H-1346.2  _______________________________________________

                    HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 4216

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2001 Regular Session

By Representatives Lambert and Hunt

Read first time 02/09/2001.  Referred to Committee on State Government.

Allowing job sharing by elected officials.

    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 the secretary of state shall submit to the qualified voters of the state for their approval and ratification, or rejection, an amendment to Article I of the Constitution of the state of Washington by adding a new section to read as follows:

    Article I, section ...  (1) All legislative and statewide elective offices in the executive branch may be held jointly by two qualified persons as job-share officials.  Persons wishing to hold an office as job-share officials shall file for election to the office as job-share candidates.  Persons wishing to be job-share candidates shall enter into a binding agreement under subsection (2) of this section, and shall submit the agreement when filing for office.  Persons who have not filed for election as job-share candidates may not hold office as job-share officials.

    (2) Each job-share agreement entered into under this section must:

    (a) Specify how the responsibilities of the office will be divided among the job-share officials;

    (b) Specify how executive decisions will be made by the job-share officials;

    (c) Specify how the benefits of the office will be divided, including but not limited to salary, vacation time, per diem, office space, insurance, and retirement.  The agreement may contain provisions allowing the job-share officials to pay an amount to maintain full insurance and retirement benefits;

    (d) Specify the approximate percentage of time each official will spend fulfilling the duties of the office;

    (e) Be available for public inspection.

    (3) In the event of the death of a job-share official during his or her term of office, the surviving official shall assume the full duties and responsibilities of the office for the remainder of the term.  In the event of the death of both job-share officials during their term of office, the vacancy must be handled in the manner prescribed for the office by this constitution.

    (4) Job-share candidates appearing on an election ballot must be listed together along with the percentage of time each job-share candidate will spend fulfilling the duties of the job-share office as indicated in the job-share agreement required by subsection (2) of this section.

    (5) The legislature shall enact laws providing for the implementation of this section with respect to statewide elected officials, and shall enact rules providing for the implementation of this section with respect to members of the legislature.

    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.

                            --- END ---