S-3821               _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 6721

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By Senators McDonald, Stratton, Sellar, McMullen, Hayner, Vognild, McCaslin, Hansen, Bailey, Cantu, West, Johnson, Barr and Nelson

Read first time 1/24/90 and referred to Committee on  Governmental Operations.

AN ACT Relating to initiative petitions; amending RCW 29.79.120; providing an effective date; and providing for submission of this act to a vote of the people.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 29.79.120, chapter 9, Laws of 1965 as amended by section 12, chapter 116, Laws of 1982 and RCW 29.79.120 are each amended to read as follows:

          When the person proposing any initiative measure has secured upon such initiative petition a number of signatures of legal voters equal to or exceeding eight percent of the votes cast for the office of governor at the last regular gubernatorial election prior to the submission of the signatures for verification, or when the person or organization demanding any referendum of an act of the legislature or any part thereof has secured upon any such referendum petition a number of signatures of legal voters equal to or exceeding four percent of the votes cast for the office of governor at the last regular gubernatorial election prior to the submission of the signatures for verification, he or they may submit the petition to the secretary of state for filing.  In the case of an initiative petition, at least eighty percent of the minimum number of signatures required for an initiative under this section shall be from voters evenly distributed among the state's congressional districts.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     This act shall take effect January 1, 1991, if the proposed amendment to Article II, section 1 of the state Constitution, requiring geographical distribution of initiative signatures, is submitted to and is approved and ratified by the voters at the general election held in November 1990.  If the proposed amendment is not so approved and ratified, this act is void in its entirety.