A new requirement that Gov. Bob Ferguson's office approve most state agency press releases and media responses is delaying information from reaching the public, drawing repeated concerns from state officials, records obtained by Axios show.
Why it matters: The policy has held up multiple agency communications — from updates on bridge repair plans to public health guidance on vaccines to explanations of how a federal shutdown would affect Washington state.
- Staffers for three former governors say no such policies were in effect during their administrations.
- "A new administration has different ways of doing things," Aho said. "People are used to doing things a certain way, and change can be hard."
- She said the state has dozens of agencies, and they "need to be communicating with each other and with the governor's office."
- They reveal state staffers frustrated by the glacial pace by which communications move through Ferguson's office, and concerns about how it affects their ability to relay important information.
- Alongi described the approval process as "grueling," "painful," and a "continual barrier" — one that "creates a tremendous bottleneck, where we are waiting days or weeks for a response."
- "Last week, we were instructed by the Governor's office to decline all interview requests related to WIC to avoid questions related to the State's budget shortfalls and why there was no backup funding for the program," Raechel Sims, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health, wrote in an email to colleagues in October.
Zoom in: Even some public health alerts have been subject to the review requirement — such as an October news release that included notice of a confirmed measles case at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
- That release, titled "DOH launches measles exposure map to help keep Washingtonians safe," ultimately went out about an hour later than public health officials had aimed for, after the governor's office asked for changes.
- As of Sept. 19 — six weeks later — Alongi said the agency was still waiting for direction from the governor's office on how to respond.
- The new rules took effect last July.
- "...It is increasingly difficult to get any actual work done because all our time is spent on sending things in for reviews, tracking reviews and reminding their comms shops of our deadlines," Barbara LaBoe, a communications official at the Washington State Department of Transportation, wrote in an email in October.
- Short-staffed agencies often spend time preparing responses for reporters, only for the governor's office to miss those reporters' deadlines, Sims wrote.
Agencies have been instructed not to tell members of the media about the new approval policy, emails show.
- "Going forward, we should not reference the governor's office in any procedural context — including processes, deadlines, or timelines when communicating with reporters on inquiries," former DOH communications director Maranatha Hay wrote to colleagues in October. "They've requested that their office not be mentioned at all."
Context: Washington's last three governors didn't impose similar rules, according to three staffers who worked for them. Two requested anonymity to avoid repercussions at their current jobs.
- Marty Brown, who served in several roles under former governors Gary Locke and Chris Gregoire, said agencies might have given them a heads up about possible controversies, but advance approval of press releases and interviews wasn't required.
- Typically, "we'd read about it in the paper at the same time as the public," Brown told Axios.
- Asked about approving individual responses to reporters, Brown added: "That would be a lot … there's only 24 hours in a day."
- Discussing a WSDOT news release about I-5 construction last November, Aho, Ferguson's communications director, wrote that a second draft was "closer to what the governor was looking for, but I think missing some details he said he felt strongly about."
- That was nine days after the second draft had been sent over for approval.
- Ferguson also personally reviewed interview talking points before state epidemiologist Scott Lindquist was cleared to speak with Politico about bird flu last July, according to an email from a Ferguson staffer. The staffer apologized to DOH officials for the delay.
- She added that the governor's office has made "numerous customizations" to the policy over time.
- Three of them — Hay, Alongi and Randolph — have since moved on to other agencies that aren't subject to the same oversight by the governor's office.
Washington Gov. Ferguson limits press access, breaking precedent
Since taking office, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson has held more Seahawks flag-raising ceremonies than press conferences dedicated to taking wide-ranging questions from reporters.
Why it matters: Ferguson has departed from his predecessors' practice of holding regular, open-ended press availabilities — limiting public scrutiny of his administration.
- His office also imposed new media approval rules that have slowed agency responses to the press and frustrated state workers, as Axios first reported last week.
- Jay Inslee, Ferguson's immediate predecessor, held a freewheeling press conference the day after his inauguration, and continued holding regular open Q&As with the press corps throughout his tenure, according to TVW archives.
- Ferguson has yet to hold a single one in 16 months.
- Queary said former governors Gary Locke and Chris Gregoire also had regular open press availabilities — a free-form format that he said makes it harder to evade pointed or confrontational questions.
- "I don't remember any previous governors having this bizarre combination — what appears to be an obsession with media coverage, and a real disinclination to interact with the press," Queary said of Ferguson.
- These events typically feature multiple speakers and center on announcements from the governor or other officials.
- Reporters can ask broader questions, but time is limited and the focus generally stays on the news at hand.
- "There's been a lack of access and transparency in making him available and letting people know what he's up to," Lucia told Axios.
- Lucia started a weekly "Where's the governor?" column last year to track the governor's whereabouts, after months of Ferguson's office not sharing the governor's schedule of public appearances in a timely manner.
The other side: Brionna Aho, Ferguson's spokesperson, did not answer Axios' questions about why Ferguson has dispensed with the media practices of past governors.
- "The governor takes questions on other topics at most press conferences, and almost always takes extra time after the formal event to talk with reporters who attend," Aho wrote in an email to Axios.
- She added that the governor "speaks at many public events where he is almost always available for questions."
What we're watching: Whether Ferguson will open himself up to more regular, unscripted interactions with the press — or continue to limit media access through his term.
