AN ACT Relating to
public electronic access to government information; amending RCW 42.17.370;
adding a new section to chapter 42.17 RCW; creating new sections; and declaring
an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec.
1. The legislature finds
that government information is a strategic resource and needs to be managed as
such and that broad public access to nonrestricted public information and
records must be guaranteed. The legislature further finds that reengineering
government processes along with capitalizing on advancements made in digital
technology can build greater efficiencies in government service delivery. The
legislature further finds that providing citizen electronic access to presently
available public documents will allow increased citizen involvement in state
policies and empower citizens to participate in state policy decision making.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
2. A new section is added
to chapter 42.17 RCW to read as follows:
By January 1, 1995, the
public disclosure commission shall design a program for electronic access to
public documents filed with the commission. The program may include on-line
access to the commission's magic and electronic bulletin board systems,
providing information for the internet system, fax-request service, automated
telephone service, electronic filing of reports, and other service delivery
options. Documents available in the program shall include, but are not limited
to, public documents filed with the public disclosure commission, including,
but not limited to, commission meeting schedules, financial affairs reports,
contribution reports, expenditure reports, and gift reports. Implementation of
the program is contingent on the availability of funds.
Sec. 3. RCW 42.17.370 and 1986 c
155 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
The commission is
empowered to:
(1) Adopt, promulgate,
amend, and rescind suitable administrative rules to carry out the policies and
purposes of this chapter, which rules shall be adopted under chapter 34.05 RCW;
(2) Appoint and set,
within the limits established by the committee on agency officials' salaries
under RCW 43.03.028, the compensation of an executive director who shall
perform such duties and have such powers as the commission may prescribe and
delegate to implement and enforce this chapter efficiently and effectively.
The commission shall not delegate its authority to adopt, amend, or rescind
rules nor shall it delegate authority to determine whether an actual violation
of this chapter has occurred or to assess penalties for such violations;
(3) Prepare and publish
such reports and technical studies as in its judgment will tend to promote the
purposes of this chapter, including reports and statistics concerning campaign
financing, lobbying, financial interests of elected officials, and enforcement
of this chapter;
(4) Make from time to
time, on its own motion, audits and field investigations;
(5) Make public the
time and date of any formal hearing set to determine whether a violation has
occurred, the question or questions to be considered, and the results thereof;
(6) Administer oaths
and affirmations, issue subpoenas, and compel attendance, take evidence and
require the production of any books, papers, correspondence, memorandums, or
other records relevant or material for the purpose of any investigation
authorized under this chapter, or any other proceeding under this chapter;
(7) Adopt and
promulgate a code of fair campaign practices;
(8) Relieve, by rule,
candidates or political committees of obligations to comply with the provisions
of this chapter relating to election campaigns, if they have not received
contributions nor made expenditures in connection with any election campaign of
more than one thousand dollars;
(9) Adopt rules
prescribing reasonable requirements for keeping accounts of and reporting on a
quarterly basis costs incurred by state agencies, counties, cities, and other
municipalities and political subdivisions in preparing, publishing, and distributing
legislative information. The term "legislative information," for the
purposes of this subsection, means books, pamphlets, reports, and other
materials prepared, published, or distributed at substantial cost, a
substantial purpose of which is to influence the passage or defeat of any
legislation. The state auditor in his regular examination of each agency under
chapter 43.09 RCW shall review the rules, accounts, and reports and make
appropriate findings, comments, and recommendations in his examination reports
concerning those agencies;
(10) After hearing, by
order approved and ratified by a majority of the membership of the commission,
suspend or modify any of the reporting requirements of this chapter in a
particular case if it finds that literal application of this chapter works a
manifestly unreasonable hardship and if it also finds that the suspension or
modification will not frustrate the purposes of the chapter. The commission
shall find that a manifestly unreasonable hardship exists if reporting the name
of an entity required to be reported under RCW 42.17.241(1)(g)(ii) would be
likely to adversely affect the competitive position of any entity in which the
person filing the report or any member of his immediate family holds any
office, directorship, general partnership interest, or an ownership interest of
ten percent or more. Any suspension or modification shall be only to the
extent necessary to substantially relieve the hardship. The commission shall
act to suspend or modify any reporting requirements only if it determines that
facts exist that are clear and convincing proof of the findings required under
this section. Any citizen has standing to bring an action in Thurston county
superior court to contest the propriety of any order entered under this section
within one year from the date of the entry of the order; and
(11) Revise, at least
once every five years but no more often than every two years, the monetary
reporting thresholds and reporting code values of this chapter. The revisions
shall be only for the purpose of recognizing economic changes as reflected by
an inflationary index recommended by the office of financial management. The
revisions shall be guided by the change in the index for the period commencing
with the month of December preceding the last revision and concluding with the
month of December preceding the month the revision is adopted. As to each of
the three general categories of this chapter (reports of campaign finance,
reports of lobbyist activity, and reports of the financial affairs of elected
and appointed officials), the revisions shall equally affect all thresholds
within each category. Revisions shall be adopted as rules under chapter 34.05
RCW. The first revision authorized by this subsection shall reflect economic
changes from the time of the last legislative enactment affecting the
respective code or threshold through December 1985.
(12) Develop and
provide to filers a system for certification of reports required under this
chapter which are transmitted by facsimile or electronically to the
commission. Implementation of the program is contingent on the availability of
funds.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
4. A public information
access policy task force is hereby created. The task force shall be composed
of: The state librarian or the librarian's designee; the director of the
department of information services or the director's designee; four members who
are representatives of state and local governmental agencies, appointed by the
governor; five representatives of the general public who have experience
accessing information electronically or have particular interest in the
policies that should govern access to information from public agencies,
appointed by the governor; two members of the house of representatives, one
from each political party, appointed by the speaker of the house of
representatives; two members of the senate, one from each political party,
appointed by the president of the senate; and, at the option of the chief justice
of the state's supreme court, one representative of the state's judicial branch
appointed by the chief justice. The state librarian or the librarian's
designee and the director of information services or the director's designee
shall serve as the cochairs of the task force. The department of information
services and the state library shall provide staff support for the task force.
The purpose of the task
force is to identify specific means of encouraging and establishing widespread,
public, electronic access to the public records held by state government and by
local governments. For the purposes of the task force's study and
recommendations, providing such access to the public does not include providing
the type of services beyond access, and beyond providing assistance with that
access, that would be provided by a vendor for commercial purposes, including
but not limited to providing such services by means of a geographic information
system.
The task force shall
cease to exist on June 30, 1996.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
5. (1) By December 1, 1994,
the task force shall provide its initial recommendations to the legislature and
the governor regarding: Protecting the privacy of the citizenry and complying
with statutory nondisclosure requirements while providing to the public
electronic access to records; the status and availability of records for
electronic access; and the availability of various means of electronically
linking individual citizens to the records they seek. The initial report shall
identify implementation strategies for records found to be immediately
available for such access.
(2) By December 1,
1995, the task force shall provide its final recommendations to the legislature
and governor. The recommendations shall be consistent with the recommendations
provided under subsection (1) of this section and shall include an
implementation strategy for providing widespread, public, electronic access to
the public records held by state and local governmental entities, deadlines for
implementation, and findings as to costs.
(3) Nothing in this
section or section 4 of this act precludes records from being made available to
the public electronically prior to the dates established for the initial and
final reports of the task force.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
6. If any provision of this
act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or
circumstances is not affected.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 7. This act is necessary for
the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support
of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take
effect immediately.
