I promised my subscribers an update for the Beehiv once the Washington legislature concluded Sine Die. Don’t worry, this Beehiv is only 1,000 words on purpose. Today with 288 days until January 11, 2027 leaves ample time for investigative reporting for better open government.
Table of Contents
April Will Be A Slow Month
April is going to be a slow month. There may be news as I await three public records requests from the 2026 legislature. Plus my otter.ai account needs a break - 6 or 7 of the 10 recordings I’m allowed were about supporting reporting about the House Press Pass Fiasco. My subscribers have had to recieve at least six posts this March - in large part due to the aforementioned fiasco, and a likely seventh of an Emergency Beehiv (please subscribe for free if you haven’t already).
Author Photo of Washington State Capitol Dome Under Clouds
Then there’s this about the state of our open government community:
“We're running on fumes. I mean, this has been a really rough year. There's so much going on, and we're still standing and we've had some victories, but, but it's tougher and tougher every every year. There's just no question of that.”
Yes, the Washington State Legisture sure ran me ragged. But if you need some good open government content, go here for KBTC’s Northwest Now’s Sunshine Month of four episodes.
With that, I have other, er, challenges I need to address also. Some of a business sense. Some of a Beehiv sense. See one of those challenges I need to tend to is… investigative reporting on solutions that work. Because there are solutions to genuine problems in the public records act (PRA) production - problems that create these bills to further weaken the public records act.
What I’ll Be Investigating at the Least
All of these can be considered commitments to investigate and publish. I do have some other topics in mind once these are addressed.
2026 Washington State Legislature Process
Author photo of Washington State Legislature in late afternoon light and an Intercity Transit Bus
My Legislative Public Records Requests Include…
I won’t just be sharing public records from the last Washington State Legislature, but let’s look at what I’ve requested. Below is what I have Washington State Legislature public records officers & staff return records requests regarding:
HB 1923, the Mosquito Fleet Act to provide more ferries that was dramatically altered by Sen. Marko Lilias, and then failed. CNL3 did a good initial expose.
HB 2520, an attempt to expand the emergency power of RCW 42.30, the Open Public Meetings Act that was luckily blocked.
HB 2661, an attempt to have a task force to address vexatious public records requests with RCW 42.56.
I am expecting my first installments on all three by May’s end. I certainly wish to share the paper trail on all three…
British Columbia’s FOI Situation
Author Photo of BC Legislature in the Morning Blue Hour
Yes, Victoria is calling. Bill 9 is rolling through the British Columbia Legislature. Am intending to do interviews. I was planning on heading there in May or June for aviation reasons…
I also will have to weave into my coverage of BC Freedom of Information changes what is analogously going on in the Canadian province of Ontario as able. See the Conservative Premier Doug Ford is making a frontal assault on Ontarian democracy also as the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) is reporting out each Saturday as part of their weekly updates. Here is a link to FIPA’s latest from yesterday.
Of course, Canada’s growing reputation as a hotbed of antisemitism where the Israeli President Herzog has said, “All eyes are on Canada.” does not bode well for Canadian democracy. But that’s me and a famous Jewish Canadian podcaster, for starters.
Utah Public Records Portal
Author Photo of Utah’s Light Rail at Sunset
I will also be investigating the Utah Public Records Portal. I would like to come back with a decent post on how that portal works. If there’s a way to streamline public records production in the 2020s, this path seems to be a proactive approach Washington can take. However with me not heading out to Utah until late June, reporting my notes on this will not be the highest of priorities until the summer.
Reporting on Drones With Public Records
Author photo of a DJI Mavic 4 Pro Drone in flight
I being a FAA Part 107 drone pilot intend to start reporting using public records on drones here. I have some expertise in both.
In Conclusion… and The Last Word
The above are commitments. There are other projects in the works - some of which I am waiting for certain developments.
The Last Word
But I want to give Representative Jim Walsh ‘The Last Word’ when he spoke about his role in the State Legislature recently…
I tell my constituents in my district, I'm like a goalie in hockey or soccer, my job is not to score. My job is to stop the other guys from scoring. And you know, we're pretty good at that, but a few pucks get through, and the other team always scores a few. There's a saying in parliamentary or legislative politics and governance that the majority sets the agenda. They set the priorities, and the minority controls the clock, and if you play your cards right, if you understand the chess game of a parliamentary system or a legislative process, if you're in the minority, your job is to burn time so that the majority doesn't have enough time in the session to get all of its bad bills, all of its bad ideas, out of the legislature, into the governor's desk.
Stay tuned and again - please subscribe for free to get these Beehiv posts in your e-mail inbox! I will not share the subscription list.
Happy to conclude on 1,000 words! :-)