ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1692
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session
By House State Government & Tribal Relations (originally sponsored by
Representatives Bergquist, Christian, Gregerson, Santos, Pollet,
Macri, and Simmons)
READ FIRST TIME 01/29/24.
1 AN ACT Relating to increasing youth engagement in the legislative
2 process by creating student advisory groups to examine issues
3 important to youth; amending RCW 43.15.095; adding a new section to
4 chapter 28A.345 RCW; adding a new chapter to Title 44 RCW; creating
5 new sections; and providing an expiration date.
6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
7 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that people
8 participating in their government is an essential part of developing
9 public policy. Familiarizing students with their representative
10 government's policy development process increases social
11 responsibility and civic awareness that will benefit them now as
12 students and later as adults, while improving our state. The
13 legislature further finds that policymakers can benefit from the
14 input of students presently in our kindergarten through grade 12
15 school system and those attending a community or technical college,
16 sharing insights and ideas on education and other issues affecting
17 youth in our state. Therefore, the legislature intends to establish
18 student councils, including 49 legislative district student councils
19 each representing one legislative district to ensure proportional and
20 geographical representation, to allow students to learn about and
p. 1 E2SHB 1692
1 participate in our representative democracy and share policy ideas
2 with their state elected officials.
3 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) A legislative district student council
4 is established in each legislative district. Legislative district
5 student councils are informal nonpartisan advisory bodies that may
6 examine issues affecting youth and education and make recommendations
7 to the legislative youth advisory council on those issues.
8 (2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall
9 select a statewide organization that provides leadership
10 opportunities to students to complete the following tasks, consistent
11 with the provisions of this act, by August 1, 2025:
12 (a) Develop processes and procedures that may be used to set up
13 legislative district student councils;
14 (b) Contribute to the development of an application and selection
15 process that may be used to select student members to serve on the
16 council, including for the position of chair for each legislative
17 district student council;
18 (c) Develop model practices regarding increasing student
19 engagement; and
20 (d) Distribute information to students in qualifying schools
21 about participating in a legislative district student council,
22 including the application process and timeline.
23 (3) Each legislative district student council is composed of no
24 more than seven student members as follows:
25 (a) One chair for each legislative district student council. The
26 organization selected in subsection (2) of this section shall select
27 the initial chairs for councils in legislative districts no later
28 than October 1, 2025. Subsequent chairs shall be selected no later
29 than June 1, 2027, and each June 1st every two years thereafter.
30 (b) One vice chair for each legislative district student council.
31 The youth civic engagement council member from the respective
32 legislative district shall serve as the vice chair for that
33 district's legislative district student council.
34 (c) To the greatest extent possible, the Washington state school
35 directors' association shall select up to two student board
36 representatives from each legislative district who attend a
37 qualifying school that serves students in any of grades nine through
38 12 and are members of the Washington state school directors'
p. 2 E2SHB 1692
 1 association's student representatives network to be members in that
2 district's legislative district student council.
3 (d)(i) At least three additional members who are under the age of
4 21 at the start of their term and attend either a qualifying school
5 that serves students in any of grades nine through 12 or a community
6 or technical college that is located within that student council's
7 legislative district.
8 (ii) Factors to consider for selection of the members described
9 in this subsection (3)(d) include:
10 (A) Balancing representation among the various grades, with at
11 least one student being in grade 11 and one being in grade 12; and
12 (B) Selecting students who have demonstrated a commitment to
13 civic education through current participation in another local youth
14 council.
15 (iii)(A) For the selection of initial members described in this
16 subsection (3)(d) for new legislative district student councils, a
17 committee consisting of the chairs of each legislative district
18 student council shall meet for the purpose of selecting members for
19 each legislative district student council from the applications
20 submitted. Initial members must be selected by November 15, 2025.
21 (B) Subsequent selection of members described in this subsection
22 (3)(d) shall be the responsibility of each legislative district
23 student council and must occur no later than October 1, 2027, and on
24 October 1st every two years thereafter.
25 (4) To the greatest extent feasible, the members of each
26 legislative district student council must attend either a qualifying
27 school that serves students in any of grades nine through 12 or a
28 community or technical college that is in their council's legislative
29 district. If there are no applicants from a legislative district,
30 eligible students who attend a qualifying school that serves students
31 in any of grades nine through 12 or a community or technical college
32 located in an adjacent legislative district may be selected for
33 membership.
34 (5) Membership terms are as follows:
35 (a) Of the chairs initially selected, each chair shall serve two-
36 year terms, except that students who are in grade 12 shall serve a
37 one-year term but may serve the full two-year term if they attend a
38 community or technical college within the student council's
39 legislative district in the following year. The term of each
p. 3 E2SHB 1692
 1 subsequent chair shall be two years, and qualifying chairs may be
2 selected for subsequent two-year terms.
3 (b) Of the members initially selected to serve on a legislative
4 district student council, two members shall serve one-year terms, and
5 all other members shall serve two-year terms. Members initially
6 selected to serve on a legislative district student council who are
7 in grade 12 shall serve a one-year term but may serve the full two-
8 year term if they attend a community or technical college within the
9 student council's legislative district in the following year. The
10 term of each subsequent eligible member shall be two years, and
11 members may be selected for subsequent two-year terms.
12 (c) In the case of a vacancy, the selection of a student member
13 to fill the remainder of an unexpired term must be conducted in the
14 same manner as the original appointment.
15 (6) Each student council may not conduct more than four in-person
16 meetings, with one of the in-person meetings occurring in person in
17 Olympia on the day of youth civic education organized by the
18 legislative youth advisory council, in collaboration with the student
19 representative network, pursuant to RCW 43.15.095(6)(e). The student
20 councils are encouraged to use technology, such as remote
21 videoconferencing technology, to conduct additional virtual meetings.
22 (7) The legislature, any agency of the legislature, and any
23 official or employee of such office or agency is immune from
24 liability for any injury that is incurred by or caused by a member of
25 the legislative district student council and that occurs while the
26 member of the council is performing duties of the council. The
27 immunity provided by this subsection does not apply to an injury
28 intentionally caused by the act or omission of an employee or
29 official of the office of the legislature or any agency of the
30 legislature.
31 (8) When engaging in outreach and recruiting efforts to educate
32 students and schools about opportunities to participate in a
33 legislative district student council, and when creating an
34 application and selection process as described in subsection (2) of
35 this section, the lieutenant governor, the organization selected in
36 subsection (2) of this section, and the Washington state school
37 directors' association, as applicable, shall comply with the
38 principles of the state pro-equity antiracism plan and playbook
39 developed by the office of equity to bridge opportunity gaps, reduce
40 disparities, and increase diversity of student membership.
p. 4 E2SHB 1692
1 (9) As used in this section:
2 (a) "Qualifying school" means a public school as defined in RCW
3 28A.150.010, a private school approved under chapter 28A.195 RCW, or
4 home-based instruction as defined in RCW 28A.225.010.
5 (b) "Student board representative" has the same meaning as in
6 section 4 of this act.
7 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The organization selected in section
8 2(2) of this act shall, by December 31, 2025, and in compliance with
9 RCW 43.01.036, submit a report to the legislature that details the
10 following:
11 (a) The number of legislative district student councils that have
12 been established pursuant to section 2 of this act;
13 (b) The legislative district of each legislative district student
14 council;
15 (c) A list of schools represented on legislative district student
16 councils;
17 (d) Grade levels represented on legislative district student
18 councils; and
19 (e) The demographics of student members on each legislative
20 district student council. The data must be disaggregated by
21 categories listed in RCW 28A.642.010 and by legislative district
22 student council.
23 (2) This section expires January 31, 2026.
24 NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 28A.345
25 RCW to read as follows:
26 (1) The Washington state school directors' association shall form
27 a student representative network to examine issues important to youth
28 and engage student school board representatives in the legislative
29 process.
30 (2) Subject to the supervision of the Washington state school
31 directors' association, the duties of the student representative
32 network are as follows:
33 (a) Advise the legislature through feedback and testimony on
34 proposed and pending legislation, including policy matters relating
35 to youth;
36 (b) Advise the standing committees of the legislature and study
37 commissions, committees, and task forces through feedback and
38 testimony on issues relating to youth;
p. 5 E2SHB 1692
 1 (c) Collaborate with the legislative youth advisory council
2 established under RCW 43.15.095 to organize an in-person annual day
3 of youth civic education in Olympia;
4 (d) Develop and assemble resources for new and existing student
5 board representatives;
6 (e) Provide writing, photos, and other content for the Washington
7 state school directors' association publications in consultation with
8 Washington state school directors' association staff;
9 (f) Collaborate with the Washington state school directors'
10 association standing committees, advisory committees, task forces,
11 and caucuses as invited; and
12 (g) Provide additional student voices at Washington state school
13 directors' association events in consultation with Washington state
14 school directors' association staff.
15 (3) When acting on behalf of the student representative network,
16 advocacy position and policy recommendations from network members
17 shall be in accordance with the Washington state school directors'
18 association's approved positions. When acting on behalf of individual
19 school districts, legislative district student councils, or the
20 legislative youth advisory council established under RCW 43.15.095,
21 advocacy positions and policy recommendations made by network members
22 are considered independent from the Washington state school
23 directors' association.
24 (4) In supporting the student representative network, the
25 Washington state school directors' association shall provide network
26 members with the ability to learn about education policy issues and
27 determine best practices for establishing and supporting student
28 councils. Additionally, the Washington state school directors'
29 association shall facilitate a connection between network members and
30 the legislators in their legislative districts.
31 (5) All student board representatives are members of the student
32 representative network. The Washington state school directors'
33 association shall engage in outreach annually to each school district
34 to provide information about the student representative network. To
35 the greatest extent feasible, the Washington state school directors'
36 association shall identify at least one student board representative
37 from each legislative district to participate in the student
38 representative network. In legislative districts where there are no
39 established student board representatives, the Washington state
40 school directors' association shall communicate with school districts
p. 6 E2SHB 1692
 1 to create awareness of and share best practices about the role and to
2 encourage participation.
3 (6) The Washington state school directors' association shall
4 invite legislators to participate in the student representative
5 network in an advisory capacity.
6 (7) The student representative network shall meet at least four
7 times per year. The number of in-person meetings may not exceed four.
8 (8) The Washington state school directors' association, the
9 legislature, any agency of the legislature, and any official or
10 employee of such office or agency is immune from liability for any
11 injury that is incurred by or caused by a member of the student
12 representative network and that occurs while the member of the
13 network is performing duties of the network or is otherwise engaged
14 in activities or receiving services for which reimbursement is
15 allowed under RCW 43.15.095(8). The immunity provided by this
16 subsection does not apply to an injury intentionally caused by the
17 act or omission of an employee or official of the Washington state
18 school directors' association, the legislature, or any agency of the
19 legislature.
20 (9) In compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the student representative
21 network, in consultation and with the support of Washington state
22 school directors' association staff, shall report on December 1st of
23 each year to the appropriate committees of the legislature on the
24 number of student board representatives in Washington and the
25 activities of the network.
26 (10) As used in this section, "student board representative"
27 means a student who is recognized by their local school board as a
28 representative of the student body serving on that board.
29 Sec. 5. RCW 43.15.095 and 2022 c 96 s 6 are each amended to read
30 as follows:
31 (1) The legislative youth advisory council is established to
32 examine issues of importance to youth, including but not limited to
33 education, employment, strategies to increase youth participation in
34 state and municipal government, safe environments for youth,
35 substance abuse, emotional and physical health, foster care, poverty,
36 homelessness, and youth access to services on a statewide and
37 municipal basis.
38 (2) The council consists of at least ((twenty-two)) 22 members as
39 provided in this subsection who, at the time of appointment, are
p. 7 E2SHB 1692
 1 ((aged)) age ((fourteen to eighteen)) 14 to 18. The council shall
2 select a chair from among its members.
3 (3) Members shall serve two-year terms and, if eligible, may be
4 reappointed for subsequent two-year terms.
5 (4)(a) Students may apply annually to be considered for
6 participation in the program by completing an online application form
7 and submitting the application to the legislative youth advisory
8 council. The council may develop selection criteria and an
9 application review process. The council shall recommend candidates
10 whose names will be submitted to the office of the lieutenant
11 governor for final selection. The office of the lieutenant governor
12 shall notify all applicants of the final selections.
13 (b) The office of the lieutenant governor shall make the
14 application available on the lieutenant governor's website.
15 (5) Information about participat