Senate Joint Resolution 8200 (2019), also known as SJR 8200, is a proposed amendment to the

Constitution of Washington The Constitution of the State of Washington is the document that describes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. State of Washington. The constitution was adopted as part of Washington Territory's path to statehood in 1889. An e ...

that, if enacted, would extend to the

Washington Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 Representatives, and the upper Washington State Senat ...

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

be rendered no longer usable. It was passed by Washington voters in the November, 2019 general election.

Background

The whole of Washington abuts the

Cascadia Subduction Zone The Cascadia subduction zone is a convergent plate boundary that stretches from northern Vancouver Island in Canada to Northern California in the United States. It is a very long, sloping subduction zone where the Explorer, Juan de Fuca, and ...

. According to ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', predictive modeling of the next full rupture of the zone anticipates it would result in the "worst natural disaster in the history" of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The United States'

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

predicts 40,000 casualties and the displacement of one million persons would result from a rupture.

Amendment

In 2019, House Joint Resolution 4200 was passed by the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

by a vote of 91-7, followed by the Senate version of the same bill - Senate Joint Resolution 8200 - by the

Washington Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympi ...

in a vote of 37-11. Having achieved the minimum two-thirds required in both chambers, it moved to ratification by public referendum to be held in the scheduled general election of November 2019. It was approved on November 5, 2019. SJR 8200 amends Article II, Section 42 of the Constitution of Washington to extend to the

extraordinary powers during a "catastrophic incident", including the authority to fill constitutionally-established offices in the event the entire lines of succession to those offices had been wiped out, and to designate a new capital city should Olympia be rendered no longer usable. The Constitution of Washington presently authorizes the Legislature to take similar actions in the event of an "enemy attack" against the state's territory; SJR 8200 was proposed to increase the breadth of situations in which the Legislature could take extraordinary measures to preserve government, specifically due to concerns of an exigency involving the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Opponents of the amendment, including Senator

Bob Hasegawa Robert Alan Hasegawa (born September 22, 1952) is an American labor leader and politician serving as a member of the Washington State Senate, representing the 11th Legislative District since January 2013. Hasegawa is a lifelong resident of Seatt ...

, have argued that its language was too broad and too vague and could be used by an abusive Governor to seize sweeping powers. Supporters of the amendment, such as Senator Dean Takko, have declaimed such concerns as unrealistic.

References

{{reflist, 2 Continuity of government in the United States

Background

Amendment

See also

References