AN ACT Relating to participation and communication on public issues as part of the centennial observance by organizations and citizens; adding new sections to chapter 43.63A RCW; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature recognizes that:

(a) Government is of the people, by the people, and for the people. To properly observe the one hundredth anniversary observance of our state in 1989, all citizens who are interested should be enabled to participate and exercise their rights of freedom of speech, assembly, petition, and the right to be heard in order to celebrate, evaluate, and enhance the social, political, educational, and economic climate of our state in the future.

(b) In a democracy a primary role of citizens is to contribute their opinions, respond to the opinions of their peers, and respond to the queries of their public and private organizational leaders toward the solution of those problems which interest and concern them. Yet communication by the people to their leaders in both the public and private sectors has remained difficult and elusive. Present social processes with primary reliance upon people attending big meetings at often remote distances are usually beyond the time and energy levels of most citizens. There is growing recognition that this is a severe burden to the democratic process. Communication at such big meetings is often frustrating to both leaders and people because time allows only a few people to talk while most can only listen. Efforts to pass resolutions and amendments or move toward consensus in such traditional legislative contexts is often an emotionally draining experience for all. The result is that many people drop out of such inadequate meetings and do not participate sufficiently in their public and organizational planning processes. Lack of adequate participation by citizens devitalizes our public and private organizations and institutions and is frequently erroneously diagnosed as "apathy" among the people when actually that may not be the problem.

(c) Futures research is a process that includes the study of ways to improve the sociological and technological future. Research in pure and applied social science that has been conducted in this state over the past two decades has recently received national recognition from educators for its dynamic program in citizenship education which involves debate and social studies teachers and students nationally. This futures research has also received recognition from the national ecumenical church community and includes the experimental electronic "many-to-many" communication network, based in this state, recently established for churches. Our state has been identified by futurists such as John Nesbitt, author of "Megatrends," as one of five precursor states in social innovation. For example, we were the only state that emerged from the bicentennial celebration in 1976 with a recommendation and funding by its commission for an ongoing program and research to better enable citizens to participate in the public planning processes of government, a subtle but significant difference from the volunteerism enacted by several other state commissions.

(d) We need to use futures research as we move toward an information society, decentralization, long-term solutions, high-technology and high-touch, and networking ("Megatrends"). The representative democracy of today will contain a stronger component of participation by citizens tomorrow. These are cultural trends and cannot be stopped, only guided. The need now in this centennial period is to create a workable, essentially self-funded, citizen-participation network able to use new means of mass communication in our state as a whole: (i) To enhance public information through citizenship education, and (ii) to serve as a bridge from people to leaders. Present practices to obtain public information from governments through traditional news media are piecemeal and often insufficient to arrive at the public consensus needed for good governance or to enable citizens to be responsible. If we are successful in this effort, it will be an accomplishment and gift of our state and its citizens to our nation worthy of the commemoration of the founding of our state and the noblest of all experiments in governance-democracy.

(2) The legislature further recognizes that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and the pursuit of happiness is a right of the people and a purpose of governments. Governments are not charged with providing their citizens with all the amenities of life they feel are required for their happiness, but governments are charged with enabling their citizens to pursue their own happiness. Increased opportunities by citizens to meet and receive information, reflect and discuss information, and respond as a sounding board with their advisory opinions to their leaders, both public and private, is an important exercise of their constitutional rights and right to be heard. In turn, these rights are an important factor in fostering domestic and economic tranquility in a search for solutions to increasingly complex societal and economic problems.

(3) It is the intent of the legislature to facilitate public and private planning and decision-making processes and to strengthen the functioning of democracy in the state of Washington by widening channels of communication and fostering more positive relationships between citizens and public and private institutions. The legislature proposes a structure whereby any small group of eight to twelve citizens meeting at times and places convenient to themselves may receive public information and queries on issues and communicate back to officials, themselves, and the public-at-large their advisory opinions on those issues. It is the further intent of the legislature to create a climate through this centennial observance in which citizens can act responsibly within their abilities of time and energy to influence decisions affecting their lives and future and to exercise the rights of every citizen of freedom of speech, assembly, petition, and the right to be heard in order to celebrate, evaluate, and enhance the social, political, educational, and economic climate of Washington state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The department of community development:

(1) Shall determine suggested issues for public discussion from suggestions received from public officials, agencies, legislators, and the public and recommend an appropriate issue or issues for consideration by citizens to a steering committee. The steering committee shall be composed of one member of the minority and one member of the majority party from each house of the legislature. Other nonvoting members of the steering committee shall be: (a) A representative from the centennial commission, (b) a representative from the superintendent of public instruction, and (c) a representative from any organization participating with over fifty groups of eight to twelve persons under section 4(2) of this act;

(2) After approval by the legislative members of the steering committee, shall assign the issue or issues approved for discussion to the volunteer director of citizen assessment and public information for preparation and implementation by value reporters and others. Value reporters assigned to gather information on issues shall be careful to present all issues as evenhandedly as possible, taking care to present the generally prevailing viewpoints surrounding an issue or issues from experts, officials, and others in an effort to provide the public with information needed for discussion. Value reporters shall conduct interviews of experts, officials, and others to solicit their various viewpoints and record such interviews on audio or video tape for later reproduction and distribution to citizen groups. Before any materials are released to citizens groups, however, persons interviewed and taped shall approve their taped interview for release or complete another interview to their satisfaction, otherwise their statement shall not be included in materials sent to citizens;

(3) Shall approve the public information materials prepared by the volunteer staff and authorize its distribution to citizen councilors;

(4) Shall oversee tabulation, summarization, and dissemination of data by the volunteer staff;

(5) Shall promote to the citizens of the state the citizen councilor program and its contribution to public and private planning processes;

(6) May receive gifts and donations of real or personal property;

(7) May hire a value reporter and other paid staff if necessary to assist the volunteer staff; and

(8) May authorize the director of the volunteer staff to contract for any services such as keypunch, computer, scanning, recording, reporting, consulting, printing, and mailing to carry out this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A citizen councilor volunteer staff is created within the department of community development. The director of community development shall appoint a director of the citizen councilor volunteer staff. The director shall serve at the pleasure of the director of community development, until terminated with the approval of the steering committee, and shall be a volunteer and serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in carrying out the director's duties under sections 1 through 14 of this act as funds are available.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The director of the citizen assessment and public information volunteer staff shall:

(1) Solicit volunteers from futures research, data processing, community service, educational, civic, business, religious, and other organizations;

(2) Solicit citizen councilor organizational groups through organizational appeals to participate through subscriptions estimated at fifteen dollars per year per member;

(3) Solicit individual Washington shareholder groups by zip code at an estimated cost of ten dollars per year per citizen after five hundred organizational groups have subscribed in accordance with section 11 of this act;

(4) Assign "value reporters" to interview scholars, experts, public officials, planners, leaders, and others on tape concerning topics of discussion assigned by the department of community development;

(5) Produce audio or video cassette tapes, or both, and printed materials evenhandedly for Washington shareholder groups as authorized by the department of community development;

(6) Mail public information materials to citizen councilor conveners when authorized by the department of community development;

(7) Provide at nominal cost group mailing labels of its own conveners on request of an organization participating or to a county, municipality, or school district if a private iteration of their own constitutents is desired at their own time and expense;

(8) Scan and tabulate citizen councilor response sheets using the University of Washington academic computing services as a nonprofit, external user;

(9) Mail organizational, community, school, business, or church profiles to the leaders of participating organizations for their information and without cost when they have over fifty groups responding state-wide;

(10) Prepare summary reports of data generated and press releases;

(11) Mail summary reports to all citizen councilors; summaries plus state-wide congressional profiles to all conveners, public officials, agencies, and participating organizations; and legislative district profiles to all legislators; and

(12) Maintain data generated for public and media reference in the department of community development.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. State officials, agencies, and the legislature shall actively cooperate and participate with the department of community development and the citizen councilor volunteer staff in the posing of issues and preparation of materials for Washington councilor consideration.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The position of citizen councilor is created in accordance with section 13 of this act. Any citizen registered to vote may become a citizen councilor on request by sending a letter to the department of community development with payment of a nominal fee as set by the department. Citizen councilors shall act as advisors and a sounding board for public officials and agencies, legislative study committees, and the department of community development on issues of public interest or concern. Conveners of citizen councilor groups shall be those designated by the volunteer staff from among citizen councilors who volunteer to host a group. Because individual citizen councilors are arbitrarily assigned by zip code to groups and conveners and will meet at different times and places, every effort shall be made to reassign citizen councilors to other groups when requested by a citizen councilor for matters of personal preference or convenience. Citizens may participate:

(1) In a citizen councilor organizational group under section 8 of this act;

(2) In a citizen councilor group organized by zip code with the assistance of the volunteer staff; or

(3) As an individual if the individual is unable to attend meetings in groups due to age, disability, or remote location. The department of community development may prescribe additional fees for these citizens to share in the additional costs of their participation if funds are not available from gifts and donations under section 11 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The department of community development and volunteer staff shall actively encourage citizen councilor groups to form throughout the state. Citizen councilor groups shall consist of a minimum of eight and a maximum of twelve regularly assigned members and meet on call of their convener at times and places they deem most appropriate. Citizen councilor groups shall normally meet three or four times per year. They shall have the opportunity to listen to audio or video tapes articulating an issue of public interest or concern and study other materials prepared or authorized by the department of community development. Citizen councilors shall have the opportunity to respond anonymously making their opinions known on individual mark-sense response sheets for return to the volunteer staff for keypunching or optical scanning, tabulation, and analysis.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Eight through twelve citizens from organizations such as, but not limited to, community, civic, associations, cooperatives, unions, church, business, or school district groups may enroll as a Washington shareholder organizational group with their own convener designated. The volunteer staff shall tabulate the data separately from such groups when fifty or more groups have been enrolled from an organization. Following the organizational tabulation, the organizational data shall be included and tabulated in the state-wide citizen councilor responses. An organizational profile by congressional districts shall be provided the leaders of organizations with fifty or more groups without cost to inform them of how their members responded to public issues posed or approved by the department of community development and shall be open to public inspection in the offices of the department of community development. If additional profiles are requested by an organization of its own constituents, the policy, rules, and fees to cover such costs shall be as determined by the department of community development. Organizations with fifty or more groups may purchase mailing labels of their group conveners at nominal cost and mail their own group materials for tabulation at their own effort and expense. This data shall not be tabulated by the volunteer staff and shall not be combined with the public data nor available for public inspection at the department of community development.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Governmental units such as counties, municipalities, and others may purchase mailing labels of conveners, including organizational conveners, if they wish to utilize the network of citizen councilors within their geographical limits. Counties can obtain mailing labels of conveners within their county; municipalities and others can obtain mailing labels of conveners within specific zip codes. They then can request participation from such groups using their own materials for tabulation at their own effort and expense. The director of the volunteer staff, under rules set by the steering committee, may authorize use of the volunteer staff to advise or assist the governmental unit in its effort if volunteers are available.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Because of the strong citizenship education component under sections 1 through 14 of this act, school districts are encouraged to organize organizational groups of parents under section 8 of this act and obtain a packet of material prepared by the department of community development for high school social studies teachers. Students can listen to the tape, study and discuss the material, and hand-tabulate the percentage responses of their own class to the objective questions posed. When the congressional profile reports are returned, students can compare similarities and differences individually and as a class with those responses of their parents and citizens state-wide to widen the discussion. Tolerance of diversity of opinion and a respect for the opinions of others, which is essential in a democracy, is fostered through these constructive class discussions. Citizenship education is itself vital to the full functioning of the democratic institutions in which we all participate. The goal is to make all students aware of the responsibilities of citizenship and to communicate that: "You are an important part of society. You, your opinions, and the reasons behind them will shape the future."

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Each citizen councilor shall pay a nominal annual fee as prescribed by the department of community development to cover all costs of the program. At the time of enrollment, the fee may be waived or reduced in half by the commission if the prospective citizen councilor signs an affidavit that:

(1) He or she is unemployed, the head of his or her household is also unemployed, and a waiver of fee is needed;

(2) He or she is handicapped or sixty-five years or older and a waiver of the fee is needed; or

(3) He or she is a low-income person and needs assistance in paying one-half of the fee. It is the intention of the legislature that donations and gifts be solicited from public-spirited citizens, businesses, and foundations for the purpose of establishing scholarships to assist in covering the costs of the participation of citizen councilors who would otherwise be unable to participate or who are participating as individuals under section 6(3) of this act. However, since all costs of this program are provided by fees and donations with no funds from public sources, the department of community development shall use its discretion in granting waivers and reducing fees if scholarships or funds are not available at the time of application. Applicants shall be so advised and placed on a waiting list in the order the applications for waivers or reductions were received until such scholarships are available and can be used.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. A citizen councilor revolving fund is created and shall consist of all fees and donations collected under this chapter and any moneys appropriated to it by law for specific purposes. The state treasurer shall be custodian of the revolving fund. Disbursements from the revolving fund shall be on authorization of the department of community development or the director of the volunteer staff. In order to maintain an effective expenditure and revenue control, the citizen councilor revolving fund shall be subject in all respects to chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required to permit expenditures and payment of obligations from the fund.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. (1) The department of community development may provide the director of the volunteer staff with space in existing offices and with clerical services from existing staff to assist in establishing the citizen councilor volunteer staff. Appropriations are not required, but the director of community development may consider the services provided under this section in submitting the department's budget.

(2) The director of the volunteer staff shall seek to obtain subscriptions from citizen councilor organizational groups at fees estimated at fifteen dollars per year per member to cover the costs of the program which will vary in accordance with the volunteers who are solicited to help on the volunteer staff. When five hundred organizational groups have subscribed or when forty-five thousand dollars in donations or gifts have been received, the department of community development shall authorize the director of the volunteer staff to collect all subscriptions and gifts to provide the funding for the programs under this chapter.

(3) In the event the program under this chapter fails to support itself and is terminated by the department of community development or expires, funds remaining after payment of all outstanding expenses and disposal of equipment and supplies owned shall be deposited in the general fund.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. Sections 1 through 13 of this act shall expire June 30, 1994.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. Sections 1 through 14 of this act are each added to chapter 43.63A RCW.