HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1632

BYRepresentatives Haugen, Brough, Nutley, Doty, Cooper, Nelson, Rayburn, Zellinsky, Jacobsen, Hine, Ferguson, Moyer, May, Silver,D. Sommers, Unsoeld and Butterfield; by request of Washington State Local Governance Commission

Providing for citizens' committee to review local governments.

House Committe on Local Government

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  (13)

      Signed by Representatives Haugen, Chair; Cooper, Vice Chair; Beck, Bumgarner, Butterfield, Ferguson, Hine, Jones, Nealey, Nelson, Nutley, Rayburn and Zellinsky.

House Staff:Steve Lundin (786-7127)

Rereferred House Committee on Ways & Means/Appropriations

Majority Report:  The substitute bill by Committee on Local Government as amended by Committee on Ways & Means/Appropriations do pass.  (21)

      Signed by Representatives Locke, Chair; Belcher, Braddock, Brekke, Bristow, Brough, Butterfield, Fuhrman, Grant, Grimm, Hine, Holland, Nealey, Peery, Sayan, Silver, H. Sommers, Spanel, Sprenkle, Wang and B. Williams.

House Staff:      Rick Wickman and Susan Kavanaugh (786-7136)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON WAYS & MEANS/APPROPRIATIONS

FEBRUARY 6, 1988

BACKGROUND:

The Local Governance Study Commission was established in 1986 to study local government in the state and make recommendations to the Legislature for changes in laws that were felt to be necessary.  This commission has twenty-one members, and three ex- officio, nonvoting, members.  The twenty-one members consist of four Senators, four Representatives, four city elected officials, four county elected officials, and five persons representing special districts.  The ex-officio, nonvoting, members were the director of the Department of Community Affairs, who chaired the meetings, and the executive directors of the Association of Washington Cities and the Washington State Association of Counties.

This legislation is one of the recommendations from this commission.

Constitutional provisions provide procedures by which: (1) a charter can be approved by the voters of a city of a certain minimum population to alter the governing body and officials of the city government; (2) a charter can be approved by the voters of any county to alter the governing body and officials of the county government; and (3) a charter can be adopted to alter powers and governing bodies of any government or governments within the county.

SUMMARY:

SUBSTITUTE BILL:  This legislation partially implements HJR 4227 by establishing a process for a temporary group of voters to be elected within each county to review local governments within that county and possibly present proposals for altering local governments to the voters for their approval or rejection.  An advisory group of local government elected officials would assist each of these temporary groups of local voters in their deliberations.  A proposal that is submitted to voters for their approval or rejection could relate to the formation, retention, boundaries, and powers or local governments.  Provision must be made for such a group of voters to be elected from, and develop proposals affecting, an area greater than a single county.

A temporary citizens' review committee can be created in any county through various procedures, but must be created in 1998 if the process was not previously invoked, or ten years after the last time a citizens' review committee was created.

A temporary citizens' review committee is composed of both persons directly elected to the committee and local government officials appointed to the committee and who act only in an advisory capacity.  The size of a committee varies with the population of the county.  The local government elected officials include county officials, city and town officials, and special district officials.

A temporary citizens' review committee may submit ballot propositions to voters county-wide or less than county-wide that provide for any change in local government, including the dissolution of a local government, transfer of powers between local governments, transfers of revenues between local governments, consolidation of local governments, or creation of new units of local government, except that school districts cannot be affected by any change.  Ballot propositions are submitted at general elections.

Any change is approved by majority vote of the voters voting on the proposal, except that a proposal for the dissolution of a local government shall not be effective if voters within that local government disapprove the proposition by a sixty percent or larger vote.

A committee is not required to make any proposals for change, and can disband itself.  The county legislative authority can dissolve a committee that has not forwarded a proposal within 365 days of the election of its members.  A committee cannot exist for longer than 730 days after the election of its members.

Provision is made for the joining, in whole or in part, or two or more committees from adjacently located counties and for the submission of proposals affecting a greater than single county area.

Assistance from the department of community development shall be as follows: (1) grants shall be made to assist in the development of these agreements; (2) the preparation of model charters that could be used by a committee; and (3) the use of financial incentives is authorized that are included in legislation that is not drafted.

Seven hundred forty-thousand dollars is appropriated from the general fund to the department of community development to implement this act.

This legislation is effective only if the constitutional amendment relating to processes to alter local governments (HJR 4227) is approved by the voters.

SUBSTITUTE BILL COMPARED TO ORIGINAL:  The appropriation was reduced.  Provision is made for county executives and city mayors to appoint elected officials to a temporary committee, instead of the governing body making the appointments.

CHANGES PROPOSED BY COMMITTEE ON WAYS & MEANS/APPROPRIATIONS: Eliminated appropriation of $750,000 for biennium ending June 30, 1989.

Fiscal Note:      Requested February 1, 1988.

Effective Date:This legislation is effective only if the constitutional amendment relating to processes to alter local governments (HJR 4227) is approved by the voters.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    (Local Government) Chuck Clark, Director, Dept. of Community Development; Ray Hill, Washington State Grange; Jim Metcalf, Wash. State Assn. of Counties; Joe Tovar, Wash. Assn. of City Planning Directors; Jesse Anderson, Local Governance Study Commission; Jeannette Williams, Seattle City Council; Paul Grattet, City of Vancouver; and Andrew Maron, Westhill Water District.

(Ways & Means/Appropriations) Mike McCormick, Department of Community Development.

House Committee - Testified Against:      (Local Government) None Presented.

(Ways & Means/Appropriations) None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    (Local Government) This provides a mandate for local governments and citizens to look at their local governments and change them if desirable. Our structure of local government is almost impossible to change at present.  Some of the types of changes possible under this are occurring now.

Statutory authority for local governments to develop alternative governmental structure, create local advisory bodies to review and propose alternative structures, and define governmental powers and duties should be enacted.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      (Local Government) This should not be mandatory.

(Ways & Means/Appropriations) None Presented.