Open government group honors state senator

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The Washington Coalition for Open Government presented its Key Award to state Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, Wednesday in Olympia for his efforts to improve transparency in the Legislature.

Honeyford, who has represented the 15th Legislative District since 1995, has been a vocal critic of efforts by some in the legislative leadership to obscure the lawmaking process from the public, the coalition said in a news release.

The coalition said Honeyford has spoken out against "holding public hearings on bills without adequate notice; holding hearings on bills before they receive their first reading on the floor; holding hearings on bills with the text of the bill not available to the public prior to the hearing; voting on bills in committee the same day as their hearing; and holding hearings on bills that aren't on the committee agenda."

Honeyford was nominated for the award by coalition president Toby Nixon and board member Jason Mercier, director of the Center for Government Reform at the Washington Policy Center.

The Washington Coalition for Open Government is an independent nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 2002 by people representing a broad spectrum of opinions with the common goal of strengthening the state's open government laws and protecting the public's access to government at all levels.