Records bill ‘no,’ basic education ‘yes’ – Whidbey lawmakers breakdown bill support at Saturday forum

As of Saturday, two of the 10th Legislative District’s three state lawmakers will not support an aggressive bill aimed at softening the Open Public Records Act.

As of Saturday, two of the 10th Legislative District’s three state lawmakers will not support an aggressive bill aimed at softening the Open Public Records Act.

Rep. Norma Smith, R-Clinton and Rep. Dave Hayes, R-Camano said they will likely oppose a bill that seeks to help governmental agencies manage requests for public records, while Sen. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor said she voted for it.

“All I would say is right now, that bill that went out of the Senate I felt was a good bill to at least get to the House so it could be worked on more,” Bailey said.

Smith and Hayes said they would not support it as is.

All three legislators took time out during the Republican caucuses Saturday to field questions from constituents on Feb. 20 in Whidbey Telecom’s conference room adjacent to the WiFire Coffee Bar.

The lawmakers were quizzed on a wide array of topics during the question-and-answer portion of the meeting, which was organized and hosted by the South Whidbey Record.

Issues regarding K-12 education, in light of the state Legislature’s efforts to make “measurable progress” each year to fully fund K-12 public education by 2018 as required by the Washington State Supreme Court’s 2012 McCleary decision, were openly discussed by all three legislators.

Steve Erickson and Marianne Edain of Whidbey Environmental Action Network opened the segment by asking about the public records bill and publicly owned state parks. Smith, Hayes and Bailey said they support parks, though Smith gained favor from many in the crowd by saying land should be stewarded by the public and that it was their duty to protect access for those who cannot afford expensive parks passes. Her comments drew a round of applause.

Smith also maintained during the meeting her position that the state needs to be wary of purchasing new land as it’s struggling to manage what it already has.

Oak Harbor Democrat Angie Homola, who announced last week she will challenge Bailey for the 10th District seat this November, raised a question about Washington state’s 73-year-old gender equality law, which was passed in 1943, and House Bill 1646 and Senate Bill 5630 that aim to address the issue.

Smith, Hayes and Bailey said they did not support the bills, with Smith and Hayes saying they felt it favored attorneys.

“The language in two different bills that we saw increased damages, had language that wasn’t tight about what would be a violation and creates more problems than I believe it would solve,” Smith said. “I’m a woman, I have three daughters, I have granddaughters, I’ve given my life to working with young men and women, hundreds of them over the course of my life — I want them treated equally. But I’m not going to vote for something that creates more legal conflict and provides a new revenue source for trial lawyers.”

Smith, Bailey and Hayes shared similar views on the education issue, stating in their 10-minute opening remarks that it has been a primary focus of theirs during the legislative session.

The last part of the meeting involved breakout sessions with the individual legislators; attendees got to ask questions in an informal setting.

Smith, a member of the capital budget committee, answered questions from South Whidbey School District Board Director Rocco Gianni and Val Brown, a spokesperson of the South Whidbey Education Association, during her breakout session.

“We’re getting broad, general answers to really complicated questions,” Brown said. “How do we fund education, which is my big issue, and how do we do it fairly? What we heard from Norma and Dave and Barbara today is ‘We’re working hard,’ but the Supreme Court says you’re not working hard enough. What we feel in the classroom is that we’re not getting there fast enough.”

Bailey said in her opening remarks they are working to find the right solutions to the issue while battling through the “eye of the hurricane,” the time of year when legislators are busy working with committees and bills.

“The backside of that hurricane is going to be where we’re really going to spin everything out, flush it out and really see where we’re going to be at the end of the session.”

Bailey’s breakout session discussed public records requests, health care, and continued support for the Langley Main Street Association and Veteran Affairs. Mental health, drug addiction, Ryan’s House and their efforts to build a housing facility and a discussion on the affordable housing shortage were topics discussed in Hayes’ breakout group.

“It’s always a great conversation,” Hayes said after the meeting. “The broad subject matter that came up here is why I like this job so much.”

“The diverse amount of policy that we work on down there is just mind-boggling. Throughout our legislative district here, we all have common issues. It all comes down to how we address those issues,” he added.