Current Status Bill Number:4403 Type of Legislation:House Resolution HR Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19980114 Primary Sponsor:Rules Committee HR 29 All Sponsors:Rules Committee Drafted Document Number:pt\1477dw.98 Date Bill Passed both Bodies:19980114 (see History page for exception) Subject:General Assembly, Rules, House of Representatives; Revisions and provisions
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
House 19980114 Question 1-6 & 8-14 - Adopted
Question 7 - Tabled
House 19980114 Introduced
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TO AMEND RULE 4.16, RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, RELATING TO THE DUTIES OF THE HOUSE LEGISLATIVE ETHICS COMMITTEE, SO AS TO FURTHER PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH PAPERS, DOCUMENTS, AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE ARE CONFIDENTIAL AND MUST BE HANDLED; TO AMEND RULE 5.2, RELATING TO THE PRESENTATION OF BILLS OR RESOLUTIONS, SO AS TO ALLOW MEMBERS TO REMOVE OR ADD THEIR NAMES AS A CO-SPONSOR OF A BILL OR RESOLUTION PRIOR TO ITS SECOND READING; TO AMEND RULE 5.12, RELATING TO CONSIDERATION OF STATEWIDE BILLS OR JOINT RESOLUTIONS BY SPECIFIED DATES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE APRIL FIFTEENTH DEADLINE FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF STATEWIDE BILLS OR RESOLUTIONS IN THE HOUSE DOES NOT APPLY TO THE FIRST YEAR OF A TWO-YEAR SESSION; TO AMEND RULE 5.13, RELATING TO FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENTS REQUIRED FOR CERTAIN BILLS, SO AS TO REQUIRE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS THAT SUBSTANTIALLY CHANGE A BILL AFFECTING THE EXPENDITURE OF STATE MONEY TO HAVE A FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT AND TO CLARIFY THAT FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENTS MUST BE ATTACHED PRIOR TO SECOND READING; TO AMEND RULE 5.19, RELATING TO PROCEDURAL MATTERS AND MOTIONS BEFORE THE HOUSE, SO AS TO CLARIFY THAT A MEMBER'S TIME FOR SPEAKING ON A MOTION TO RECONSIDER THE VOTE WHEREBY AN AMENDMENT WAS ADOPTED AFTER CLOTURE HAS BEEN INVOKED IS LIMITED TO THE REMAINDER OF THE TIME ALLOWED FOR DEBATE OF THE AMENDMENT AND TO EXPRESSLY STATE THAT THE GRANTING OF FREE CONFERENCE POWERS REQUIRES A TWO-THIRDS VOTE OF THE ENTIRE MEMBERSHIP; TO AMEND RULE 6.3, RELATING TO THE DAILY ORDER OF BUSINESS, SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH CONSIDERATION OF VETOES AND THE CONSIDERATION OF SENATE AMENDMENTS SHALL BE CONSIDERED WITHIN THE DAILY ORDER OF BUSINESS; TO AMEND RULE 7.3, RELATING TO ELECTRONIC ROLL CALL AND THE ATTENDANCE OF MEMBERS, SO AS TO ALLOW ONE MINUTE FOR ROLL CALL VOTES INSTEAD OF TWO MINUTES; TO AMEND RULE 8.10, RELATING TO DIVIDING THE QUESTION, SO AS TO CLARIFY THAT THE SPEAKER SHALL DETERMINE IF A QUESTION SHOULD BE DIVIDED; TO AMEND RULE 8.11, RELATING TO NONDEBATABLE MOTIONS, SO AS TO INCLUDE THE GRANTING OF FREE CONFERENCE POWERS IN THE LIST OF NONDEBATABLE MOTIONS; TO AMEND RULE 8.14, RELATING TO DEBATE AND MOTIONS, SO AS TO MAKE A TECHNICAL CORRECTION; TO AMEND RULE 8.15, RELATING TO A MOTION TO CONTINUE A MATTER, SO AS TO CLARIFY THAT A MOTION TO CONTINUE IS ONLY TO THE NEXT SESSION AND CANNOT BE TO A SPECIFIC DATE; TO AMEND RULE 9.2, RELATING TO AMENDMENTS OF BILLS ON THIRD READING, SO AS TO PERMIT COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN TO OFFER TECHNICAL "AMENDMENTS" RATHER THAN A TECHNICAL "AMENDMENT" ON THIRD READING AFTER NOTICE; TO AMEND RULE 10.3, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS, SO AS TO SPECIFY THAT A VETO BY THE GOVERNOR MAY BE OVERRIDDEN BY A TWO-THIRDS VOTE OF THE MEMBERS PRESENT AND VOTING; AND TO AMEND RULE 10.7, RELATING TO THE PROHIBITION AGAINST SMOKING IN THE HALL OF THE HOUSE, SO AS TO REVISE THE AREAS WHERE SMOKING IS PROHIBITED AND PERMITTED.
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
(1) That Rule 4.16 of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"4.16 a. The House of Representatives Legislative Ethics Committee has the following duties in addition to those provided for by statutory law:
(1) upon request of any member, officer or employee of the House of Representatives, to render advisory opinions with regard to legislative ethics when in its judgment such opinions would serve the public interest;
(2) to make available annually to the House of Representatives a compilation of the principles set forth in advisory opinions rendered;
(3) upon the filing of a complaint with the Ethics Committee alleging a violation of the ethics law or House Rules or upon the referral by the Speaker of a matter in which there is an allegation of conduct in contempt of the House or which otherwise violates House Rules, the Committee shall conduct a hearing and/or render an advisory opinion and report its findings, with any order of punishment, to the Speaker.
b. All papers, documents and proceedings relating to conduct or disciplinary action against members are confidential and must be handled in the manner prescribed for the disciplinary procedure for attorneys in Rule 413, Section 20 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules in Section 8-13-540 of the 1976 Code unless made public by the committee in a report to the House of Representatives."
(2) That Rule 5.2 of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"5.2 Every bill before presentation shall have its title endorsed; every report, its title at length; every petition, memorial, or other paper, its prayer or substance; and, in every instance, the name of the member presenting any paper shall be endorsed and the papers shall be presented by the member to the Speaker at the desk. After a bill or resolution has been presented and given first reading, no further names of co-sponsors may be added. A member may add his name to a bill or resolution or a co-sponsor of a bill or resolution may remove his name at any time prior to the bill or resolution receiving passage on second reading. The member or co-sponsor shall notify the Clerk of the House in writing of his desire to have his name added or removed from the bill or resolution. The Clerk of the House shall print the member's or co-sponsor's written notification in the House Journal. The removal or addition of a name does not apply to a bill or resolution sponsored by a committee.
And every bill or joint resolution which shall propose the amendment or repeal of any Section, Chapter or Title of the General Statutes or of any Act of Assembly or Joint Resolution, shall, in its title express the subject matter of such Section, Chapter, Title, Act or Joint Resolution so sought to be amended or repealed. If this is not complied with, the paper shall not be received by the Speaker and objection may be raised by any member to such improper introduction at any time prior to third reading that the bill or resolution is being considered by the House.
Every bill or joint resolution proposing to amend any section or clearly identifiable subdivision or portion of a section of any chapter of the General Statutes or of any Act of Assembly or joint resolution shall give the full text of the Section or clearly identifiable subdivision or portion of a Section as it would read with such amendment inserted therein. And if this latter clause of this Rule is not complied with, the bill or Joint Resolution shall be amended so as to conform to this Rule before it be considered by the House. Any member may require such amendment at any time a bill or resolution not in conformance herewith is being considered by the House."
(3) That Rule 5.12 of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"5.12 No statewide bill or joint resolution, except an appropriations bill, general, supplemental, deficiency, or a joint resolution approving or disapproving regulations of a state agency shall be considered unless (1) such legislation is introduced in the House prior to April fifteenth of the year in which it is to be considered second year of a two-year legislative session or (2) such legislation shall have been introduced in the Senate and received prior to May first in the House, unless in either event it was introduced in the previous year and was carried over to the year in which it is to be considered; provided, however, that nothing herein shall prevent a statewide bill or joint resolution from being received, given first reading and referred to the appropriate committee. No such bill or joint resolution shall be placed on the calendar for further consideration unless two-thirds of those members present and voting agree to waive the rule. Once voted on and rejected, no further vote shall be allowed to waive this rule.
The motion to waive this rule shall not be debatable except that the mover shall have the right to make a three minute explanation of his motion.
The provisions of this rule shall apply only to regular sessions of the General Assembly as opposed to special sessions of the General Assembly.
The Speaker shall enforce the deadlines provided by this rule and shall not allow consideration without putting the question of waiver before the House."
(4) That Rule 5.13 of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"5.13 Each bill effecting the expenditures of money by the State shall, prior to receiving second reading, have attached to it in writing such comment of the appropriate state official or office as may appear appropriate regarding the bill's effect on the finances of the State. Each committee amendment that substantially changes a bill effecting expenditures of money by the State, prior to the bill receiving second reading, shall have attached to the committee amendment such comment of the appropriate state official or office as may appear appropriate regarding the committee amendment's effect on the finances of the State. Provided, however, this rule shall not be invoked where the amount is shown in the bill.
Committee chairmen shall satisfy this requirement these requirements of a fiscal impact statement prior to the bill being considered on receiving second reading."
(5) That Rule 5.19 of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"5.19 a. No member shall speak more than twice on the main question of a bill or resolution being considered for any reading and not longer than sixty minutes for the first speech nor longer than thirty minutes for the second speech, unless allowed to do so by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present and voting. No member shall speak more than twice upon an amendment or a motion to reconsider that is debatable, and then not longer than ten minutes each time. However, if the previous question has been invoked, no member may speak more than twice on a motion to reconsider that is debatable, and then not longer than the amount of time remaining for debate of the underlying motion; provided, that proposed amendments announced and introduced by the Reading Clerk shall be considered prior to a member speaking on the bill. No member shall speak more than twice on Senate Amendments to a House Bill and not longer than sixty minutes for the first speech nor longer than thirty minutes for the second speech, unless allowed to do so by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present and voting. The House may, however, by consent of a majority of the members present and voting suspend the operation of this rule during any debate on any particular question before the House.
b. Subsection (a) of this rule shall be applicable on a section by section basis on debate upon the General Appropriations Bill, the Supplemental Appropriations Bill, or the bond bills but shall not apply to bills on reapportionment.
c. The motion to grant question of granting Free Conference Powers shall require an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the membership of the House and is not debatable. No member shall speak more than twice on the question of adoption of a Conference or Free Conference Report and not longer than sixty minutes for the first speech nor longer than thirty minutes for the second speech, unless allowed to do so by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present and voting. Furthermore, the question of adoption of a Conference or Free Conference Report is subject to the provisions of Rule 8.6."
(6) That Rule 6.3(11) of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"11. a. consideration of unanimous consent requests;
b. consideration of vetoes;
c. consideration of Senate amendments;
d. consideration of local contested bills and joint resolutions on third reading;"
(7) That Rule 7.3b of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"b. Two minutes One minute after the bell has been sounded, the Speaker shall ask the question: 'Have all members present voted?' After a pause, the Speaker shall then lock the machine and instruct the Clerk to tabulate the vote on the electronic roll call board. The Speaker shall then announce the result of the vote."
(8) That Rule 8.10 of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"8.10 Any member may without debate, call for the division of a question and the House may divide the question if it the Speaker shall appear to comprehend the question so distinct that, one being taken away, the rest may stand entirely on its own."
(9) That Rule 8.11a of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"a. The following motions shall be decided by simple majority unless otherwise specified and without debate after any short remarks the Speaker permits:
to adjourn;
to recede;
to continue;
to lay on the table;
for the previous question (unless it is made when a member
has the floor and then it requires a majority plus five);
to adjourn debate;
to commit or recommit;
to resolve the House into a Committee of the Whole;
to proceed to the orders of the day;
to recur to the morning hour;
to fix the hour to which the House shall next meet;
to grant free conference powers;"
(10) That Rule 8.14 of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"8.14 When a question shall have been once decided in the affirmative or negative, any member who voted with the prevailing side may on the same day or the next day of the sitting of the House move for a reconsideration thereof and the House if in session for statewide matters, shall immediately have the question of reconsideration before it, except when Special Orders are being considered. If the House is not in session for statewide matters or have before it a matter under Special Order, it shall have the question of reconsideration before it as provided in Rule 6.3. If the House shall refuse to reconsider, or, upon reconsideration, shall affirm its first decision, no further motion shall be in order except by unanimous consent, provided, that once a motion to reconsider is made it may not be withdrawn except in the same day in which it was made.
Provided, that a motion to reconsider shall not be allowed if the bill, resolution, message, report, amendment, motion, or the paper upon which the vote was taken shall not have gone out of the possession of the House.
A motion to reconsider may be laid on the table. If such motion be laid on the table, it shall be deemed a final disposition of the motion."
(11) That Rule 8.15 of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"8.15 A member may move to continue a matter when called on the calendar to the next session, but not to a specific date in the next session; and if the House agrees thereto, the matter shall be thereupon continued; to the next session, and the Clerk of the House shall make up a calendar of all the matters so continued, placing the same thereupon, in the order in which they have been continued. At the ensuing session the continued matters shall be taken up and considered in the same stage in which they were when so continued and shall have priority according to the last order for consideration made upon them.
If a motion to continue, having received an affirmative vote, shall be reconsidered and thereupon such motion to continue shall receive a negative vote, the matter shall be taken up in its original place on the calendar."
(12) That Rule 9.2 of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"9.2 At the third reading of a bill, no amendment shall be permitted without unanimous consent, except that the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means may (if he shall have given notice at the second reading of his intention to offer amendments at the third) be permitted to offer amendments to any appropriations bill, as may be pertinent to the bill. The chairman of any committee may (if he has given notice at the second reading of his intention to offer an amendment amendments at the third) be permitted to offer a technical amendment amendments to any bill which has been reported from his committee; and,
Provided, that the House may, in its discretion, commit or recommit any bill at its third reading and after the report of the committee any amendment which it shall recommend may be adopted."
(13) That Rule 10.3 of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"10.3 Definitions of measures:
1. 'Resolutions' This term includes:
a. 'House Resolution' which affects only the action of the House and the members thereof. It requires only one reading for adoption, and shall not be submitted to the Senate.
b. 'Concurrent Resolution' which affects only the action of the General Assembly and the members thereof. It requires only one reading in each House for adoption.
c. 'Joint Resolution' which shall have the same force of law as an Act, but is a temporary measure, dying when its subject matter is completed. It requires the same treatment as a bill does in its passage through both Houses, but its title after passage shall not be changed to that of an Act; and when used to propose an amendment to the Constitution it does not require the approval of the Governor.
2. 'Bill' A bill is the term applied to a measure introduced in either House designed to become a permanent law (or an 'Act').
It must be read and adopted three times on three separate days in each House, following which its title is changed to that of an Act.
3. 'Act' An Act is the term applied to a bill that has passed both Houses, been ratified by the presiding officer of each House and signed by the Governor or passed over his veto. It is a permanent measure, having the force of law until repealed.
4. 'Veto' The term used for disapproval of a Bill or Joint Resolution by the Governor. It may be overridden by a two thirds vote of the members present and voting of each House."
(14) That Rule 10.7 of the Rules of the House be amended to read:
"10.7 No smoking is permitted in the Hall of any area under the exclusive control of the House of Representatives unless the area is otherwise designated a 'smoking area' by the Speaker. Smoking for purposes of this rule includes carrying a lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, or any other lighted smoking equipment."