AN ACT
Relating to altering the Washington citizens' commission on salaries for
elected officials by increasing the number of commission members selected by
lot from registered voters, providing attendance requirements, and clarifying
procedures; amending RCW 43.03.305 and 43.03.310; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
43.03.305 and 1993 c 281 s 46 are each amended to read as follows:
There
is created a commission to be known as the Washington citizens' commission on
salaries for elected officials, to consist of ((fifteen)) sixteen
members appointed by the governor as provided in this section.
(1) ((Eight))
Nine of the ((fifteen)) sixteen commission members shall
be selected by lot by the secretary of state from among those registered voters
eligible to vote at the ((general election held in November, 1986, and
thereafter from among those registered voters eligible to vote at the))
time ((of the selection)) persons are selected for appointment to
full terms on the commission under subsection (3) of this section. One
member shall be selected from each congressional district. The secretary shall
establish policies and procedures for conducting the selection by lot. The
policies and procedures shall include, but not be limited to, those for
notifying persons selected and for providing a new selection from a
congressional district if a person selected from the district declines
appointment to the commission or if, following the person's appointment, the
person's position on the commission becomes vacant before the end of the
person's term of office.
(2)
The remaining seven of the ((fifteen)) sixteen commission
members, all residents of this state, shall be selected jointly by the speaker
of the house of representatives and the president of the senate. The persons
selected under this subsection shall have had experience in the field of
personnel management. Of these seven members, one shall be selected from each
of the following five sectors in this state: Private institutions of higher
education; business; professional personnel management; legal profession; and
organized labor. Of the two remaining members, one shall be a person
recommended to the speaker and the president by the chair of the Washington
personnel resources board and one shall be a person recommended by majority
vote of the presidents of the state's four-year institutions of higher
education.
(3)
The secretary of state shall forward the names of persons selected under
subsection (1) of this section and the speaker of the house of representatives
and president of the senate shall forward the names of persons selected under
subsection (2) of this section to the governor who shall appoint these persons
to the commission. Except as provided in subsection (6) of this section, the
names of persons selected for appointment to the commission shall be forwarded
to the governor not later than February 15, 1987, and not later than the
fifteenth day of February every four years thereafter.
(4)
Members shall hold office for terms of four years, and no person may be
appointed to more than two such terms. No member of the commission may be
removed by the governor during his or her term of office unless for cause of
incapacity, incompetence, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office or for a
disqualifying change of residence.
The
unexcused absence of any person who is a member of the commission from two
consecutive meetings of the commission shall constitute the relinquishment of
that person's membership on the commission. Such a relinquishment creates a
vacancy in that person's position on the commission. A member's absence may be
excused by the chair of the commission upon the member's written request if the
chair believes there is just cause for the absence. Such a request must be
received by the chair before the meeting for which the absence is to be
excused. A member's absence from a meeting of the commission may also be
excused during the meeting for which the member is absent by the affirmative
vote of a majority of the members of the commission present at the meeting.
(5) No
state official, public employee, or lobbyist, or immediate family member of the
official, employee, or lobbyist, subject to the registration requirements of
chapter 42.17 RCW is eligible for membership on the commission.
As
used in this subsection the phrase "immediate family" means the
parents, spouse, siblings, children, or dependent relative of the official,
employee, or lobbyist whether or not living in the household of the official,
employee, or lobbyist.
(6)
Upon a vacancy in any position on the commission, a successor shall be selected
and appointed to fill the unexpired term. The selection and appointment shall
be concluded within thirty days of the date the position becomes vacant and
shall be conducted in the same manner as originally provided.
Sec.
2. RCW
43.03.310 and 1986 c 155 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The citizens' commission on salaries for elected officials shall study the
relationship of salaries to the duties of members of the legislature, all
elected officials of the executive branch of state government, and all judges
of the supreme court, court of appeals, superior courts, and district courts,
and shall fix the salary for each respective position.
(2)
Except as provided otherwise in RCW 43.03.305 and this section, the
commission shall be solely responsible for its own organization, operation, and
action and shall enjoy the fullest cooperation of all state officials,
departments, and agencies.
(3)
Members of the commission shall receive no compensation for their services, but
shall be eligible to receive a subsistence allowance and travel expenses
pursuant to RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
(4)
The members of the commission shall elect a ((chairperson)) chair
from among their number. The commission shall set a schedule of salaries by an
affirmative vote of not less than ((eight)) nine members of the
commission.
(5)
The commission shall file its initial schedule of salaries for the elected
officials with the secretary of state no later than the first Monday in June,
1987, and shall file a schedule biennially thereafter. Each such schedule
shall be filed in legislative bill form, shall be assigned a chapter number and
published with the session laws of the legislature, and shall be codified by
the statute law committee. The signature of the ((chairperson)) chair
of the commission shall be affixed to each schedule submitted to the secretary
of state. The ((chairperson)) chair shall certify that the
schedule has been adopted in accordance with the provisions of state law and
with the rules, if any, of the commission. Such schedules shall become
effective ninety days after the filing thereof, except as provided in Article
XXVIII, section 1 of the state Constitution. State laws regarding referendum
petitions shall apply to such schedules to the extent consistent with Article
XXVIII, section 1 of the state Constitution.
(6)
Prior to the filing of any salary schedule, the commission shall hold no fewer
than four public hearings thereon within the four months immediately preceding
the filing.
(7)
All meetings, actions, hearings, and business of the commission shall be
subject in full to the open public meetings act, chapter 42.30 RCW.
(8)
Salaries of the officials referred to in subsection (1) of this section that
are in effect on January 12, 1987, shall continue until modified by the
commission under this section.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. This act
is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or
safety, or support of the state government and its existing public
institutions, and shall take effect immediately.
