Gov. Inslee should veto union-backed bill that weakens Washington’s public records law

Gov. Jay Inslee, who’s long cast himself a strong believer in open government, has a chance to prove it. He should veto a bad bill that would exempt the birth month and year of state and local government employees from information released under Washington’s public records law.

House and Senate Democrats who pushed House Bill 1888 through the Legislature this year say it’s meant to protect government workers from prying eyes that mean them harm.

Spare us the piety, please. Washington law already protects people from stalkers, harassers and others with nefarious intent. A criminal case has yet to surface wherein a public employee’s identity was obtained through the state Public Records Act.

Let’s call the bill what it really is: a backdoor attempt to block the inquiries of anti-union groups, chiefly the Freedom Foundation. The conservative Olympia think tank is relentless about collecting public employee contacts and spamming workers with information about their right to reject union membership and dues payments — a right cemented in 2018 by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Yes, the Freedom Foundation exploited birth date access for political purposes. But that’s no excuse for legislators to slam the door on open government, or to pick sides in a proxy war between unions and their foes.

Legislators this year and in previous sessions heard testimony from news organizations across Washington, including ours, on the dire consequences of excising birth dates from public records. As first drafted, HB 1888 made the work of journalists who investigate public employees exponentially more difficult.

Tracking government workers through database labyrinths filled with thousands of names can be challenging already; it would be much harder if they have a common name and no birth date to identify them.

In response, amendments were adopted creating exceptions for members of the news media, who would still be able to obtain full birth dates and photographs.

These were meant to be compromises that we in the Fourth Estate could live with. They are not. At least not this Editorial Board.

The 1972 voter-approved Public Records Act speaks clearly on this subject, saying that: “Agencies shall not distinguish among persons requesting records, and such persons shall not be required to provide information as to the purpose for the request.”

Translation: Professional journalists may be most likely to use the law, but the law doesn’t grant us special privileges relative to private watchdog groups and ordinary concerned citizens.

HB 1888 also establishes a mandatory 10-day minimum delay before information can be released, giving employees time to hold things up in court. It also makes any information about payroll deductions off-limits, which should leave public-employee unions feeling very happy.

Any group that uses scare tactics to manipulate state law should be stopped, and right now there’s only one person who can do it.

It’s no secret that Democrat Inslee is a staunch defender of public employee interests, and it’s appropriate for him to see that they receive fair wages and benefits for the vital work they do.

But first and foremost, the governor represents Washington’s estimated 7.8 million residents, and he must stand up for their right to know the inner workings of the government they pay for.

Inslee should veto this bill and see it for what it is — a propaganda war he wants no part of.