Consideration
of Bills
(a) Every bill and
every joint resolution shall be considered on three different days. All
amendments made thereto shall be printed for the use of the members before the
final vote is taken thereon, and before the final vote is taken, upon written
request addressed to the presiding officer by at least 25% of the members
elected to the House, any bill shall be read at length. No bill shall become
law and no joint resolution adopted unless, on its final passage, the vote is taken
by yeas and nays, the names of the persons voting for and against it are
entered on the Journal, and a majority of the members elected to the House is
recorded thereon as voting in its favor. (Constitution, Article III, Section
4).
(b) Members shall be
notified of bills and resolutions scheduled to be voted no later than prior to
the close of business at 4:30 P.M. of the second legislative day prior to the
date of second consideration and prior to the date of third consideration for
legislation that has no legal deadline. (The General Appropriation Act and
non-preferred bills are included within the definition of legislation that has
no legal deadline.) Except as provided in subsection (d), all amendments shall
be submitted to the Office of the Chief Clerk by 2:00 P.M. of the last
legislative day preceding the scheduled date of consideration. A change in the
printer's number as a result of third consideration shall not require an
additional notice of final passage. No vote on final passage can occur before
the date of the scheduled vote.
(c) If the amendment
cannot be submitted in accordance with the above paragraph because it is still
being prepared by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the member must provide the
Office of the Chief Clerk with a statement, by the above-noted 2:00 P.M.
deadline, prepared by the member containing the factual content of said
amendment along with certification from the Legislative Reference Bureau that
the amendment was submitted to the Legislative Reference Bureau for drafting
prior to the above-noted 2:00 P.M. deadline.
(d) In cases where
an amendment alters a bill so as to effectively rule out of order an amendment
which was timely filed pursuant to the provisions of this rule, a replacement
amendment may be submitted to the Office of the Chief Clerk provided that the
subject matter of the replacement amendment is not substantially different from
the intent of the original amendment. The replacement amendment shall be deemed
to have met the timely filed conditions provided for in this rule. The member
shall notify the Speaker of the member's intent to file a replacement amendment
and shall file a certificate with the Office of the Chief Clerk. The bill in
question may continue to receive consideration but shall not be moved to third
consideration until the replacement amendment is available for a vote. If
consideration of the bill is delayed to a new legislative day due solely to
delay in receipt of replacement amendments, then only amendments timely filed
for the date of the originally scheduled vote and replacement amendments shall
be considered. This limitation on amendments shall not apply to the bill in
question if consideration of the bill is rescheduled beyond the new legislative
day.
(e) Members shall be
notified no later than 24 hours prior to the consideration of all bills on
concurrence. A brief description of every bill on concurrence shall be given
prior to a vote. Additionally, members shall be notified and conference
committee reports shall be available to members at least 24 hours prior to the
adoption of all conference committee reports. When these reports are considered
on the first legislative day of the week, said notice shall be provided no
later than the close of business on the last business day preceding the vote.
