H-258                _______________________________________________

                                           HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 13

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State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Representatives Patrick, Fuhrman, J. Williams, Miller, Chandler, Sanders and Walker

Read first time 1/30/85 and referred to Committee on Constitution, Elections & Ethics.

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 there shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the state for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to Article II, sections 5, 6, and 7 of the Constitution of the state of Washington to read as follows:

Article II, section 5.            ((The next election of the members of the house of representatives after the adoption of this Constitution shall be on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November, eighteen hundred and ninety, and thereafter, members of the house of representatives shall be elected biennially and their term of office shall be two years; and)) In the 1986 election of members of the house of representatives, one-half of the members shall be elected for two-year terms and the remaining half shall be elected for four-year terms.  In 1988 and all subsequent election years, members of the house of representatives shall be elected for four-year terms.  Each election shall be on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, unless otherwise changed by law.

Article II, section 6.            After the first election the senators shall be elected by single districts of convenient and contiguous territory, at the same time and in the same manner as members of the house of representatives are required to be elected; and no representative district shall be divided in the formation of a senatorial district.  ((They shall be elected for the term of four years, one-half of their number retiring every two years.))

(1) In the 1986 senatorial election, twenty-five senators shall be elected as follows:  (a) Nine shall be elected for six-year terms; (b) eight shall be elected for four-year terms; and (c) eight shall be elected for two-year terms.

(2) In the 1988 senatorial election, the remaining twenty-four senate positions, as well as the eight two-year positions elected in 1986, shall be elected as follows:  (a) Sixteen senators, including senators elected to fill the eight two-year positions of 1986, shall be elected for six-year terms; (b) eight senators shall be elected for four-year terms; and (c) eight senators shall be elected for two-year terms.

(3) In 1990 and all subsequent election years, senators shall be elected for six-year terms.

(4) The senatorial districts shall be numbered consecutively((, and the senators chosen at the first election had by virtue of this Constitution, in odd numbered districts, shall go out of office at the end of the first year; and the senators, elected in the even numbered districts, shall go out of office at the end of the third year)).

Article II, section 7.            No person shall be eligible to the legislature who shall not be a citizen of the United States and a qualified voter in the district for which he is chosen.  After July 1, 1986, no person may be elected or appointed to the legislature if the person has served a total of more than twelve years in the legislature.

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the foregoing amendment shall be construed as a single amendment within the meaning of Article XXIII, section 1 of this Constitution.

          The legislature finds that the changes contained in the foregoing amendment constitute a single integrated plan for revising the terms of members of the legislature.  If the foregoing amendment is held to be separate amendments, this joint resolution shall be void in its entirety and shall be of no further force and effect.

          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.