S 0186 Concurrent Resolution, By Martin
 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION TO ADOPT THE JOINT RULES OF THE HOUSE OF
 REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE FOR THE 116TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

   12/15/04  Senate Prefiled
   12/15/04  Senate Referred to Committee on Rules
   01/11/05  Senate Introduced SJ-170
   01/11/05  Senate Referred to Committee on Rules SJ-170

TO ADOPT THE JOINT RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE FOR THE 116TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:

That the following rules are adopted as the Joint Rules of the House of Representatives and Senate for the 116th General Assembly of South Carolina:

Every bill shall receive three reading on three several days in the House in which it originates before it is sent to the other House.

All messages between the two Houses must be in writing and numbered in regular sequence for each session except that messages announcing the organizations of either House, or its readiness to adjourn pursuant to Joint Resolution, may be communicated orally by the Clerk in person.

When the two Houses meet for any purpose, the President of the Senate shall preside and discharge the duties of the Joint Assembly.

(A)    Question of difference between the two Houses must be referred to Committees of Conference.

(B)    Committees of Conference shall consist of three members appointed by each House.

(C)    For purposes of conference committee actions, a majority consists of two members from each House.

Each House shall transmit to the other all papers upon which any Bill or Resolution or Report sent to it for consideration has passed.

All Bills that have been read three times in each House and have been duly engrossed and become Acts must be returned to the possession of the Clerk of that House in which the Bills originated. A day for the ratification of it in the Senate Chamber must be fixed by a message between the two Houses. At the time appointed, the Speaker of the House, attended by the Clerk of the House and Sergeant-at-Arms, in official costume, with the members of the House, shall repair to the Senate Chamber, the Clerk of the House taking with him the House Acts which are to be ratified. The Senate, with its officers, shall receive the House and its officers, the Clerk of the Senate having in his possession the Senate Acts which are to be ratified. Whereupon, the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House shall interchangeably sign and present to each other the Acts from their respective Houses by their respective titles; and when they are all signed and ratified, they must be left with the Clerk of the Senate. The Speaker with the House and its officers shall retire to the Hall of the House. The Clerk of the Senate shall deliver the Acts to the Governor for his action, making a note on each Act of the day and hour of its delivery.

The report of the Comptroller General to the General Assembly on Claims, filed in his office, required by Section 5 of an Act entitled "An Act to prescribe and regulate the introduction of measures relating to private interests, and the conduct of the same in the progress thereof", approved December 26, A. D. 1885, must be referred to the Committee on Claims of the two Houses who shall examine it and hear any parties desiring to be heard in reference to any claim mentioned in it, and report back to their respective Houses the results of the examination for the final action of the General Assembly.

No measures relating to private interests may be introduced into the General Assembly, except in strict conformity to the provisions of an Act entitled "An Act to prescribe and regulate the introduction on the General Assembly of measures relating to private interest, and the conduct of the same in progress thereof", approved December 26, 1885, and the conduct of those measures in their progress through the General Assembly must be regulated by the terms and requirements of the Act. (Note: must be by petition, with of measure, and referred to Committee).

All Joint Assemblies for whatever purpose shall convene at a time and place set by Concurrent Resolution.

(A)    In a Joint Assembly, when a vote is being taken, no member may change his vote after it has been announced and recorded but a member who did not vote when his name was called may do so before the result has been duly announced.

(B)    In all elections held by the Joint Assembly nominations to fill the vacancies must be called for by the presiding officer, and no member shall second any of the nominations until the presiding officer shall declare that "It appears to the Chair that no further nominations are to be made."

(C)    Seconds to nominations are then in order until the motion to "proceed to a ballot" is made and adopted. No nominations or seconding speeches are allowed unless by previously arranged Concurrent Resolutions providing for it.

(D)    If there is only one nomination to fill any one vacancy, it is permissible to elect and declare the election by viva voce upon unanimous consent of the Joint Assembly.

(E)    In elections where there are more nominations than there are vacancies, there must be appointed on behalf of the Senate by the President of the Senate two Senators and the Assistant Clerk of the Senate and by the Speaker of the House of Representatives two Representatives and the Assistant Clerk of the House of Representatives who shall serve as tellers for the pending election. The Clerks of the respective Houses shall call the respective rolls.

In all elections in the Joint Assembly the doors of the Hall of the House of Representatives must be closed and no person other than members, Clerks and attaches of the two Houses are allowed within the Hall of the House of Representatives. Representatives of the press may be admitted; and the gallery must be open to visitors. The Sergeant- at Arms of the two Houses and the doorkeepers are charged with enforcement of this rule.

Any Bill or Joint Resolution may be engrossed, amended, enrolled or ratified by the use of necessary printed or typewritten material, or a combination of them, which has been duly certified.

No clause shall be inserted in a Bill or Resolution unless the same is germane to the Bill or Resolution. In order to be germane, an amendment must be a natural and logical change or expansion directly and specifically related to the specific subject of the Bill or Resolution, as defined in the Bill or Resolution, and must not raise any new or independent matter different from the specific subject of the Bill or Resolution. Any perfecting amendment must be germane to both the amendment to be perfected and the underlying Bill or Resolution and must not offer a new proposition or substantially alter the main amendment.

The General Appropriation Bill and Supplemental Appropriation Bills shall include only provisions for appropriating funds, provisions affecting revenue, and rules, regulations, and procedures relative to them. No provision of an Appropriation Bill, and no amendment to it, is in order unless its substantial effect is directly germane to these purposes. Matter which is germane to the subject of the General Appropriation Bill and any Supplemental Appropriation Bill shall be defined as those things which reasonably, specifically, and inherently directly relate to the raising and spending of revenue for or in the fiscal year for which the bill applies and do not temporarily or permanently add, amend, or repeal a portion of the general permanent laws of South Carolina. The provisions of this rule must be narrowly and strictly construed with regard to all provisions of and amendments to the General Appropriation Bill and Supplemental Appropriations Bills.

Beginning with the year 2005 the Ways and Means Committee shall present its version of the Annual General Appropriation Bill to the House of Representatives for second reading consideration on or before the third Tuesday in February. In the event the committee fails to comply with this requirement, the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee shall introduce the bill as presented by the Budget and Control Board for consideration by the House of Representatives and the bill may not be recommitted to the Ways and Means Committee except upon two-thirds vote of the members of the House voting on a motion to make the recommittal. However, the committee may, upon two-thirds vote of the total membership of the committee extend the time limitation established in this Rule for a period not to exceed seven calendar days, at which time the bill must be introduced as otherwise provided for in this rule. After the Senate receives the Bill, the Senate Finance Committee has thirty-five calendar days within which to report the bill to the Senate, in the event the committee fails to comply with this requirement, the bill as passed by the House of Representatives must be placed on the Senate calendar for second reading, and the bill may not be recommitted to the Senate Finance Committee except upon a two-thirds vote of the members of the Senate voting on a motion to make the recommittal. However, the committee may upon two-thirds vote of the total membership of the committee extend the time limitation established in this rule for a period not to exceed seven calendar days, at which time the bill must be introduced as otherwise provided for in this rule.

Every General Appropriation Bill and Supplemental Appropriation Bill for the ordinary expenses of state government shall, prior to third reading in both Houses and prior to final concurrence by both Houses, and conference and free conference reports have attached to it a certificated from the Director of the Office of State Budget stating that, in his opinion, the totals of the appropriations in the bill are not in excess of the estimated total revenue of the State for those purposes, including appropriations and revenue which may be provided for in the Bill or any other Bill previously enacted for the fiscal year to which the Appropriation Bill is applicable.

A majority of those voting, a quorum being present, is sufficient to adopt Joint Rules during the first twelve statewide legislative days of each legislative session; thereafter, a vote of two-thirds of the total membership is required to amend or rescind a rule.