Guest editorial

Once again, our local elected representatives gathered under the great marble dome of the Capitol in Olympia and once again they were greeted by dozens of lobbyists from public agencies or the nonprofit lobby groups for public agencies, all of them ultimately funded by your tax or rate dollars.

The Public Disclosure Commission reports that of the $4.8 million spent in the last 12 months on lobbying, the leading topical category on which money is spent is “Government,” at $609,000.

Consistently among the top spenders on lobbying in Olympia is the 82,000-strong Washington State teachers’ union,...