OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday that state Rep. Matt Shea’s remarks calling journalists “those dirty, godless, hateful people” should disqualify him from the public-records task force.
Shea, a Republican from Spokane Valley and member of GOP House leadership, made the remarks over the weekend at a gun-rights rally in Spokane.
In a tweet Tuesday, Inslee said, “There is no excuse for condoning such ill-informed and radical rhetoric from the House GOP caucus chair” and the remarks should disqualify Shea.
Inslee Chief of Staff David Postman said the governor’s office reached out to the House Republican chief of staff with concerns Monday about Shea’s remarks, though it didn’t ask for Shea to step down from the task force.
Inslee’s office doesn’t have a role on the task force. “It’s up to Republicans, of course,” for who they want on it, Postman said.
In text messages Tuesday, House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, said “strong concerns” from Inslee were relayed to him.
But Wilcox added that the governor’s office neither raised the issue of Shea’s role on the task force nor asked for a conversation with him.
“There are better ways to talk than Twitter,” wrote Wilcox, who has said Shea will represent the views of the Republican caucus on the task force, as opposed to his own.
Shea, who didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday about his remarks, couldn’t be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.
The task force comes in the wake of a January court decision that found legislative leaders had violated the state’s Public Records Act by denying records requests. Lawmakers have long considered themselves exempt from the voter-approved act.
The ruling in that case — which was brought by The Associated Press, The Seattle Times and other news organizations — is being appealed.
After that court decision, legislative leaders swiftly introduced and passed a bill that would have made some records public going forward and keep older records confidential. The bill would have also removed the Legislature from the Public Records Act.
Inslee vetoed the bill after an outpouring of public opposition to the legislation, spurred in part by a spate of newspaper editorials across the state.
After the veto, lawmakers and news organizations and others agreed to meet as a task force, which includes an editor for The Seattle Times.
That group is likely to begin work in early September.
