Since 2003, www,WashingtonVotes.org has provided concise, plain-English, descriptions of every bill, amendment and vote in the Washington legislature. Through our service, thousands of Washingtonians follow the day-to-day activities of their elected officials in Olympia and are being empowered to participate in the legislative process.
Unfortunately for civic-minded citizens, the task of providing this service has proven to be more difficult this year than in the past. Why? Because public transparency in the legislative process has broken down.
There are several examples that illustrate the lack of transparency in the legislature this year. Consider the following:
The use of title-only bills. A title-only (or ghost) bill is one that is introduced by a legislator containing nothing more than a title, such as “concerning fiscal matters” or “tax preferences act of 2010.” Later title-only bills are filled in with text, but long after the public has any chance to comment on the substance of the bill.
Such was the case when lawmakers took action on SB 6853. This bill was introduced on Feb. 9, but contained no text. The substance of SB 6853 was not made available to the public prior to the public hearing or executive action. SB 6853 was moved to the floor of the Senate where anything related to the bill title can be added without ever receiving public scrutiny or comment.
Providing little or no public notice before a public hearing. During the 2010 session, it has become common practice for lawmakers to hold public hearings on the same day the hearings are announced, giving little or no time for citizens to respond with public comment. This was the case when SB 6250, which would impose a state income tax, was scheduled shortly before noon for a hearing later that same afternoon.
This was also true for SB 6853, as well as other bills including the supplemental budget bills, SB 6843 and SB 6130 (temporarily repealing provisions of voter-approved Initiative 960), and HB 2365 (increasing taxes on auto insurance policies). Public notice of hearings on these important bills was not announced until the day the hearings took place.
The use of substitutes and amendments throughout the legislative process. Often lawmakers will refer to the use of substitute bills and amendments as the “perfecting” process. But all too often the text of substitutes and amendments are only made available to the public during the public hearing on the underlying bill, giving citizens no more than a few moments to scour pages of legislation looking for modifications or alterations to original bills. At other times, the substitutes or amendments are not available to the public until after they have been adopted and public debate on the bill closes.
Many of these closed-door practices are not new, but they are being used far more often in this session than in the past.
There are practical ways lawmakers can provide more transparency and allow greater public input into the legislative process. They could make permanent constitutional changes that would:
• Require 72-hour public notification before any bill could receive a public hearing. While the requirement currently exists in legislative rules, it is often waived.
• Prohibit title-only bills. No public hearing or vote should occur on a “ghost bill.”
• Prohibit votes on final passage until the final version of the bill to be approved has been publicly available for 24 hours.
If lawmakers are serious about providing transparency, they should adopt common-sense protections that will allow the public to be part of the legislative process in a meaningful way.
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Brandon Houskeeper is director of www.WashingtonVotes.org, a non-partisan legislative information Web site operated by Washington Policy Center.
