The Washington state Supreme Court announced last Wednesday it will review a case challenging legislative privilege, which lawmakers claim gives them the power to withhold some documents from the public.
The decision was welcomed by the Washington Coalition for Open Government (WashCOG), which joined a lawsuit with Washington resident Jamie Nixon against the state Legislature, according to a recent news release.
The lawsuit, filed in 2023, contends that legislative privilege never existed and was never utilized in the five decades since the Public Records Act was enacted.
Lawmakers started using that approach in recent years after losing a case in 2019 in which the state supreme court said the Public Records Act does apply to them.
“Perhaps ironically, this review will come as we are forming celebration plans for the 55th anniversary of the birth of the Public Records Act and the 25th anniversary of the Washington Coalition for Open Government,” WashCOG President Mike Fancher said in the release. “The citizen-led initiative that led to the PRA passed by an overwhelming majority. All these years later, the people have not changed their minds about their right to know what their elected and appointed representatives are doing.”
The appellate court ruling showed concern about overstepping the power of other branches, saying “legislative privilege is necessary to protect the integrity of the Legislature’s decision-making process and to maintain the boundaries between the different branches of government.”
Fancher said it failed to recognize that the people are the primary stakeholders.
“The people never agreed to hand over their power and access,” he said. “We hope the state’s highest court will remind all that the three branches are meant as checks and balances for each other.”
