Public
Hearings
Each standing
committee, subcommittee or select committee to which a proposed bill,
resolution or any matter is referred shall have full power and authority to
study said bill, resolution or other matter before it, as such committee, shall
determine is necessary to enable it to report properly to the House thereon. To
this end, a standing committee, subcommittee, or select committee, may as
hereinafter provided, conduct public hearings. No standing committee,
subcommittee or select committee shall hold any public hearings without prior
approval by a majority vote of the members of the standing committee and the
Speaker or the Majority Leader of the House. The Speaker or the Majority Leader
of the House shall withhold approval of public hearings based only on budgetary
consideration.
When a public
hearing has been authorized as aforesaid, the chair of the standing committee,
subcommittee chair, or select committee chair as the case may be, shall
instruct the Chief Clerk to give written notice thereof to each House Member
not less than five calendar days before the proposed hearings and post the same
in or immediately adjacent to the House Chambers. Such notice, which shall
contain the day, hour and place of the hearing and the number or numbers of
bills or other subject matter to be considered at such hearing, shall also be
given the supervisor of the news room, and to the news media. In addition, all
provisions of 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7 (relating to open meetings), relative to notice
of meetings shall be complied with.
Public hearings held
by a standing committee shall be chaired by the chair of such committee, unless
absent, in which case an acting chair shall be selected in the manner
prescribed by these rules to serve. Public hearings held by standing
subcommittees shall be chaired by the subcommittee chair thereof, but the chair
of the parent standing committee, as an ex-officio member of the subcommittee,
shall have the right to attend and participate in the hearing proceedings. In
the absence of the subcommittee chair, an acting chair shall be appointed in
the manner prescribed by these rules.
All public hearings
shall be open to the public and reasonable opportunity to be heard shall be
afforded to all interested parties who have requested an appearance before the
committee. In addition, it shall be the responsibility of the committee in
conducting its hearing to request the presentation of testimony by any person
who, in the opinion of the committee, is qualified to present pertinent and
important testimony.
Such committee
shall, so far as practicable, request all witnesses appearing before it to file
written statements of their proposed testimony. The chair shall have the right
to fix the order of appearance and the time to be allotted to witnesses.
Witnesses may submit brief pertinent statements in writing for inclusion in the
record. The committee is the sole judge of the pertinency of testimony and
evidence adduced at its hearings.
The chair, in
presiding at such public hearings, shall preserve order and decorum, in and
adjacent to his committee room while the hearing is being conducted and shall
have the authority to direct the removal from the committee room of any person
who fails to comply with order and decorum of the committee.
Proceedings of all
public hearings shall be either stenographically or electronically recorded.
The committee shall determine which parts of such recorded proceedings, if any,
shall be transcribed and the distribution thereof. Except as hereinafter provided,
no more than four copies of any transcript shall be made. Such stenographic or
electronic records and at least one copy of any transcription shall be
preserved by the Chief Clerk until authorized to dispose of same by an
affirmative vote of three-quarters of the entire membership of the Rules
Committee and shall be made available to any member upon written request for
the purpose of copying or transcription at that member's expense. Any
transcribed records and any reports of the committee shall be filed with the
Chief Clerk or his designee and shall be made available to any person in
accordance with reasonable rules and regulations prescribed by the Chief Clerk.
Upon payment of a reasonable cost to be determined by the Chief Clerk, a person
may obtain a copy of such transcribed records or reports.
All written
testimony and all transcribed testimony at committee hearings shall be posted
on the Internet as soon thereafter as practicable.
The Chief Clerk
shall not make payment of any expenses incurred as a result of a public hearing
without the prior written approval of the Speaker or the Majority Leader of the
House.
