Gov. Jay Inslee is wrapping up a multi-day trip to the East Coast to raise money for his 2016 re-election campaign.
Inslee reportedly planned to attend events in New York and Washington, D.C. before returning to this state Wednesday.
The governor’s communications staff in Olympia confirmed he was out of state on political business but could not provide any details. Attempts to reach a spokesperson for the governor’s re-election campaign were unsuccessful.
When Inslee returns, he’s scheduled to speak Thursday at the Washington Conservation Voters annual Breakfast of Champions which is one of the group’s major money-raising events. In 2012, the environmental organization contributed $2,500 to Inslee’s gubernatorial campaign.
On Friday, he’ll travel to Everett to receive the Walter C. Woodard Freedom’s Light Award from the Washington Newspaper Publisher’s Association.
Created in 1995, it is the association’s highest award for non-journalists. It recognizes elected officials who have devoted their careers to protecting public access to government proceedings and records, according to information from executive director Marcia Van Dyke.
Van Dyke said that among the reasons Inslee is receiving the award is he’s operated one of the most open gubernatorial administrations in state history.
“In today’s society, more and more public agencies want to sell electronic records to generate revenue, or to close records in response to concerns about privacy. The public’s interests are becoming more difficult to safeguard,” she said. “Newspapers need strong, unwavering allies who believe that the public has a right to know what happens in government.”
Previous recipients include House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, in 2013 and former attorney general Rob McKenna, a Republican, in 2007.
(In the interest of full disclosure Sound Publishing Inc., which owns The Herald, is an association member.)
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