House Rules

The House Rules for the 2007-08 session were adopted on March 13, 2007.
They included 31 of 32 recommendations made by the Speaker’s Commission on Legislative Reform.

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Rules are ordered by number.

• Rule 1 - Speaker Presiding
• Rule 2 - Taking the Chair
• Rule 3 - Order and Decorum
• Rule 4 - Questions of Order
• Rule 5 - Conference and Select Committee Appointments
• Rule 6 - Signature of the Speaker
• Rule 7 - Oath to Employees
• Rule 8 - Supervision of the Hall of the House and Committee Rooms
• Rule 9 - Decorum
• Rule 10 - Debate
• Rule 11 - Interruption of a Member who Has the Floor
• Rule 12 - Personal Privilege
• Rule 13 - Transgression of House Rules
• Rule 14 - Members’ and Employees’ Expenses
• Rule 15 - Time of Meeting
• Rule 16 - Quorum
• Rule 17 - Order of Business
• Rule 18 - Introduction and Printing of Bills
• Rule 19 - Bills Referred to Committees
• Rule 20 - Bills Confined to One Subject
• Rule 21 - Consideration of Bills
• Rule 22 - First Consideration Bills
• Rule 23 - Second Consideration Bills
• Rule 24 - Third Consideration and Final Passage Bills
• Rule 25 - Defeated Bills
• Rule 26 - Reconsideration
• Rule 27 - Amendments
• Rule 28 - Bills Amending Existing Law
• Rule 29 - Form for Printing Bills
• Rule 30 - Bills Amended by the Senate
• Rule 31 - Bills Vetoed by the Governor
• Rule 32 - Hospital and Home Appropriations of Acquiring Lands of the Commonwealth
• Rule 33 - Special Legislation
• Rule 34 - Non-preferred Appropriations
• Rule 35 - House and Concurrent Resolutions
• Rule 36 - Privileged Resolutions
• Rule 37 - Legislative Citation
• Rule 38 - Sine Die and Final Introduction of Bills
• Rule 39 - Petitions, Remonstrances, and Memorials
• Rule 40 - Messages
• Rule 41 - Kind and Rank of Committee
• Rule 42 - Committee of the Whole
• Rule 43 - Standing Committees and Subcommittees
• Rule 44 - Organization of Standing Committees and Subcommittees
• Rule 45 - Powers and Duties of Standing Committees and Subcommittees
• Rule 46 - Committee on Rules
• Rule 47 - Ethics Committee
• Rule 48 - Conference Committee
• Rule 49 - Committee Action
• Rule 50 - Public Hearings
• Rule 51 - Investigations
• Rule 52 - Possession of Bills by Committee
• Rule 53 - Discharge of Committees
• Rule 54 - Presentation and Withdrawal of Motions
• Rule 55 - Privileged Motions
• Rule 56 - Adjourn
• Rule 57 - Call of the House
• Rule 58 - Persons Admitted Under a Call of the House
• Rule 59 - Lay on the Table
• Rule 60 - Motion to Take from the Table
• Rule 61 - Previous Question
• Rule 62 - Call for Yeas and Nays - Reasons for Vote
• Rule 63 - Division of a Question
• Rule 64 - Members Required to be Present and Vote
• Rule 65 - Members Having Private Interest
• Rule 66 – Electric Roll Call
• Rule 67 - Verification and Challenge
• Rule 68 - Changing Vote
• Rule 69 - Journal
• Rule 70 - History of House Bills and House Resolutions
• Rule 71 - House Calendar
• Rule 72 - Journal, Transcribing and Documents Rooms
• Rule 73 - Correspondents
• Rule 74 - Visitors
• Rule 75 - Lobbyists
• Rule 76 - Soliciting Prohibited
• Rule 77 - Suspending and Changing Rules
• Rule 78 - Parliamentary Authority