H-3692.2  _______________________________________________

                 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 4425

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      56th Legislature     2000 Regular Session

By Representatives Morris, Dunn, Regala, Anderson, Romero, Veloria, Van Luven, Linville, Kenney, Buck, Scott, Stensen, Lovick, Cooper, Thomas, Haigh, Santos, Edmonds and McIntire

Read first time 01/12/2000.  Referred to Committee on State Government.

Creating a committee to improve tribal relations.

    WHEREAS, The members of the Washington state legislature recognize there are twenty-eight federally recognized Indian tribes located within the boundaries of Washington state with a combined population of approximately ninety-one thousand members occupying over three and a quarter million acres of land; and

    WHEREAS, Those twenty-eight tribes are operating governments with responsibilities to their citizens and their lands like those of the state to its territory and citizens; and

    WHEREAS, The relationship on an intergovernmental basis between the Washington state legislature and these Indian tribes has seen only a very limited level of development; and

    WHEREAS, Because of these limitations, there is a need to inform and educate members of the legislature and their staff on the status and operations of tribal governments and to educate and inform tribal elected officials and their staff on the operations of the legislature;

    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the House of Representatives of the state of Washington, the Senate concurring, That a joint select committee on legislative/tribal relations be established to review, study, and recommend how the legislature and tribes may develop more effective relationships and arrange for intergovernmental mechanisms in order to be able to work together on common interests and problems; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the efforts of the committee shall include a study of how other state legislatures and tribal governments handle their intergovernmental relationships and recommend methods of addressing issues that are significant in the area of state/tribal relations and that the committee may hold hearings and seek out the expertise of state and tribal agencies to understand and make recommendations on issues the committee may agree to address; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee shall consist of twelve members, to be comprised of eight state legislators and four tribal elected officials.  Four members shall be from the Senate, two from each caucus, to be appointed by the President of the Senate; four members from the House of Representatives, two from each caucus, to be appointed by the Co-Speakers of the House of Representatives; and four elected officials from among the twenty-eight federally recognized tribes, who shall be representative of the demographic, geographic, and cultural differences among the tribes, as well as other relevant variables, to be appointed by the Chair of the Association of Washington Tribes.  An ad hoc member may be designated by the Governor to be a representative of the Governor and the executive branch; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee shall be co-chaired by a legislative member and a tribal member.  The members of the legislature appointed to the committee shall select their co-chair and the tribal members of the committee shall select their co-chair, the expenses of the committee shall be paid by the legislature under chapter 44.04 RCW, staff support for the committee shall be provided by the senate committee services and house of representatives office of program research and the Northwest Indian applied research institute located at The Evergreen State College, and the committee may also call upon any of the state agencies and tribal governments to assist in research and provide information.

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