P-I Story on Testimony on Taping Bill and Great McKenna Quote

The P-I posts this account of the testimony on Monday evening for and against the bill to require governing bodies to record executive sessions.

One part of the story jumped off the screen. Attorney General Rob McKenna was testifying in support of the bill. A legislator told him that there are thousands of public meetings every year and not too many violations so why impose a burdensome requirement like recording. To which McKenna responded:

"The fact is that you'll hear a lot of arguments tonight that are really arguments against having [a] public records act and a public meetings act. If you extend them far enough it would be the same logic as saying 'Well, there are thousands of meetings and very few of them result in violations so we don't need the law.' If it had been up to folks in government we wouldn't have our sunshine laws today."

Exactly.