This bill creates a temporary, procedural change that commissions a study on whether Washington should establish a Washington office of transparency ombuds as an independent, nonpartisan state agency to help people access public records. The joint legislative audit and review committee (JLARC), working with a newly created joint legislative committee on transparency, a representative from the attorney general’s open government staff, and the public records exemptions accountability committee (RCW 42.56.140), must conduct the study (subject to amounts appropriated). The study must include an interstate comparison of public records laws (including chapter 42.56 RCW), an evaluation of states with independent public records agencies (including Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records), an assessment of likely effects such as potential litigation cost savings, workload reductions, improved access, public education resources, and alternative appeal options, and recommendations for appropriate duties for the proposed ombuds office. JLARC must report its findings to the appropriate legislative committees by December 1, 2026, and the joint legislative committee on transparency must make recommendations to the legislature by the same date, with reports submitted in compliance with RCW 43.01.036. The act establishes the joint legislative committee on transparency to coordinate the study, provides staffing (Senate committee services and the office of program research), sets the public records exemptions accountability committee chair as the committee chair unless changed, requires an initial meeting by June 1, 2026 and at least monthly meetings (which may be virtual), and specifies appointment sources (including the governor, attorney general, JLARC, and four media representatives) and travel reimbursement authorities per cited RCWs. The act expires December 31, 2026. This measure does not itself create the ombuds office, change existing public records statutes, or alter penalties; it is limited to creating a study and a temporary legislative committee. Important gaps in the provided text: no appropriation amount is specified, no statutory definition or detailed structure for the proposed ombuds office is provided, and no implementation steps are described should the study recommend creating the office.

If enacted, the bill sets up a temporary joint legislative committee and directs JLARC to study whether Washington should create an independent, nonpartisan "office of transparency ombuds" and to report findings and recommendations by December 1, 2026. In practice this means JLARC staff, Senate committee services, and the office of program research will spend time and potentially appropriated funds running monthly committee meetings (first by June 1, 2026), completing interstate comparisons, and assessing likely effects such as litigation cost savings, workload changes for public records staff, and alternative appeal options. Committee members (including appointees from the governor, attorney general, media, and JLARC) may incur travel costs that would be reimbursed under existing statutes. The groups most directly affected over the next year are JLARC and the newly formed joint legislative committee, the public records exemptions accountability committee, the attorney general’s open-government staff, the named appointees, and people who make or process public records requests, because the study could lead to recommendations that change appeal routes, resourcing for public education, or expectations for records-processing workload. Important implementation details are missing: no appropriation amount is specified so the study may be limited or not proceed without funding, and the bill does not define the structure, duties, or next steps for the proposed ombuds office, so any operational or funding changes beyond the study are uncertain.