SENATE BILL REPORT

SB 5712

As of February 16, 2019

Title: An act relating to creation of a work group to study and make recommendations on a monument to honor residents who died in the global war on terror.

Brief Description: Creating a work group to study and make recommendations on a monument to honor residents who died in the global war on terror.

Sponsors: Senators Hobbs, King, Hunt, O'Ban, Mullet, Keiser, Wagoner, Fortunato, Van De Wege and Wilson, L..

Brief History:

Committee Activity: State Government, Tribal Relations & Elections: 2/15/19.

Staff: Melissa Van Gorkom (786-7491)

Background: State law establishes two veterans' memorials, one for state residents who died or are missing-in-action in southeast Asia, and one honoring state residents who died or are missing-in-action in the Korean conflict.

For the southeast Asia memorial, the Secretary of State (SOS) was to coordinate the design, construction, and placement of the memorial.  For the Korean memorial, the director of the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) was to coordinate the design, construction, and placement of the memorial.

The Legislature also previously authorized the establishment of a World War I and World War II memorial on the capitol campus. For the World War II memorial, DVA convened an 11-member advisory committee in 1995 to make recommendations on the type, size, and cost of the memorial and recommend a site on the capitol campus, subject to approval of the State Capitol Committee.

Summary of Bill: A legislative work group of 13 members is established to study and make recommendations to the Legislature on a monument to honor service members who died in the global war on terror. The work group would be chaired by two co-chairs from among the legislative membership of the work group and staffed by Senate Committee Services and the Office of Program Research. The initial meeting of the work group must be held before November 1, 2019.

Membership. The work group must include:

• four legislative members, one member from each of the four major caucuses;

• the directors of DVA, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, the Washington State Military Department, and Department of Enterprise Services, or their designee;

• the SOS and state archivist, or their designee;

• a representative of the Capitol Campus Design Advisory Committee; and

• two representatives from veterans organizations appointed by the Governor.

Duties. The work group must:

• conduct a study of the feasibility of establishing a new memorial on the capitol campus;

• recommend individuals to be honored at the memorial;

• recommend locations where the memorial could be constructed and provide any permit requirements or other restrictions that may exist for each location;

• provide potential draft designs;

• provide the anticipated cost and funding sources that may be available;

• recommend an agency, committee or commission to coordinate the design, construction and placement of the memorial; and

• report to the appropriate committees of the Legislature by November 1, 2020.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Creates Committee/Commission/Task Force that includes Legislative members: Yes.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony: PRO: War memorials are typically done after a war ends, but this war may never end. People walking on campus should know that the war is going on and there have been Washingtonians that have sacrificed. Every veteran has a memorial that honors the war they went to on campus and there should be one for this war as well to honor those who have been killed.

Persons Testifying: PRO: Senator Steve Hobbs, Prime Sponsor.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: No one.