AN ACT Relating to the disclosure of public records by the legislative branch; amending RCW 42.56.010, 42.56.580, and 40.14.140; adding a new section to chapter 42.56 RCW; and creating a new section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the state's public disclosure law is founded on the public's right to know the business of its government, and that transparency in government is an important component of representative democracy. The legislature further finds that there is uncertainty about whether, under current law, records of individual legislators are public for purposes of the public records act. With this act, the legislature intends that the records of the legislature, including state legislators, are publicly available under the provisions of the public records act.

(1) "Agency" includes all state agencies, all legislative agencies, and all local agencies. "State agency" includes every state office, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or other state agency. "Legislative agency" includes every state legislator, the office of the chief clerk of the house of representatives, the office of the secretary of the senate, and any agency created in the legislative branch. "Local agency" includes every county, city, town, municipal corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, or special purpose district, or any office, department, division, bureau, board, commission, or agency thereof, or other local public agency.

(2) "Person in interest" means the person who is the subject of a record or any representative designated by that person, except that if that person is under a legal disability, "person in interest" means and includes the parent or duly appointed legal representative.

(3) "Public record" includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct of government or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics. ((For the office of the secretary of the senate and the office of the chief clerk of the house of representatives, public records means legislative records as defined in RCW 40.14.100 and also means the following: All budget and financial records; personnel leave, travel, and payroll records; records of legislative sessions; reports submitted to the legislature; and any other record designated a public record by any official action of the senate or the house of representatives.)) This definition does not include records that are not otherwise required to be retained by the agency and are held by volunteers who:

(4) "Writing" means handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, and every other means of recording any form of communication or representation including, but not limited to, letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combination thereof, and all papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films and prints, motion picture, film and video recordings, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, diskettes, sound recordings, and other documents including existing data compilations from which information may be obtained or translated.

(1) Each state and local agency shall appoint and publicly identify a public records officer whose responsibility is to serve as a point of contact for members of the public in requesting disclosure of public records and to oversee the agency's compliance with the public records disclosure requirements of this chapter. A state or local agency's public records officer may appoint an employee or official of another agency as its public records officer.

(2) For state agencies, the name and contact information of the agency's public records officer to whom members of the public may direct requests for disclosure of public records and who will oversee the agency's compliance with the public records disclosure requirements of this chapter shall be published in the state register at the time of designation and maintained thereafter on the code reviser web site for the duration of the designation.

(3) For local agencies, the name and contact information of the agency's public records officer to whom members of the public may direct requests for disclosure of public records and who will oversee the agency's compliance within the public records disclosure requirements of this chapter shall be made in a way reasonably calculated to provide notice to the public, including posting at the local agency's place of business, posting on its internet site, or including in its publications.

(4) For legislative agencies, the secretary of the senate is the public records officer for the senate and its members, caucuses, committees, and employees; the chief clerk of the house of representatives is the public records officer for the house of representatives and its members, caucuses, committees, and employees; and the chief clerk and the secretary are jointly the public records officers for other entities within the legislative branch. Any duty in this chapter imposed on a legislative agency must be performed by the public records officer or officers responsible for that agency. The chief clerk of the house of representatives and the secretary of the senate must hire additional staff to carry out the duties imposed by this chapter.

(a) Records prepared, owned, used, or retained by a legislative agency that were created before January 19, 2018, except the following records must be disclosed regardless of when they were created:

(b) Personal identifying information of constituents in their correspondence with legislative agencies, including a constituent's name, address, phone number, social security number, email address, and social media usernames; and

(c) Information or records that are protected by the speech or debate clause of Article II, section 17 of the state Constitution, including preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, and internal legislative and interbranch communication in which opinions are expressed or policies are formulated or recommended, whether or not the opinions or policies are implemented or adopted by a legislative agency.

(a) Lobbyists required to register under chapter 42.17A RCW, public employees who lobby under RCW 42.17A.635, and lobbyist's employers as defined in chapter 42.17A RCW, when acting on behalf of another person or entity; and

It shall be the duty of the clerk and the secretary to advise each legislative office, legislative agency, and the party caucuses in each house concerning the necessity to keep public records. The state archivist or his or her representative shall work with the clerk and secretary to provide information and instructions on the best method for keeping legislative records.