[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to public hearings on ballot measures; amending RCW 43.07.030, 29.81.220, 42.17.130, and 42.52.180; adding a new section to chapter 43.07 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that an active, informed electorate provides a strong foundation for a democratic republic and as such, efforts to fully inform voters are critical to sustain our democratic form of government. The initiative process, a constitutional embodiment of an active electorate, is cherished by Washington's independent-minded citizens. Recent initiative history demonstrates the willingness of the public to exercise their constitutional right to legislate by initiative. The legislature finds that as the state officer with the responsibility of certifying initiatives to the ballot, the secretary of state should provide a formal opportunity for the general public to hear information about a ballot measure in a public setting with an opportunity for both proponents and opponents of the measure to present their arguments. The legislature intends for the secretary to be a facilitator in this process and as such should maintain a neutral or nonbiased course of action throughout the public hearing process.

Sec. 2. RCW 43.07.030 and 1982 c 35 s 186 are each amended to read as follows:

The secretary of state shall:

(1) Keep a register of and attest the official acts of the governor;

(2) Affix the state seal, with his attestation, to commissions, pardons, and other public instruments to which the signature of the governor is required, and also attestations and authentications of certificates and other documents properly issued by the secretary;

(3) Record all articles of incorporation, deeds, or other papers filed in the secretary of state's office;

(4) Receive and file all the official bonds of officers required to be filed with the secretary of state;

(5) Take and file in the secretary of state's office receipts for all books distributed by him;

(6) Hold public hearings on initiative measures certified to the general election ballot;

(7) Certify to the legislature the election returns for all officers required by the Constitution to be so certified, and certify to the governor the names of all other persons who have received at any election the highest number of votes for any office the incumbent of which is to be commissioned by the governor;

((~~(7)~~)) (8) Furnish, on demand, to any person paying the fees therefor, a certified copy of all or any part of any law, record, or other instrument filed, deposited, or recorded in the secretary of state's office;

((~~(8)~~)) (9) Present to the speaker of the house of representatives, at the beginning of each regular session of the legislature during an odd-numbered year, a full account of all purchases made and expenses incurred by the secretary of state on account of the state;

((~~(9)~~)) (10) File in his office an impression of each and every seal in use by any state officer;

((~~[(10)]~~)) (11) Keep a record of all fees charged or received by the secretary of state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 43.07 RCW to read as follows:

(1) After the secretary of state certifies an initiative measure as qualified for the general election ballot, the secretary of state, or the secretary's designee, shall hold a public hearing on the measure in each congressional district in the state. The secretary or a designee shall preside over the hearings. The secretary may combine two or more initiative measures in a single hearing.

(2) The secretary of state shall give thirty days' notice of the hearings to all cabinet level state agencies, county legislative authorities, and persons designated in subsection (3)(a) of this section.

(3) The public hearings must include opportunity for the following persons, or their designees, to present to attendees arguments for and against each initiative measure, including fiscal and policy impacts of the measure:

(a) Members of the committees appointed under RCW 29.81.240 to prepare statements for the voters' pamphlet;

(b) State, county, and municipal officers and agencies thereof who determine that the measure affects their constitutional or statutory responsibilities;

(4) The hearings must be held from forty-five to fifteen days before the general election, and the secretary of state shall give notice of them to the general public in the voters' pamphlet, on the secretary's official web site, and, in the two weeks before the meeting, at least twice by public service announcement through broadcast media and newspapers of general circulation in the congressional district.

(5) Public officials may use public facilities to prepare or deliver written or verbal communications at the hearings, consisting of information on the impact of the ballot measure that foreseeably may affect a matter that falls within their constitutional or statutory responsibilities. Copies of any written material may be provided to the public at the time of the hearing and at any time thereafter upon request. Other than the official voters' pamphlet, a public official may not send, by mail or other form of communication, any unsolicited information on the ballot measure. The secretary shall not distribute any information presented by participants under subsections (2) and (3) of this section. Public officials attending the hearings are entitled to travel expenses as otherwise provided by law.

(6) Nothing in this section diminishes a citizen's constitutional rights nor may any part of this section or the hearings authorized in it invalidate an initiative measure.

(7) The secretary may adopt rules in accordance with this section to ensure that the public hearings are carried out in an organized, objective manner.

Sec. 4. RCW 29.81.220 and 1999 c 260 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

The voters' pamphlet must contain:

(1) Information about each ballot measure initiated by or referred to the voters for their approval or rejection as required by RCW 29.81.250;

(2) In even-numbered years, statements, if submitted, advocating the candidacies of nominees for the office of president and vice-president of the United States, United States senator, United States representative, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor, attorney general, commissioner of public lands, superintendent of public instruction, insurance commissioner, state senator, state representative, justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of appeals, or judge of the superior court. Candidates may also submit a campaign mailing address and telephone number and a photograph not more than five years old and of a size and quality that the secretary of state determines to be suitable for reproduction in the voters' pamphlet;

(3) In odd-numbered years, if any office voted upon statewide appears on the ballot due to a vacancy, then statements and photographs for candidates for any vacant office listed in subsection (2) of this section must appear;

(4) In even-numbered years, a section explaining how voters may participate in the election campaign process; the address and telephone number of the public disclosure commission established under RCW 42.17.350; and a summary of the disclosure requirements that apply when contributions are made to candidates and political committees;

(5) In even-numbered years the name, address, and telephone number of each political party with nominees listed in the pamphlet, if filed with the secretary of state by the state committee of a major political party or the presiding officer of the convention of a minor political party;

(6) In each odd-numbered year immediately before a year in which a president of the United States is to be nominated and elected, information explaining the precinct caucus and convention process used by each major political party to elect delegates to its national presidential candidate nominating convention. The pamphlet must also provide a description of the statutory procedures by which minor political parties are formed and the statutory methods used by the parties to nominate candidates for president;

(7) In even-numbered years, a description of the office of precinct committee officer and its duties;

(8) An application form for an absentee ballot;

(9) A brief statement explaining the deletion and addition of language for proposed measures under RCW 29.81.260;

(10) Notice of public hearings on certified initiatives under section 3 of this act;

(11) Any additional information pertaining to elections as may be required by law or in the judgment of the secretary of state is deemed informative to the voters.

Sec. 5. 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 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~~)) that are part of the normal and regular conduct of the office or agency;

(4) Activities in compliance with section 3 of this act of an elected official or an employee of the official's office or a person appointed to or employed by a public office or agency.

Sec. 6. RCW 42.52.180 and 1995 c 397 s 30 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) No state officer or state employee may use or authorize the use of facilities of an agency, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of assisting a campaign for election of a person to an office or for the promotion of or opposition to a ballot proposition. Knowing acquiescence by a person with authority to direct, control, or influence the actions of the state officer or state employee using public resources in violation of this section constitutes a violation of this section. Facilities of an agency include, but are not limited to, use of stationery, postage, machines, and equipment, use of state employees of the agency during working hours, vehicles, office space, publications of the agency, and clientele lists of persons served by the agency.

(2) This section shall not apply to the following activities:

(a) 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 as long as (i) required notice of the meeting includes the title and number of the ballot proposition, and (ii) members of the legislative body or members of the public are afforded an approximately equal opportunity for the expression of an opposing view;

(b) 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. For the purposes of this subsection, it is not a violation of this section for an elected official to respond to an inquiry regarding a ballot proposition, to make incidental remarks concerning a ballot proposition in an official communication, or otherwise comment on a ballot proposition without an actual, measurable expenditure of public funds. The ethics boards shall adopt by rule a definition of measurable expenditure;

(d) De minimis use of public facilities by statewide elected officials and legislators incidental to the preparation or delivery of permissible communications, including written and verbal communications initiated by them of their views on ballot propositions that foreseeably may affect a matter that falls within their constitutional or statutory responsibilities; and

(e) Activities of an elected official or state employee in compliance with section 3 of this act.

(3) As to state officers and employees, this section operates to the exclusion of RCW 42.17.130.