Posts tagged Open Public Meetings Act
Op-Ed: Taxpayer money for government employee compensation demands real transparency
September 29, 2026 // But in Washington, what the public rarely sees are the financial details under consideration. Agreements are struck behind closed doors with taxpayer dollars, between government officials and the very unions whose dues often fund those officials' campaigns. There's something uncomfortable about a governor negotiating wages and benefits with one of their largest campaign supporters, with almost no public visibility into the process. And it's worth asking how that squares with a state that otherwise prides itself on open government.
What is Governor agreeing to in secret union employee compensation talks?
July 15, 2022 // Since the collective bargaining law went into full effect in 2004, union executives no longer have their priorities weighed equally with every other special interest during the legislative budget debate. Instead, they now negotiate directly with the Governor in secret, while lawmakers only have the opportunity to say “yes” or “no” to the entire contract agreed to with the Governor. Not only are there serious transparency concerns with this arrangement, but there are also potential constitutional flaws by unduly restricting the legislature’s constitutional authority to write the state budget. HB 1268, state budget, University of Washington Law Review, public budget process,