BILL REQ. #:  S-0294.4 

Read first time 01/14/11.   Referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

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

     Article XXX, section 1. The compensation of all elective and appointive state, county, and municipal officers who do not fix their own compensation, including judges of courts of record and the justice courts may be increased or decreased during their terms of office to the end that such officers and judges shall each severally receive compensation for their services in accordance with the law in effect at the time the services are being rendered.
     If the compensation of any state employee who does not hold an elected, appointed, or judicial position, is reduced by the legislature as part of budget reduction legislation, the compensation of all elective and appointive state officers, whether they fix or do not fix their own compensation, including judges of courts of record and the justice courts must, immediately following the enactment of any such legislation, be decreased by the percentage or in the same manner specified in such legislation.
     If the compensation of any local or municipal employee who does not hold an elected, appointed, or judicial position is reduced by the legislative authority of that jurisdiction as part of a budget reduction measure, that legislative authority may provide, following the enactment of any such measure, that the compensation of all elective and appointive county and municipal officers, whether they fix or do not fix their own compensation, including judges of courts of record and the justice courts may be decreased by the percentage or in the same manner specified in such measure.
     If the legislature prohibits an increase in the compensation of any state employee within their jurisdiction who does not hold an elected, appointed, or judicial position, the compensation of all elective and appointive state officers, whether they fix or do not fix their own compensation, including judges of courts of record and the justice courts may not, as of the effective date of such legislation, be increased for the same time period and circumstances specified in such legislation.
     If a legislative authority prohibits an increase in the compensation of any local or municipal employee within their jurisdiction who does not hold an elected, appointed, or judicial position, that legislative authority may provide, as of the effective date of such ordinance, that the compensation of all elective and appointive county and municipal officers, whether they fix or do not fix their own compensation, including judges of courts of record and the justice courts cannot be increased for the same time period and circumstances specified in such ordinance.
     The provisions of section 25 of Article II (Amendment 35), section 25 of Article III (Amendment 31), section 13 of Article IV, section 8 of Article XI, and section 1 of Article XXVIII (Amendment 20) insofar as they are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of state shall cause notice of this constitutional amendment to be published at least four times during the four weeks next preceding the election in every legal newspaper in the state.