The
Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Washington. It is a bipartisan, bicameral body, composed of the
lowerA lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
Washington House of RepresentativesThe Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, the legislature of the U.S. State of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 districts, each of which elects two members. All members of the House are elected to a two-year term without...
, composed of 98 Representatives, and the
upperAn upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...
Washington State SenateThe Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 senators, each representing a district with a population of nearly 120,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympia....
, with 49 Senators.
The State Legislature meets in the Legislative Building at the
Washington State CapitolThe Washington State Capitol or Legislative Building in Olympia is the home of the government of the state of Washington. It contains chambers for the Washington State Legislature and offices for the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and treasurer and is part of a campus consisting...
in Olympia.
History
The Washington State Legislature traces its ancestry to the creation of the
Washington TerritoryThe Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
in 1853, following successful arguments from settlers north of the
Columbia RiverThe Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
to the
U.S. federal governmentThe federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
to legally separate from the
Oregon TerritoryThe Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
. The Washington Territorial Assembly, as the newly-created area's bicameral legislature, convened the following year. The legislature represented settlers from the Straits of Juan de Fuca to modern
MontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
.
The Female Voting Franchise
From nearly the start of the territory, arguments over giving
women the right to voteWomen's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
dogged legislative proceedings. While some legislators carried genuine concerns over women deserving the right to vote, most legislators pragmatically believed that giving women suffrage would entice more
EasternThe East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
women to immigrate to the remote and sparsely populated territory. In 1854, only six years after the
Seneca Falls ConventionThe Seneca Falls Convention was an early and influential women's rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York, July 19–20, 1848. It was organized by local New York women upon the occasion of a visit by Boston-based Lucretia Mott, a Quaker famous for her speaking ability, a skill rarely...
, the issue was brought to a vote by the legislature. Women's suffrage was defeated by a single vote.
A decade later, the
Wyoming LegislatureThe Wyoming State Legislature is the legislative branch of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is a bicameral state legislature, consisting of a 60 member Wyoming House of Representatives, and a 30 member Wyoming Senate. The legislature meets at the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne...
would become the first body in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to grant women's suffrage in 1869.
The issue over female suffrage did not diminish. In 1871
Susan B. AnthonySusan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...
and Thurston County Representative
Daniel BigelowDaniel Bigelow was a pioneer lawyer and politician in Olympia, Washington.-Biography:Daniel Richardson Bigelow was born March 24, 1824, in Belleville, New York. He graduated from Union College in 1846 and attended Harvard law school from 1847 to 1849. After graduation he began practice in...
addressed the legislature on the issue. In 1883, the issue returned to the floor, this time with the Territorial Assembly successfully passing universal suffrage for women. It quickly became one of the most liberal voting laws in the nation, giving female African-American voters the voting franchise for the first time in the U.S.. However in 1887, the territorial
Washington Supreme CourtThe Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington. The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and eight Justices. of the Court are elected to six-year terms...
ruled the 1883 universal suffrage act as unconstitutional in
Harland v. Washington. Another attempt by the legislature to regrant universal female suffrage was again overturned in 1888.
After two failed voter referendums in 1889 and 1898, the now-Washington State Legislature approved full female voting rights in 1910.
Statehood
With more than two decades of pressure on federal authorities to authorize statehood, on February 22, 1889, the U.S. Congress passed the
Enabling ActThe Enabling Act of 1889 is a United States statute that enabled North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington to form state governments and to gain admission as states of the union....
, signed into law by outgoing
President Grover ClevelandStephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
, authorizing the territories of Washington,
North DakotaNorth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
,
South DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, and
MontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
to form state governments. The Territorial Assembly set out to convene a constitutional convention to write a
state constitutionThe 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...
.
Following its successful passage by the legislature, Washington voters approved the new document on October 1. On November 11, 1889,
President Benjamin HarrisonBenjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
authorized Washington to become the
42nd state of United States. It was the last
West CoastWest Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
state of the Continental U.S. to achieve statehood. The modern Washington State Legislature was created.
Meetings
The bicameral body is composed of legislators, beginning the legislative session annually on the second Monday in January. In odd-numbered years, when the state budget is debated upon, the State Legislature meets for 105 days, and in even-numbered years for 60 days. The Governor of Washington, if necessary, can call legislators in for a special session for a 30-day period at any time in the year. Legislators also can call themselves into special session by a two-thirds vote by both the House of Representatives and the State Senate.
Television coverage
Debates within both the House and Senate, as well as committee meetings and other special events within or relating to the legislature are broadcast throughout Washington on
TVWTVW is Washington's public affairs network, providing gavel-to-gavel coverage of Washington State Legislature sessions and coverage of the Washington State Supreme Court and public affairs events. It is widely considered the model state level equivalent of C-SPAN. TVW was founded in 1993 by...
, the state public affairs network. Debates can also be found on the web at TVW.org.
See also
- Washington State Capitol
The Washington State Capitol or Legislative Building in Olympia is the home of the government of the state of Washington. It contains chambers for the Washington State Legislature and offices for the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and treasurer and is part of a campus consisting...
- Washington House of Representatives
The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, the legislature of the U.S. State of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 districts, each of which elects two members. All members of the House are elected to a two-year term without...
- Washington State Senate
The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 senators, each representing a district with a population of nearly 120,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympia....
Further reading
Available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection
External links