The Washington state legislature is in the process of drafting laws that make accessing public records more difficult. Which begs the question — why? Are these laws designed to protect government employees from harassment as they claim, or can those who have something to hide abuse these laws?

As citizens we care for the well-being of our public officers, but as journalists we’re skeptical when our freedoms are withheld. There is a line between protecting our officials and giving them carte blanche to withhold information. We feel the proposed legislation crosses that line.

There are three general categories of laws currently being discussed in the house and the senate. The first includes laws that would ban the public disclosure of personal information about law-enforcement employees, such as birth dates, photographs and addresses. This law makes perfect sense: why would anyone need that information if not to stalk or harass a person?

The second category would increase the cost of photocopies for public records. This too, we see as a legitimate way to cut down on needless requests. However, it may discriminate against those who cannot afford it, but that’s an entirely different discussion.

The problematic piece of legislation is House Bill 1316, the one that allows agencies to get court injunctions against people who make records requests with the intent of “annoying, tormenting or terrorizing” government employees.

Where is the line between annoying and just being persistent? Information is considered public record for a reason. Constituents have the right to know what’s going on with the public officials their tax dollars support. Public officials already have the right to draw out the processing time required to get information until it’s no longer relevant. Why should they have the power to get an injunction at the drop of a vague word such as “annoy?”

As journalists, we already know how hard it is to attain public records. With the recent political scandals fresh in our minds, we sincerely believe it’s necessary to protect the rights of the fourth estate. We are the final check. We dig for information because we care about freedom, democracy and the continued betterment of this country. We cannot maintain those freedoms without the ability to access public records.

This is the opinion of the Daily’s Editorial Board: Editor-in-Chief Sarah Jeglum, Managing Editor Shiree Teixeira, Features Editor Nicole Ciridon, Opinion Editor Natalie Sikavi and Copy Chief Randy Ferreiro.