2017 -- H 5295

========

LC001125

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

____________

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 2015

AND 2016

     Introduced By: Representative Jared R. Nunes

     Date Introduced: January 30, 2017

     Referred To: House Rules

     SECTION 1.

     RESOLVED, That Section 11 of the rules for the House of Representatives adopted by

the House of Representatives at its January session, A.D. 2015, entitled "House Resolution

Adopting Rules of the House of Representatives for the Years 2015 ---2016," be and the same is

hereby amended to read as follows:

      (11)(a) The following standing committees shall be appointed each year in the month of

January or as soon as convenient after the adoption of the House Rules:

     A committee on corporations

     A committee on environment and natural resources

     A committee on finance

     A committee on health, education and welfare

     A committee on judiciary

     A committee on labor

     A committee on municipal government

     A committee on rules

     A committee on oversight

     A committee on small business

     A committee on veterans’ affairs.

     (b) The Speaker shall appoint all standing committees and create such other

subcommittees and committees as may be required from time to time and appoint thereto. All

subcommittees and committees shall have proportionate minority membership when feasible.

The Speaker, in consultation with the Minority Leader, shall be the appointing authority for

minority membership on standing committees and subcommittees thereof, joint committees,

boards and commissions. All vacancies occurring in any committee and subcommittee after they

have once been named shall be filled in like manner by the Speaker. No member may be removed

from any committee without a majority vote of the entire House of Representatives. The Speaker,

Majority Leader and Minority Leader shall be ex officio members with voting rights of all House

committees but shall not be counted for purposes of determining a quorum. The Speaker shall

have the authority to appoint the chair, vice chair and secretary of each committee. In the event

that the chair of a committee is unable to serve due to incapacity for medical or other reasons, the

Speaker may appoint an acting chair for the period of such incapacity, which acting chair shall

have all of the powers and duties of the chair. The chair shall determine all questions of procedure

before the committee in cases not provided for in these rules.

     (c) A committee shall not consider any bill in the absence of a quorum, which shall

consist of a majority of the committee's membership.

     (d) All committee meetings shall be open to the public, but public participation shall be

limited to testimony on the matters before the committee. The chair of any committee shall have

the authority to limit the length of a witness’s testimony in order to afford all witnesses the

opportunity to be heard, to limit repetitiveness and duplication, or to maintain order and decorum.

     (e) It shall be the duty of the committee on finance to take into consideration all

propositions relative to the revenue, to inquire into the state of the public debt and to report from

time to time their opinion thereon and such propositions relative thereto as to them shall

seem expedient.

     (f) Upon introduction of the annual state budget to the House on behalf of the Governor,

the budget shall be referred to the finance committee. Within two (2) weeks following receipt

thereof, the finance committee's fiscal advisor shall provide to each member of the House a

concise summary of budget issues. Within three (3) weeks following the receipt of the budget,

the committee shall schedule such meetings as it deems necessary to receive comment on the

budget as a whole from all House members who wish to appear before it for that purpose.

     (g) The Speaker may appoint from time to time subcommittees of a given standing

committee, which shall consist only of members of the committee from which it was appointed.

The chair of each standing committee shall be considered a member of each subcommittee of

such committee. Each subcommittee may hear testimony on bills and resolutions falling within

LC001125 - Page 2 of 11

the subject matter of its charge and shall report to the committee from which it was appointed.

Subcommittees will otherwise conduct themselves in conformity with these rules. The Speaker

shall appoint the chair of each subcommittee.

     SECTION 2.

     RESOLVED, That Section 12 of the rules for the House of Representatives adopted by

the House of Representatives at its January session, A.D. 2015, entitled "House Resolution

Adopting Rules of the House of Representatives for the Years 2015 ---2016," be and the same is

hereby amended to read as follows:

     (12)(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. Any bill filed after the 40th legislative day and subsequent to the hearing of a grouping

of bills on the same subject matter may or may not be assigned for hearing if it appears from the

subject matter that the issues presented would be substantially similar to those matters already

heard, even if a bill hearing request is filed pursuant to Rule 12(e).

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

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

committee.

     (c) The Chair of every committee shall post, in print and electronically, at least forty-

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 posted 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. Such postings shall be made electronically, and

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 House 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, or, after the 50th legislative day

LC001125 - Page 3 of 11

(May 20, 2015 (for the 2015 session) and May 11, 2016 (for the 2016 session), to any bill

originating in the Senate.

     (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 thirty (30) bills (exclusive

of city and town bills, those to be placed on the consent calendar, and duplicate senate bills that

have previously passed) at any one (1) meeting.

     (e) Upon receipt of a written request from the principal House sponsor of a bill or

resolution, a copy of which is to be given to the recording clerk of the committee, 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, subject to Rule 12(a), 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, also subject to Rule 12(a). 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. The Chair may cancel a

bill hearing at any time, with the approval of the Speaker if in the Chair's discretion the bill is not

ready to be heard in the committee. A hearing postponed twice at the sponsor’s request need not

be re-scheduled, and shall also be subject to Rule 12(a). 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. However, any bill reported under this section (v), at the request of the

prime sponsor, shall be reconsidered and acted upon as described in sections (i)-(iv). Under no

circumstances shall "held for further study" be construed to constitute final action on a bill

without permission from the prime sponsor.

     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.

LC001125 - Page 4 of 11

     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 at the time specified in R.I.G.L.

     (f) 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 under Rule 12(e)(i)-

(iv) so long as the bill or resolution which was the subject of the vote remains in the possession of

the committee and that the motion is made by a member voting in the majority. A motion to

reconsider in committee shall not be debated.

     Bills or resolutions concerning appropriations, revenue or expenditures shall not be

subject to the above time limits.

     (g) In the event a committee fails to afford consideration to any bill or resolution within

the prescribed time where such consideration has been properly requested, and where no other

exceptions or considerations apply by the rules herein, 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 12(e) regarding the necessity to hold a hearing at the sponsor’s request

through 12(h) pertaining to the timing of placing a bill onto the floor calendar 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 28,

2015 (for the 2015 session) and on or before April 12, 2016 (for the 2016 session), 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,

LC001125 - Page 5 of 11

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 28, 2015 (for the 2015 session) and on

or before April 12, 2016 (for the 2016 session), 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 28, 2015 (for the 2015

session) and on or before April 12, 2016 (for the 2016 session). The provisions of this paragraph

shall not apply to House bills of which Senate duplicates have passed the House.

     (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 28, 2015 (for the 2015 session) and on or before April 12, 2016 (for

the 2016 session), and shall have been heard in the committee no later than one (1) week prior to

that date.

     (k) Transfers –The Speaker or the Speaker’s designee may direct the transfer of a bill or

resolution 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.

     SECTION 3.

     RESOLVED, That Section 14 of the rules for the House of Representatives adopted by

the House of Representatives at its January session, A.D. 2015, entitled "House Resolution

Adopting Rules of the House of Representatives for the Years 2015 ---2016," be and the same is

hereby amended to read as follows:

      (14)(a) No bill or resolution shall be considered or acted upon by the House if objection

is made unless the same has been considered by, reported, or recalled from a committee thereof,

from a joint committee, or by two-thirds (2/3) of members present. This rule shall not apply to a

House Bill of which the Senate duplicate has passed the House, and provided further that the

Speaker may at any time order a duplicate bill received from the Senate or a Senate bill after the

budget bill shall have passed the House, onto the calendar.

     (b) When a bill or resolution is postponed indefinitely, the same shall not be acted upon

again during the session.

     (c) No bill or resolution shall be passed or concurred in without two (2) readings. The

first reading shall take place by acceptance of the bill or resolution and publication in the House

Journal and the second after it has been placed upon the calendar. No bill or resolution upon the

calendar shall be taken up for consideration unless copies thereof, in the form in which it was

LC001125 - Page 6 of 11

reported from committee, shall have been made available in print or electronically to the

members no later than the rise of the House on the legislative day before the day on which it shall

be in order for consideration. No matter of business on the calendar shall be considered upon its

merits prior to the legislative day after it shall have been placed on the calendar except by vote of

the majority of the members present and voting. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply

to Senate bills received by the House which are duplicates of House bills. Those bills passing out

of committee on the last legislative day of the week shall be in order for placement on the

calendar or consent calendar as early as the first legislative day of the next week.

     (d) No more than fifty (50) public bills shall be considered upon their merits during any

one (1) legislative day and no bill shall be brought before the body after 10:30 9:30 p.m.,

provided, however, that House bills returned from the Senate, Senate bills which are duplicates of

and identical to House bills, corporate charter revocation bills, and solemnization of marriage

bills and bills removed from the consent calendar may be considered notwithstanding this limit.

Under no circumstances shall debate extend beyond 11:59 p.m. on any legislative day. Provided

further, that Senate bills which are duplicates of and identical to House bills, and House bills

returned from the Senate, may without objection be bundled and passed by one vote provided that

they are provided to members electronically prior to consideration. In the case of bundled bills

that contain identical and duplicate Senate bills, at the request of the Majority and Minority

Leaders the House journal will reflect that the vote of the members on the bill is consistent with

his or her vote on the duplicate House bill previously passed. Prior to the vote on a duplicate bill,

it should be stated for the record and be made known to the body that the bill is identical.

     (e) The budget bill shall be prepared by Legislative Council. The budget bill shall not be

considered by the finance committee unless the version to be acted on has been posted by the

committee for at least seventy-two (72) hours. The budget bill shall not be considered by the

House unless copies thereof as approved by the finance committee have been available to the

members for seven (7) calendar days. For the purposes of calculating the seven (7) day

requirement, the day of passage by the Finance Committee shall not be counted but the scheduled

day for floor action shall be included in the calculation. No amendment which is intended to

make a substantive change in the budget bill may be offered other than by the Chair of the finance

committee, except with the agreement of two-thirds (2/3) of the members present, unless the text

thereof shall have been submitted to the Legislative Council and made available to the

members two (2) calendar days prior to the day on which the budget bill shall be in order for

consideration.

     (f) An amendment which was germane when prepared, and which was offered in a timely

LC001125 - Page 7 of 11

fashion, but is no longer germane because of an intervening amendment, may, with the agreement

of the Majority Leader and Minority Leader, be revised orally or in writing by the sponsor

without renewed compliance with the requirements hereof.

     (g) After the 50th legislative day, bills or resolutions received back from the Senate with

amendments requiring House concurrence shall, with the agreement of the House sponsor and the

Majority Leader, be placed on the calendar in order for the day upon which they are received or

any day thereafter.

     SECTION 4.

     RESOLVED, That Section 34 of the rules for the House of Representatives adopted by

the House of Representatives at its January session, A.D. 2015, entitled "House Resolution

Adopting Rules of the House of Representatives for the Years 2015 ---2016," be and the same is

hereby amended to read as follows:

      (34)(a) The electronic voting system may be used to record attendance and quorums, and

shall be used to record all votes on public bills and votes on rule changes and suspensions. It shall

be used for other votes by request of a member at the discretion of the Speaker. The results of all

votes recorded electronically shall be reported in both the House journal and, as it pertains to

votes on bills, reflected in a prominent and conspicuous place on the General Assembly website.

The procedure for the recording of such votes online shall be determined by the Speaker and

reported to the body. All effort shall be made to create an easily searchable database of committee

and floor votes. This shall include the ability to be searched by subject matter, bill number,

sponsors, dates of passage, and any other method deemed appropriate.

     (b) In the event the machine is not to be used or is not operating properly, all votes and

other determinations may be taken as otherwise required by House rules, either by voice vote,

division vote or by calling the roll alphabetically and recording the ayes and nays. If a

member's voting device is out of order, he or she shall rise and announce it to the presiding

officer and call his or her vote orally prior to the declaration of the result of the vote. Every

member may vote providing he or she is in the chamber of the House at the time the vote is in

progress and before the machine is locked.

     (c) The electronic voting system shall be under the control of the presiding officer and

shall be operated by such personnel as the Speaker of the House so designates. At a reasonable

time, prior to any vote being taken, the presiding officer shall announce that a vote is about to

be taken. When any member other than the Speaker of the House is presiding, he or she shall

direct the voting clerk to record his or her vote as if cast at his or her voting station. Until the

completion of the voting, no member shall be recognized, and no other business shall be

LC001125 - Page 8 of 11

transacted.

     (d) When sufficient time has elapsed for each member to vote, the presiding officer shall

order the machine locked and activate the recording process. When the vote is completely

recorded, the clerk shall advise the presiding officer of the result; and the presiding officer shall

announce the result to the House and the result shall be recorded in the journal. No vote may be

changed after the system has been locked and the vote recorded.

      (e) When a division is called for, those in the affirmative or the negative, as the case may

be, shall cast their votes accordingly and the voting clerk shall activate the recording equipment

so as to reflect only the numerical count. When the vote is completely recorded, the clerk

shall advise the presiding officer of the result; and the presiding officer shall announce the result

to the House. (In the event the electronic voting system is not operating properly, the division

vote shall be conducted as otherwise provided in House rules).

     (f) After the question has been put, but before the system is locked, any member may call

for a statement of the question.

     (g) While the presiding officer is putting the question, or the vote is being recorded, no

member shall speak or leave his or her place. After a vote has been ordered there shall be no

debate whatever.

     (h) In case of a tie vote the question shall be lost.

     SECTION 5.

     RESOLVED, That Section 42 of the rules for the House of Representatives adopted by

the House of Representatives at its January session, A.D. 2015, entitled "House Resolution

Adopting Rules of the House of Representatives for the Years 2015 ---2016," be and the same is

hereby amended to read as follows:

      (42)(a) Once adopted by a majority of the body present and voting, no rule shall be

repealed or amended, except by two-thirds (2/3) of the members voting.

     (b) A rule may be temporarily suspended with the consent of the Majority and Minority

Leaders or by a unanimous vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members present voting except that in

no case shall the rules pertaining to the recording of votes be suspended. At the time a rule or

rules are temporarily suspended, the duration of time that the rule shall be suspended shall clearly

be stated to the body and recorded in the House journal. The application of this rule as it

pertains to the temporary suspension of the rules shall not be subject to amendment or repeal.

Any motion to repeal, amend or suspend any rule shall be a debatable motion under these rules.

     (c) At the beginning of a legislative session, the rules of the previous legislative session

shall remain in full force and effect until the permanent rules of the House for the current session

LC001125 - Page 9 of 11

have been prepared, presented, debated and adopted by a majority vote of the House. Any

member at the beginning of a legislative session who was not a member at the time of the

adoption of the rules shall be provided with a copy of the rules.

========

LC001125

========

LC001125 - Page 10 of 11

EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

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 2015

AND 2016

***

     This resolution would amend the rules of the House of Representatives for the years 2015

– 2016.

========

LC001125

========

LC001125 - Page 11 of 11