BILL REQ. #:  H-1214.1 

Read first time 02/12/2003.   Referred to Committee on Appropriations.

     BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, IN LEGISLATIVE SESSION ASSEMBLED:
     THAT, At the next general election to be held in this state the secretary of state shall submit to the qualified voters of the state for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to Article VII of the Constitution of the state of Washington by adding a new section to read as follows:

     Article VII, section . . .. (a) A required reserve fund shall be established and maintained in the state treasury.
     (b) During each fiscal year, there shall be transferred from the state general fund or any successor fund to the required reserve fund an amount equal to one percent of the forecasted general state revenues for that fiscal year. Nothing in this subsection (b) shall prevent the appropriation of additional amounts to the required reserve fund. Amounts in the required reserve fund may be invested as provided by law and retained in that fund.
     (c) If the forecasted growth of general state revenues for any fiscal year, excluding legislation, is estimated to be less than one percent, as adjusted for inflation, there shall be transferred from the required reserve fund to the general fund in that fiscal year an amount equal to the difference between the forecasted general state revenues for that fiscal year, as adjusted for inflation, and the estimated general state revenues for the year prior to that fiscal year, and any additional amount may be appropriated from the required reserve fund by a majority vote of the members elected to each house of the legislature.
     (d) Any amount may be withdrawn and appropriated from the required reserve fund at any time by the favorable vote of at least three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the legislature. When the balance in the required reserve fund, including investment earnings, equals more than ten percent of the estimated general state revenues in the prior fiscal year, then any amounts that would otherwise have been transferred to the required reserve fund shall be used to support costs of capital construction in public schools and higher education.
     (e) Transfers of general state revenue to the required reserve fund are general revenue for purposes of the debt limit calculation. Appropriations or expenditures from the required reserve fund shall not result in a reduction to the state expenditure limit.
     (f) As used in this section, "general state revenues" has the meaning set forth in Article VIII, section 1 of the Constitution. As used in this section, "inflation" means the implicit price deflator for the United States as published by the United States department of commerce. Forecasts and estimates shall be those made by the state economic and revenue forecast council or its successor agency.
     (g) The legislature shall enact appropriate laws to carry out the purposes of this section.
     (h) This section shall be effective as of the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which it is approved by the qualified electors of the state.

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause notice of this constitutional amendment to be published at least four times during the four weeks next preceding the election in every legal newspaper in the state.