Background: Agency Report Requirements. Many state agencies are statutorily required to submit reports on a variety of topics to the Legislature, the Governor, or both. These reports may be required one-time, such as a one-time report due December 15, 2021, by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to the Legislature and the Governor about the implementation and status of the LGBTQ coordinator position. Other reports may be required regularly, such as the following:
- a semiannual report by the Washington State Patrol to the Legislature about the statewide sexual assault tracking kit system;
- an annual report by the Department of Revenue (DOR) to the Legislature about the progress of its efforts to partner with all cities that impose a general business license requirement;
- a biennial report by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) to the Legislature about the status and costs of the state program for worker training and certification related to lead-based paint;
- reports no less than every ten days by the Director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife to the Governor about the effect of measures taken in response to aquatic invasive species emergency;
- an annual report by the Department of Corrections (DOC), to the Legislature, about various statistics related to extraordinary medical placement for offenders;
- a biennial report by the Washington Student Achievement Council, to the Legislature, about the development of transfer associate degrees that satisfy lower division requirements at public four-year colleges;
- an annual report by DVA, to the Governor, about the department's activities;
- a biennial update by the Children of Incarcerated Parents Advisory Committee, to the Legislature and the Governor, about their activities;
- a report at least every four years by the Office of Privacy and Data Protection, to the Legislature, about telecommunications inequality in tribal, rural, or economically distressed areas;
- an annual letter by the Department of Health and the University of Washington, to the Legislature, about the status of their expenditures of moneys collected from a surcharge on recreational shellfish licenses to fund biotoxin testing for monitoring beaches; and
- a report by Commerce, to the Legislature, aggregating data from consumer-owned and investor-owned utility plans, and assessing the overall adequacy of Washington's electricity supply.
State agencies may also be statutorily required to provide certain information to the Legislature or other agencies in an unspecified format. For example:
- the Department of Children, Youth, and Families must make certain data available to the Legislature annually regarding the use of family reconciliation services; and
- agencies required to participate in the implementation of the Business License Center Act must provide DOR with certain information about business licenses issued by the agency.
State agencies are also often statutorily required to post certain information publicly on their websites. Examples include:
- the Department of Ecology must list online the interagency agreements to which the department is a party or participant; and
- the Office of the Insurance Commissioner must post online a report about geographic access to gender-affirming treatment across the state, to be updated biannually.