BILL REQ. #:  H-0210.1 

Read first time 01/17/2005.   Referred to Committee on State Government Operations & Accountability.

     AN ACT Relating to restrictions on mailing by legislators; and amending RCW 42.52.185.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 42.52.185 and 1997 c 320 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) During the twelve-month period beginning on December 1st of the year before a general election for a state legislator's election to office and continuing through November 30th immediately after the general election, the legislator may not ((mail, either by regular mail or electronic mail,)) by regular mail send to a constituent at public expense a letter, newsletter, brochure, or other piece of literature, except as follows:
     (a) The legislator may mail two mailings of newsletters to constituents. All newsletters within each mailing of newsletters must be identical as to their content but not as to the constituent name or address. One such mailing may be mailed no later than thirty days after the start of a regular legislative session, except that a legislator appointed during a regular legislative session to fill a vacant seat may have up to thirty days from the date of appointment to send out the first mailing. The other mailing may be mailed no later than sixty days after the end of a regular legislative session.
     (b) The legislator may mail an individual letter to (i) an individual constituent who has contacted the legislator regarding the subject matter of the letter during the legislator's current term of office; (ii) an individual constituent who holds a governmental office with jurisdiction over the subject matter of the letter; or (iii) an individual constituent who has received an award or honor of extraordinary distinction of a type that is sufficiently infrequent to be noteworthy to a reasonable person, including, but not limited to: (A) An international or national award such as the Nobel prize or the Pulitzer prize; (B) a state award such as Washington scholar; (C) an Eagle Scout award; and (D) a Medal of Honor.
     (2) For purposes of subsection (1) of this section, "legislator" means a legislator who is a "candidate," as defined by RCW 42.17.020, for any public office.
     (3) A violation of this section constitutes use of the facilities of a public office for the purpose of assisting a campaign under RCW 42.52.180.
     (4) The house of representatives and senate shall specifically limit expenditures per member for the total cost of mailings. Those costs include, but are not limited to, production costs, printing costs, and postage costs. The limits imposed under this subsection apply only to the total expenditures on mailings per member and not to any categorical cost within the total.
     (5) For purposes of this section, persons residing outside the legislative district represented by the legislator are not considered to be constituents, but students, military personnel, or others temporarily employed outside of the district who normally reside in the district are considered to be constituents.
     (6) During the period beginning on the forty-fifth day after the date of the adjournment of a regular legislative session in the year of a general election for a state legislator's election to office and continuing through November 30th immediately after the general election, the restrictions in subsection (1) of this section apply to letters, newsletters, brochures, or other pieces of literature sent by electronic mail at public expense.