I was absolutely shocked,” she said.
Her amendment passed the Senate, only to run headlong into a thicket of newspaper editorials blasting Rasmussen for trying to cloak elected officials from the rules that apply to most of the rest of government.
The amendment quietly fell off the bill this week when it passed the Legislature.
Give ‘em some credit
Gov. Christine Gregoire signed into law last week a bill that would require colleges to exercise more control over who’s marketing credit cards to their students on campus.
“Where were you when I was in college?” Gregoire said to the sponsors as she signed the bill.
Rep. Maralyn Chase, D-Edmonds, said that a college administrator had urged her to vote for the bill, saying that he loses more students to credit problems than to bad grades.
But the bill faced steep resistance in the House, where Republicans said that the state should keep its nose out of the financial dealings of adults.
To make that point, Rep. Richard DeBolt proposed an amendment that no student could use a credit card at any state college or university.
“If we’re going to truly be a nanny state, we need to go all the way,” he explained.
Rep. John Ahern, R-Spokane, likened the bill to “Big Brother stepping in and trying to control people.”
“Eighteen-year-olds should know how to handle their money,” said Ahern. “And if they get in a little trouble, exercise plastic surgery. Cut that thing up.”
Rufus who?
Gregoire on Tuesday signed into law a bill renaming King County – that’s where Seattle is – after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
King did, in fact, visit Seattle in 1961. The King County Council renamed the county for Dr. King back in 1986, but apparently it counts for more when the state does it.
So here’s the trivia question: Who was King County named after in the first place?
(Here’s a hint for the extreme “Jeopardy!” players out there: It’s named after the vice president under Franklin Pierce.)
Answer: William Rufus Devane King, a longtime U.S. senator from Alabama. He died shortly after becoming vice president in 1853.
Where ya from, son?
Parents whose kids live out of state – with the other parent after a divorce, for example – would get a little bit of fiscal relief in a bill passed earlier this month. House Bill 1695, sponsored by freshman Rep. David Buri, R-Colfax, allows Washington parents to pay in-state fees for their kids’ hunting and fishing licenses.
As any sportsman knows, the difference in price is steep. A saltwater fishing license costs Washingtonians $18, and costs everyone else $36. A small-game hunting license is $30 for the locals – and $150 if you’re from out of state.
The point of the bill, Buri said, was simply to get more families out enjoying the outdoors together.
The bill passed both the House and Senate.
A little pushback from rural lawmakers
“Jay, you have a long way to go in proving that you can be more to the middle, more balanced.”– Sen. Bob Morton, R-Orient
“If the people who would breach my dams and take away my water rights are happy about this, I can’t be. I’ll be voting no.”– Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville
Both were objecting to the nomination of Jay Manning to head the state Department of Ecology. Manning’s appointment passed the Senate 38-8.