In Our View: Open the Doors

Gov. Jay Inslee’s office is busy negotiating with state employee unions, and that means … well, we don’t know.

Therein lies the problem — a problem that must be addressed by the Legislature. Because while billions of public dollars are at stake, the public is not allowed to have any knowledge of the negotiations until after the fact. In the current contract with the Washington Federation of State Employees, for example, a section reads: “There will be no public disclosure or public discussion of the issues being negotiated until resolution or impasse is reached on all issues submitted for negotiations.”

So, state officials are negotiating public-employee contracts for the 2017-19 biennium while the public is left in the dark. The eventual agreements will be folded into the budget considered by next year’s Legislature, which allows for only an up-or-down vote with no amendments. The executive branch gets to negotiate on behalf of its interests; public-employee unions get to barter on behalf of their interests; and the people paying the bills — taxpayers — have no say in the proceedings. It is a system marred by a cloak of secrecy that poorly serves the people, and it is a system that needs fixing.

Attempts have been made in the past. This year, House Bill 2490 would have opened the process to public scrutiny, but the legislation failed to gain any traction.

Democrats, who typically are supported by labor unions, are loathe to anger those constituents by calling for transparency. Unions, understandably, prefer the culture of secrecy as they negotiate for the benefit of their members — which is their job. All of that places Inslee, a Democrat, in a situation that serves him well politically but is anathema to the idea of open government and representation of the majority. In an election year such as this one, it also creates the perception of a conflict of interest.

In 2014, the Washington Federation of State Employees received a raise of 4.8 percent, amounting to $58.4 million. The Washington Policy Center has reported that the unions sought raises totaling $331 million, but that information was not available until well after the fact. As Jason Mercier wrote: “Not only are public union contract negotiations conducted in secret, but none of the records are subject to public disclosure until after the contract is signed into law.”

Having open negotiations would allow the public to better assess the reasonableness of both sides, providing some context for evaluating the governor’s effectiveness as a steward of the people’s money. As The Columbian has written editorially in the past: “While it is understandable that opening negotiations to the public might serve as a bit of a monkey wrench in the process, that concern is outweighed by the public’s right to know.”

While salaries are an important part of public-employee contracts, perhaps the most essential aspect is benefits that can have a long-term impact upon the state budget. Several states — Oregon and Illinois among them — have run into financial problems caused by generous benefit packages that were negotiated decades ago. When it comes to bargaining with public unions, negotiators are not only dealing with your money and your neighbors’ money, but the financial future of your children and grandchildren.

Other states in recent years have found ways to make negotiations open to the public, and Washington should do the same. Meanwhile, negotiations in Washington are ongoing without input from the biggest stakeholders.