Public records access may cost money
House Bill 3031 to modify public records requests to minimize request monopolies.
Janel Brown
The Daily Evergreen
Published: 02/05/2010
Those who request large quantities of public records may soon be paying more than they expected for them.
Under the Public Records Act, citizens have the right to request public records, with up to a 15-cent per page charge for a physical copy. If House Bill 3031 passes, government officials would be allowed to charge for any requests by one individual that require more than five hours per month of staff time.
“What we’re seeking is to create a balance between those who request public information and the time of those employees who might be monopolized by certain individuals,” said Rep. Susan Fagan, R-Pullman, the bill's sponsor.
Palouse resident Connie Newman brought the issue to Fagan's attention. She was concerned about an individual in Palouse who had submitted public records...
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Fagan pitches bill for public records fee
January 28, 2010
By Jeslyn Lemke
Gazette Reporter
State Rep. Susan Fagan, R-Pullman, introduced a bill Jan. 26 on public records requests after a handful of Palouse citizens lobbied her in light of what they believe are excessive requests to their city.
The proposed bill gives cities in Washington the option of charging for any time over five hours city staff must spend researching public records requests. Citizens who submit those requests would be responsible for paying for that fee.
“In a number of instances, there are times when individuals clog the system with multiple requests, sometimes even thousands of requests,” Fagan said in a phone interview with the Gazette after introducing the bill. “When staff is busy filling a request from someone who has excessive requests, it denies others the opportunity because staff is already very busy.”
The bill flies in the face of basic freedom of speech rights for citizens and has...
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Fagan says she wants to stop abuse of Public Records Act
January 28th, 2010
By Brionna Friedrich of the Tribune
Legislation would allow charging for service
OLYMPIA - Lawmakers could cast a shadow over Washington's sunshine law this session.
A proposed bill would give Washington state agencies the ability to charge individuals requesting public records for the cost of staff labor if their request takes more than five hours to complete in a month.
The sponsor, Rep. Susan Fagan, R-Pullman, said the bill is meant to address a growing number of abusers of the Public Records Act, which allows anybody to request public documents for no charge, aside from photocopying costs.
"This is not about trying to hide anything," Fagan explained Tuesday to the House State Government and Tribal Affairs committee. Thirty other states already have similar laws, Fagan explained.
While she said the PRA was "written with very good intentions," it is clearly being abused....
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Testimony for HB 3031 was heard by the State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee on Tuesday 1/26/09. We are waiting to hear if it will pass out of committee to the House Floor. If it makes it to and passes out of the House, then the bill will be heard by the Senate.
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Interesting HB3031 update from the House - "Bill will bring balance to public records requests"http://houserepublicans.wa.gov/news/state-government/fagan-bill-would-bring-balance-to-records-requests/
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I traveled to Olympia this week to testify on behalf of HB 3031. This is a video of my testimony. I speak second, following Washington State Representative, Susan Fagan. Here is the link to the archived video of the testimony on Public Records Requests.Here is the link the the archive video:http://www.tvw.org/media/mediaplayer.cfm?evid=2010011289&TYPE=V&CFID=4395568&CFTOKEN=24198708
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