Voters approved the Public Disclosure Act by initiative in 1972 and included 10 exemptions from disclosure at that time. As of February 2020, there were 602 exemptions in the Revised Code of Washington. In 2007, the Attorney General’s Office requested a bill to establish a committee to review all exemptions to the Public Disclosure Act. Senate Bill 5435, which created the Washington State Public Records Exemptions Accountability Committee (WA Sunshine Committee), became law on July 22, 2007. The WA Sunshine Committee makes recommendations to the Legislature to repeal or amend exemptions to the Public Records Act.
The Sunshine Committee will not be able to monitor and receive public comment through the GoToWebinar chat feature. Please click here to learn how to submit public comments to the Sunshine Committee.