OLYMPIA – Taxpayers may see more government records and news reporters can protect their sources without being jailed under two bills Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law.
The measures were among some two dozen that Gregoire signed Friday.
Under the new “sunshine” law, a state committee would examine more than 300 exemptions to the state’s public records act, a voter-approved law that spells out which government documents must be publicly disclosed.
Attorney General Rob McKenna requested the measure, which he said would repair years of damage done by laws and rules that keep government information out of taxpayers’ view.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the state’s public records law by initiative in 1972.
The measure called for disclosure of campaign finances, lobbyist activity, financial affairs of elected officers and candidates, and access to public records.
When it passed, there were only 10 exemptions to the public records section. Since then, hundreds of exemptions have been introduced.
Gregoire on Friday also signed a measure that protects journalists from being jailed for refusing to reveal their confidential sources of information.
It grants reporters absolute privilege for protecting confidential sources – the same exemption from testifying in court that is granted to spouses, attorneys, clergy and police officers.
Currently, Washington has no shield law, but its courts have ruled in favor of a less-strict qualified privilege, based on the First Amendment and on common law.
McKenna, a Republican, also lobbied for the new shield law. A similar measure failed to pass the Legislature in 2006, but Democrats who control both chambers gave it their blessing this year.
Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, said the measure is not only a shield for reporters. Ultimately, the law protects those who pass along important information, which benefits the public, said Kline, the bill’s main Senate sponsor.
“It’s not a shield for the reporter. It’s a shield for the readers – the voting public, you might say,” he said.
The bill would protect people who are in the business of gathering news, but not bloggers or university professors who do not make a majority of their living doing so.
The governor’s signature gives a bill the force of law, although bills take effect on different dates. Gregoire now has acted on more than 200 bills from the recently adjourned Legislature, and has about 300 more to deal with.
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