27-623: The Port District Act is a law enacted by the State Legislature of the U.S. state of Washington in 1911, that enabled citizens to establish public port districts to develop and operate harbors and related transportation facilities. The Act is part of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) as Title 53 . The first port district established under the new law was the Port of Seattle , with Hiram M. Chittenden , Robert Bridges, and Charles Remsberg as
54-724: A 58–40 majority in the House of Representatives and a 29–20 majority in the Senate. The Washington State Legislature traces its ancestry to the creation of the Washington Territory in 1853, following successful arguments from settlers north of the Columbia River to the U.S. federal government to legally separate from the Oregon Territory . The Washington Territorial Assembly, as the newly created area's bicameral legislature, convened
81-477: A founder of the nonpartisan National Council of Women Voters (NCWV), which was composed of women from the five equal suffrage states of Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Washington. The NCWV was created in order to assist states with no suffrage movements, to improve conditions in the five member states, and to improve women's political, social, and economic status. Before the March 1919 NAWSA convention, DeVoe approved
108-706: A month, gathering cash collections from rallies and dues from the eight new local organizations she helped start. In one of her earliest stops in Kentucky, she brought much needed national support to the beleaguered members of the Madison County Equal Rights Association—one of the first permanent suffrage clubs in the South. In the club's report to KERA regarding DeVoe's lecture at the courthouse in Richmond on October 9, 1897, Kate Rose Wiggins wrote that DeVoe
135-712: A plan to merge the NCWV with the NAWSA's successor, the National League of Women Voters . Historians often refer to the NCWV as an early prototype of the LWV. Forging connections with both Republicans and Democrats, DeVoe eventually was able to convince the Washington legislature to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. DeVoe chose to become a very politically active Republican after
162-478: A special 30-day session at any time. Legislators also can call themselves into special session by a two-thirds vote by both the House of Representatives and the State Senate. 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 TVW , the state public affairs network. Debates can also be found on
189-475: Is set at 89% of the federal per diem rate and is $ 185 as of 2022. Emma Smith DeVoe Emma Smith DeVoe ( née Smith ; August 22, 1848 – September 3, 1927) was an American women suffragist in the early twentieth century, changing the face of politics for both women and men alike. When she died, the Tacoma News Tribune called her Washington state's "Mother of Women's Suffrage ". DeVoe
216-459: Is then held alongside November general elections. Where a district spans counties, the state central committee of the party selects the candidates and the boards of county commissioners of all the counties jointly choose one. As of July 2022, legislators receive an annual salary of $ 57,876. The Speaker of the House and Senate majority leader receive salaries of $ 66,016, while the House and Senate minority leaders receive salaries of $ 61,946. Per diem
243-660: The 42nd state of United States . It was the last West Coast state of the Continental U.S. to achieve statehood. The modern Washington State Legislature was created. 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 can call legislators in for
270-620: The Wyoming Legislature would become the first body in the United States to grant women's suffrage in 1869. The issue over female suffrage did not diminish. In 1871 Susan B. Anthony and Thurston County Representative Daniel Bigelow 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
297-737: The upper Washington State Senate , with 49 Senators plus the Lieutenant Governor acting as president. The state is divided into 49 legislative districts, each of which elect one senator and two representatives. The State Legislature meets in the Legislative Building at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia . As of January 2023, Democrats control both houses of the Washington State Legislature. Democrats hold
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#1732859097482324-588: The 1909 NAWSA convention, due to complaints from a number of members of the Washington Equal Suffrage Association over the tactics DeVoe used to be elected president, DeVoe lost her salary from NAWSA. Nonetheless, she continued her battle for women's suffrage in Washington, and in November 1910 the voters approved women's suffrage by a margin of two to one. In 1911, after her rebuff by NAWSA followed by her successes in Washington state, DeVoe became
351-476: The Washington Equal Suffrage Association she added new tactics such as penny posters, rallies, parades, publicity stunts, and different speeches to cater to the Washington campaign's needs. She published the Washington Women's Cook Book in 1908 in part as a fundraiser for the suffragist movement and also to demonstrate that gaining the right to vote would not change women's domestic role. The title page of
378-486: The cookbook read: "Give us the vote and we will cook/ The better for a wide outlook." Reinforcing that women would not abandon their domestic duties upon gaining the right to vote, as was the fear of many men at the time, was a key strategy in Emma's campaign. These methods and her stance led to women winning the right to vote in 1910 by a 64% majority, making Washington the fifth state in the country to grant women's suffrage. At
405-597: The demanding years of working for the suffrage movement passed. At the Republican State convention in 1920, she was the only woman to be chosen as a presidential elector. She later began writing a Republican column from the women's point of view for the Tacoma News Tribune , and was eventually made vice-chairman of the Washington State Republican Party. She was one of the first people to propose
432-473: The first Port Commissioners. Also in 1911, the Port of Grays Harbor was established. The Port was a breeding ground for scientific discovery and a renaissance of the time. Washington State Legislature Minority Caucus Minority 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
459-486: The following year. The legislature represented settlers from the Strait of Juan de Fuca to modern Montana . From nearly the start of the territory, arguments over giving women the right to vote 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 Eastern women to immigrate to
486-636: The most liberal voting laws in the nation, giving female African-American voters the voting franchise for the first time in the United States. However, in 1887, the territorial Washington Supreme Court 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 1897, activism led by Emma Smith DeVoe and May Arkwright Hutton , among others, led
513-504: The remote and sparsely populated territory. In 1854, only six years after the Seneca Falls Convention , the issue was brought to a vote by the legislature. Women's suffrage was defeated in a tied vote of 9 to 9 (an absolute majority, or 10 votes, was needed to pass laws). This was due to one legislator voting against this bill because he had an American Indian wife and only white women would have been able to vote. A decade later,
540-595: The right to vote in 1896 thanks to her kind but effective speechmaking skills. She eventually gave speeches and organized new suffrage groups in 28 states and territories. For example, the National American Woman Suffrage Association sent her to Kentucky where she traveled the state from October 7 to November 3, 1897. Coordinating her tour with the Kentucky Equal Rights Association (KERA), she worked in 15 cities in less than
567-467: The state legislature to approve the state constitutional amendment granting full female voting rights, which Washington's (male) voters ratified in 1910 by a vote of 52,299 to 29,676. With more than two decades of pressure on federal authorities to authorize statehood, on February 22, 1889, the U.S. Congress passed the Enabling Act , signed into law by outgoing President Grover Cleveland , authorizing
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#1732859097482594-544: The statement, "There is nothing in the Constitution of the United States that should prevent women the right of franchise." The DeVoes moved to Tacoma, Washington in 1905. In 1906, she was named president of the Washington Equal Suffrage Association, taking over the revival of the movement. She worked as a paid organizer under Anna Howard Shaw and National American Woman Suffrage Association , where she organized chapters of suffragists, set up meetings, and gave lectures. At
621-458: The territories of Washington , North Dakota , South Dakota , and Montana to form state governments. The Territorial Assembly set out to convene a constitutional convention to write a state constitution . Following its successful passage by the legislature, Washington voters approved the new document on October 1. On November 11, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison authorized Washington to become
648-429: The web at TVW.org. Unlike some state legislatures, the Washington State Legislature does not hold a special election between general elections if a seat becomes vacant in the middle of a term. Instead, the county central committee of the political party that last held the seat in the county that contains the district nominates three candidates and the board of county commissioners chooses among them. A special election
675-625: Was "a fine reasoner, giving a clear and forciable answer to all objections against Suffrage for women. Her lecture was highly appreciated, and several [new members] were added to our band." DeVoe was good at building coalitions with labor, men’s groups, and the Grange Associations. She ran polls to determine where voters stood on the issue of suffrage. She was responsible for implementing many high-profile strategies such as publishing cookbooks, organizing women’s days, and blanketing neighborhoods with posters. She would often begin her speeches with
702-636: Was born on August 22, 1848, in Roseville, Illinois . As a child, she saw a speech made by Susan B. Anthony , which inspired her to become a suffragette when she was only eight years old. In 1880, she married John Henry DeVoe, a Union veteran of the American Civil War of the 9th New York Heavy Artillery , who supported her throughout her life and aided her in her campaigns, which, in addition to women's suffrage, included reform, statehood, and temperance . She became an excellent public speaker over time and
729-583: Was mentored by Susan B. Anthony herself. DeVoe campaigned for a suffrage amendment in South Dakota in 1890. Due to her organizational skills, in 1895 DeVoe was chosen to organize an official suffrage group in the state of Idaho. Her speeches centered on the idea that there were, in fact, peaceful solutions to international conflict and by winning the right to vote women would be able to help in this situation by passively bringing about changes. Women in Idaho received
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