S-3356.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 6207
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State of Washington 52nd Legislature 1992 Regular Session
By Senators West, McCaslin and Thorsness
Read first time 01/21/92. Referred to Committee on Governmental Operations.
AN ACT Relating to campaigning by state employees and officials; and amending RCW 42.17.130.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 42.17.130 and 1979 ex.s. c 265 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
No elective official nor any employee of his or her office nor any person appointed to or employed by any public office or agency may use or authorize the use of any of the facilities of a public office or agency, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of assisting a campaign for election of any person to any office or for the promotion of or opposition to any ballot proposition. Facilities of public office or agency include, but are not limited to, use of stationery, postage, machines, and equipment, use of employees of the office or agency during working hours, vehicles, office space, publications of the office or agency, and clientele lists of persons served by the office or agency: PROVIDED, That the foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply to the following activities:
(1) Action taken at an open public meeting by members of an elected legislative body to express a collective decision, or to actually vote upon a motion, proposal, resolution, order, or ordinance, or to support or oppose a ballot proposition so long as (a) any required notice of the meeting includes the title and number of the ballot proposition, and (b) members of the legislative body or members of the public are afforded an approximately equal opportunity for the expression of an opposing view;
(2) A statement by an elected official in support of or in opposition to any ballot proposition at an open press conference or in response to a specific inquiry;
(3) Activities which are part of the normal and regular conduct of the office or agency; except that a person subject to this section may not after declaring his or her intention to run for elective office or filing with the commission to be a candidate, appear in his or her official capacity in any public broadcast announcement including any public service announcement. A person subject to this section participating in a public service announcement outside of his or her official capacity, must report it as a contribution in kind, and it will count against any campaign spending limitations existent at the time.