06-R 153

2006 -- H 7792

Enacted 03/22/06

H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N

ADOPTING RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE YEARS 2005- 2006

Introduced By: Representative Peter F. Kilmartin

Date Introduced: February 28, 2006

RESOLVED, That the rules for the House of Representatives adopted by the House of

Representatives at its January session, A.D. 2005, entitled "House Resolution Adopting Rules of

the House of Representatives for the Years 2005-2006", be and the same are hereby amended by

amending rule 26 to read as follows:

(26)(a) Committees shall take into consideration all such petitions, resolves, bills, matters

or things as may be referred to them by the House with power to report by bill or otherwise;

provided, however, that committees shall, whenever possible, consider all bills of substantially

the same or of a similar nature at the same time in a manner that is otherwise in conformity with

these rules.

(b) A committee shall not consider any public bill or resolution not previously

distributed in print or electronically to its members except by a majority vote of the members

present.

eight (48) hours prior to any committee meeting, a list by number and title of the bills

and resolutions to be heard at that meeting. Such postings shall be made electronically and on the

Legislative Data Bulletin Board. The electronic posting shall be considered the official date of the

posting. In the event that the electronic posting system is inoperable then the official posting shall

be the printed posting on the Legislative Data Bulletin Board. The Chair shall limit such listings

to the number of bills or resolutions he or she reasonably expects can be taken up by the

committee at that meeting. Any bill or resolution so posted which the committee is not able to

take up at the stated meeting must be re-posted as stated above and shall be placed at the top of

such subsequent posted list. Such postings shall be made electronically, and on the House

bulletin board or on the Legislative Data bulletin board. Copies of all posted bills or resolutions

shall be provided in print or electronically to all committee members and principal sponsors. A

committee shall not hear any said bill or resolution without such notice except by the consent of

a majority of its members and with at least one (1) day's notification to the principal sponsor. The

sponsor may, however, waive such one-day notification. The time requirements of this section

shall not apply to House bills returned from the Senate with amendment.

(d) Every standing committee shall meet at least once weekly if any requests for hearings

on or consideration of bills or resolutions are pending before it. The right to be heard on any such

bill or resolution may be granted, upon written or electronic request, to the principal sponsor

thereof as provided in these rules. No committee shall hear more than twenty-five (25) bills

(exclusive of city and town bills and those to be placed on the consent calendar) at any one (1)

meeting.

(e) Upon receipt of a written request by the Chair for committee consideration from the

principal House sponsor of a bill or resolution, a copy of which is to be given to the recording

clerk, the committee shall grant to said principal House sponsor a hearing on any said bill

or resolution within thirty (30) calendar days of the request, and provided further, that said

committee shall grant to the principal House sponsor consideration of his or her bill or resolution

prior to the deadline for committee action on such bill or resolution. The principal sponsor, with

the concurrence of the Chair, may cancel a scheduled hearing with twenty-four (24) hours’ notice

to the Chair, which notice shall be posted electronically. A hearing postponed twice at the

sponsor’s request need not be re-scheduled. For the purpose of the rule, consideration shall mean

a majority vote on one (1) of the following:

(i) a motion to report the bill or resolution to the House with a recommendation of

passage;

(ii) a motion to report the bill or resolution as amended, or in substitute form, to the

House with a recommendation of passage; or

(iii) a motion to report the bill or resolution to the House without recommendation; or

(iv) a motion to report the bill or resolution to the House with a recommendation of no

passage; or

(v) a motion to report the bill or resolution to the House with a recommendation that it be

held for further study.

In the event of a tie vote on any of the motions specified in (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) or (v)

hereof, the bill or resolution shall be lost.

The originals of bills or resolutions which have failed in committee shall be transmitted

by the committee clerks to the Secretary of State for the State Archives, with an appropriate

notation thereon.

(f) Once a committee has considered a bill or resolution the principal House sponsor shall

be notified in writing or electronically by the end of the second legislative day following such

action including the vote tally within the committee and the date thereof, prior to the report being

made to the full House. Committee Chairs shall bring reports of committee actions to the floor no

later than two (2) weeks following the committee votes thereon, provided that this shall not apply

to the Committee on Finance, nor shall it apply to bills being held for further study under

subdivision (e)(v). A committee member may move reconsideration of any vote taken so long as

the subject matter of the vote remains in the possession of the committee.

Bills or resolutions ~~concerning appropriations, revenue or expenditures~~ referred to the

House Finance Committee shall not be subject to the ~~above~~ time limits in rule 26 (e), (f), and (i).

(g) In the event a committee shall fail to afford consideration to any bill or resolution

within the prescribed time, the principal sponsor may report such failure in writing to the Speaker

of the House and the Speaker thereupon may order the immediate discharge of the bill or

resolution from a committee to the House floor.

(h) All bills or resolutions reported from committee shall be placed on the calendar or,

pursuant to the restrictions of these rules, on the consent calendar for the required period of time

according to these rules before House consideration. Bills and resolutions reported from

committees and received by the Clerk of the House prior to the convening of the session on a

given legislative day shall be deemed to have been received, and therefore in order to be placed

upon the appropriate calendar, as of that day. Bills and resolutions so received after the convening

of the session on a given legislative day shall be deemed to have been received, and therefore in

order to be placed upon the appropriate calendar, on the next legislative day and shall be

considered a part of that day’s business.

House Rule 26(e) through (h) shall not apply to any bill or resolution which shall

have originated in the Senate.

(i) No public bill or resolution which originated in the House shall be considered by a

House committee unless the committee has held a hearing on that bill or resolution by April 14,

2005 (or April 12, 2006, in the case of 2006), and thereafter the committees of the House shall

not consider public bills or resolutions except those which have been acted upon by the Senate

and transmitted by the Senate to the House of Representatives, provided however, that

the committee on finance may hear and consider such House bills, acts or resolutions as it deems

to have a fiscal impact after April 14, 2005 (or April 12, 2006, in the case of 2006), except

as provided in section (j) hereof, and provided further, that each other House committee may

complete consideration of not more than three (3) House bills or resolutions after said date,

on which such committee had not been able to complete action, upon approval by the Speaker of

a written request from the Chair. All such requests must be filed with the Clerk of the House no

later than April 14, 2005 (or April 12, 2006, in the case of 2006).

(j) No House bill which relates to an individual's pension or retirement shall be accepted

as a committee report from the committee on finance unless it shall have been considered by the

committee on or before April 14, 2005 (or April 12, 2006, in the case of 2006), and shall have

been heard in the committee no later than one (1) week prior to that date.

(k) Transfers – With the approval of the Speaker, a bill or resolution may be transferred

by the chairperson from one committee to another at any time. The committee receiving the

transferred bill or resolution must comply with the posting and time requirements of this section.

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LC02632

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