S-4416.1  _______________________________________________

                 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 8427

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      56th Legislature     2000 Regular Session

By Senators Kohl‑Welles, Long, B. Sheldon, Goings, Patterson, Eide, Prentice, Jacobsen and Brown

Read first time 02/02/2000.  Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

Forming a joint select committee on fire suppression in student residence halls.

    WHEREAS, The higher education students of Washington should be safe from life and property loss due to fire; and

    WHEREAS, Automatic fire extinguishing systems, including sprinklers, have been proven to save lives and prevent property loss; and

    WHEREAS, Some of Washington's existing higher education student residence halls do not have automatic fire extinguishing systems; and

    WHEREAS, Higher education students in other states have suffered significant life and property loss in fires occurring in student residence halls not equipped with such systems; and

    WHEREAS, The legislature recognizes that there are substantial financial and administrative burdens associated with the installation of these systems that cannot be borne solely by the owners of student  residence halls; and

    WHEREAS, There has been little progress by local jurisdictions to address this issue;

    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the Senate of the state of Washington, the House of Representatives concurring, That a joint select committee on fire suppression in student residence halls be established to:

    (1) Investigate the lack of automatic fire extinguishing systems in student residence halls owned or operated by institutions of higher education in Washington state;

    (2) Review the actions of other jurisdictions nation-wide to address the issue of retrofitting higher education student residence halls for automatic fire extinguishing systems; and

    (3) Make recommendations to the legislature and to the governor regarding ways that the legislature, local jurisdictions, fire protection services, institutions of higher education, and the private sector can work cooperatively to reduce the financial and administrative burdens of retrofitting existing higher education student residence halls with automatic fire extinguishing systems; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That:

    (1) The committee consist of eight voting members, two from each major caucus of the Senate and the House of Representatives to be appointed by the President of the Senate and the Co-Speakers of the House of Representatives, respectively;

    (2) The director of fire protection shall be an ex officio nonvoting member of the joint committee;

    (3) The members of the joint committee shall select from among their voting members a chair and other officers as the committee deems appropriate;

    (4) The joint committee may appoint the following as needed to carry out its duties:

    (a) Subcommittees; and

    (b) Advisory groups of nonmembers;

    (5) Senate committee services and the office of program research shall provide staffing to the committee; and

    (6) All expenses and hiring of additional staff shall be subject to the approval of the senate facilities and operations committee and the house of representatives executive rules committee; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee report its findings and recommendations to the legislature by January 1, 2001, and terminate January 31, 2001.

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