Late yesterday, legislative leaders announced the extension of many waivers, including key waivers to ports—the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), Public Records Act (PRA), and the annual financial report filing deadline with the Office of the Washington State Auditor (SAO). The newest waiver extension is scheduled to expire on July 1st.

While many ports have already filed their annual financial reports with SAO, the requirements to allow the public to gather for open public meetings or to enter into port offices to view public records continue to present a significant challenge to port staff, who are not accustomed to behaving as public health officials, charged with keeping individuals safe from transmission of the coronavirus.

Back in April, WPPA sent a letter to legislative leadership asking for these key waivers to be extended through July 1st. We are pleased that this extension has been granted, and we will continue to advocate for ports’ needs through this difficult time.

We are dedicated to bringing you information as we receive it, and we are committed to communicating with you as soon as we learn of changes that effect ports.