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                       ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 4220

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State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By House Committee on Capital Facilities & Financing (originally sponsored by Representatives Braddock, Belcher, H. Sommers, Jacobsen, Valle, Grant, Locke, Silver, May, McLean, Youngsman, Brekke, Cantwell, Cole, Basich, Anderson, Betrozoff, Schoon, Rector, Vekich, Nelson, Dorn, Inslee, Leonard and Sprenkle)

Read first time 3/1/89.

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 XIV, section 1 of the Constitution of the state of Washington to read as follows:

Article XIV, section 1.         The legislature shall have no power to change, or to locate the seat of government of this state((; but the question of the permanent location of the seat of government of the state shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the Territory, at the election to be held for the adoption of this Constitution.  A majority of all the votes cast at said election, upon said question, shall be necessary to determine the permanent location of the seat of government for the state; and no place shall ever be the seat of government which shall not receive a majority of the votes cast on that matter.  In case there shall be no choice of location at said first election the legislature shall, at its first regular session after the adoption of this Constitution, provide for submitting to the qualified electors of the state, at the next succeeding general election thereafter, the question of choice of location between the three places for which the highest number of votes shall have been cast at the said first election.  Said legislature shall provide further that in case there shall be no choice of location at said second election, the question of choice between the two places for which the highest number of votes shall have been cast, shall be submitted in like manner to the qualified electors of the state at the next ensuing general election:  PROVIDED, That until the seat of government shall have been permanently located as herein provided, the temporary location thereof shall remain at the city of Olympia)).

The seat of government shall remain within the limits of the city of Olympia as of the effective date of this amendment.  Except as provided in subsections (1), (2), and (3) of this section or elsewhere in this Constitution, the legislative department, the executive department, and the supreme court shall remain located within the seat of government.

(1) The heads and core administrative functions of executive departments or agencies not directly administered by state-wide elective offices may be located anywhere within the boundaries of the county in which the seat of government is located.

(2) Upon request of the governor, the legislature may provide by law that the head and core administrative functions of an executive department or agency not directly administered by a state-wide elective office be located outside the county in which the seat of government is located, but only if those functions cannot adequately be administered from within such county because of insufficient public access, an inability to hire or maintain qualified personnel, or significant cost inefficiencies.

(3) The location of branch offices of the legislative department, the executive department, and the supreme court shall not be restricted to within the seat of government or the county within which the seat of government is located except as provided by law.

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.