Sunshine Committee keeps most public-record exemptions, recommends removing expired reporting requirement

The Sunshine Committee on June 2 voted to retain the bulk of public-record exemptions under review while recommending repeal of a single expired legislative reporting requirement.

Vice Chair Roland Thompson, presiding in the committee’s chair vacancy, led the committee through a long agenda of exemptions across agencies and told members he recommended continuing protections in many cases to safeguard policyholder and proprietary business information provided to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC). “I recommend that 192 be retained,” Thompson said when presenting exemptions tied to life-settlement and receivership information, and the committee moved and approved the retention.

The committee also recommended eliminating a reporting requirement tied to small-group and association health-plan data that, Thompson said, “expired on 09/30/2011” and for which the OIC reported no responsive records. The group voted to forward that repeal recommendation to the legislature.

Dave Zeke, the state auditor’s appointee to the committee, recommended retention of several health-related exemptions including RCW 42.56.036(1)(f), which shields disciplinary complaint files during investigations. Zeke said sustained disciplinary findings become public records but that protections during investigations and for unfounded complaints are important; he recommended the exemption remain in place and the committee approved his motion.

Representative Rob Chase reviewed RCW 46.12.635 on disclosure of vehicle and vessel owner names and addresses and noted the Department of Licensing charges a $2 fee for requests that, he said, produced "a little over $1,000,000" in fiscal 2025. Chase urged retention of the exemption for privacy and revenue reasons; the Washington State Patrol told the committee it would not anticipate operational problems if the exemption were removed and thus did not press opposition to reconsideration. The committee voted to retain the DPPA-related exemption.

Representative Larry Springer and others urged retention of protections for archaeological-site locations enacted to protect tribal cultural sites and historic resources; that exemption was retained with no substantive debate.

No members of the public spoke during the committee’s public-comment period. The committee introduced Barbara Minor, a former clerk and director of judicial administration for King County, as a new member; Zohab Ali, another appointee described at the start of the meeting, was not present online.

Committee business concluded with members dividing up the remaining items (about 17 exemptions) for follow-up review. The group confirmed upcoming meeting dates, including an August 18 session and an October 6 meeting, and adjourned.

What the meeting decided - Multiple exemptions tied to insurer filings, actuarial and title-insurance statistics, carrier contracts and risk-management assessments (Office of the Insurance Commissioner) were retained to protect proprietary business information and to preserve regulatory flows of information. - RCW-driven health exemptions discussed by the committee (disciplinary complaints while under investigation; Death with Dignity Act confirmations; health-claims data) were recommended for retention. - The committee recommended removing a 2011-expired reporting requirement for small-group and association health plans after the OIC said it holds no responsive records.

Next steps The committee assigned remaining exemptions to individual members for review ahead of fall meetings and will forward its repeal recommendation for the expired reporting requirement to the legislature. The committee continues to recruit a permanent chair.

(Attributions: Quotes and positions in this article come from committee members’ remarks recorded during the Sunshine Committee’s June 2 meeting. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner is referred to by its common abbreviation, OIC, after first reference.)