A new bill proposed by state Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, would punish state officials who make knowingly false or misleading testimony to legislators, potentially even resulting in their firing. Too often, Walsh believes, officials have knowingly misled legislators knowing there isn’t state law that prohibits lying or hiding certain facts while testifying.
“People who testify in front of the Legislature are never sworn in. There is no clear link that if you deliver knowingly false information you can be terminated,” said Walsh. “What the bill does is change the existing Revised Code of Washington so there’s a clear link.”
Walsh’s new bill, which was pre-filed last Friday, would mean that no state officer or employee can knowingly give incorrect facts during testimony, and that if they do so that employee can be punished and lose their job if the misinformation is deemed severe enough.
If it’s passed, anyone could submit a complaint to the state’s civil service review, after which the Human Resources Department would look at potential misinformation and decide on a punishment.
“All it does is use the existing enforcement structure,” he said, adding that those accused of lying would still have the chance to defend themselves. “It would be the same thing as current, as if an employee harassed a fellow employee, the same kind of disciplinary mechanism is in place for that. It’s not a court of law, more like a union grievance action.”
Walsh said he sees it as a deterrent. “I think it would be a bright line that would deter testimony that at best is sort of spin, and at worst is false testimony.”
Walsh said agencies would likely point to different departments having their own existing ethical guidelines that forbid misinformation as a reason to oppose his bill. But he feels that those restrictions aren’t enough.
“I imagine many agencies would be against it and say it’s an unnecessary reform (and) that current ethical guidelines prohibit people from giving false testimony. That’s a narrow read, strictly speaking, that’s true in some cases, but this is a clarification and bright line policy point that I think is needed.”
The motivation for Walsh’s latest bill came primarily from hunters and fishermen who complained about staff at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife giving misleading testimony in regard to hunting permit fees, the use of the fee proceeds, and a recent elk disease.
“They felt that state agency employees, in making testimony to legislative committees, were making substantially false assertions.”
The WDFW did not respond to The Daily World’s request for comment on complaints concerning its officials’ testimonies.
Although Walsh knew of specific instances of possible misleading info, he did not want to give specific names of the people or groups, worrying it would create unnecessary allegations among state officials.
“I know exactly who they’re talking about, this isn’t a blind shot. I just don’t want to point fingers at the individuals and agencies or turn it into a quasi-legal allegation,” he said.
Walsh said he’s unsure if his bill will be passed this session, but he hopes it puts more attention on the truthfulness of those who may be trying to spin the facts a certain way.
“It’s interesting who thinks the bill is directed at them. More think it is directed at them than is actually the truth, which suggests to me that this might be a legitimate issue.”
