BILL REQ. #:  H-0762.2 

Read first time 01/19/11.   Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

     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 VIII of the Constitution of the state of Washington by adding a new section to read as follows:

     Article VIII, section . . .. (1)(a) Before the beginning of the regular legislative session in each odd-numbered year, the governor shall prepare and submit to the senate and house of representatives an omnibus operating appropriations proposal for the ensuing fiscal biennium. This proposal may not propose expenditures from any account for any fiscal period that exceed the estimated amount of revenues and resources to that account for that fiscal period as of the date the governor submits the proposal to the legislature.
     (b) Nothing in this section prohibits the governor from submitting to the legislature alternative omnibus operating appropriations proposals that rely on changes to existing revenue laws.
     (2) The legislature may not appropriate an amount from any account for any fiscal period that exceeds the estimated amount of revenues and resources to that account for that fiscal period as of the date the budget is enacted.

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