Scoop: Governor sign-off rule snarls flow of information in Washington
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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.
Ferguson's communications director Brionna Aho defended the policy in an email to Axios Tuesday, saying it aims to increase collaboration across state government.
- "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."
Axios obtained the records cited in this report through public records requests filed with the governor's office and five state agencies.
- 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.
"We've missed opportunities to share key information with the public," wrote Rachelle Alongi, a former communications manager with the Washington State Health Care Authority, in an email to agency staff in September.
- 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."
At times, agency staff said the policy was used to avoid answering tough questions — such as about funding for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food aid program, which was affected by last year's federal government shutdown.
- "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.
Some delays have lasted more than a month. On Aug. 5, 2025, for instance, KOMO-TV asked the state Health Care Authority to participate in a segment about a federal spending bill, Alongi wrote.
- 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.
How it works: In addition to press releases, the policy requires the governor's office to approve most interview requests, talking points and agency responses to reporter inquiries — including replies to follow-up questions, email records show. The new rules took effect last July.
What they're saying: Agency officials repeatedly raised concerns about the system's inefficiency, per the records.
- "...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.
"I'm not exaggerating when I say we cannot effectively manage agency communications to our high standards with this system in place in the long run," wrote Stefanie Randolph, WSDOT's former acting communications director, in an October email.
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."
Behind the scenes: Ferguson has been directly involved in reviewing and editing some agency news releases and talking points, contributing to delays, according to email records.
- 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.
The other side: Aho said the governor "has only personally reviewed a small fraction of agency materials."
- She added that the governor's office has made "numerous customizations" to the policy over time.
The agency communications officials whose work emails are quoted in this story either declined to be interviewed by Axios or didn't respond to requests for comment.
- 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.