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 VII of the Constitution of the state of Washington by adding a new section to read as follows:

Article VII, section . . .. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution, the following tax exemption is allowed as to real property:

(a) The legislature may, by appropriate legislation, provide a homestead exemption from property taxes levied for state purposes on the real property occupied as a principal residence by those owners. The exempt value must be stated in a dollar amount and must be uniform across all real property occupied as a principal residence by the owner. The homestead exemption may not shift property taxes levied for state purposes. The state levy must be reduced as necessary to prevent the value exempted under the homestead exemption from resulting in a higher tax rate than would have occurred in the absence of the homestead exemption.

(b) The legislature may also, by appropriate legislation, provide a renter's credit to qualified residential tenants. The renter's credit must be in the form of a refund of a portion of the rent paid by qualifying tenants on their primary residence. The amount of a renter's credit for a tenant may not exceed the maximum amount of tax reduction provided by the homestead property tax exemption authorized under subsection (a) of this section.

(c) The legislature may place other restrictions and conditions upon granting the homestead exemption and renter's credit as it deems proper.

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.