Committees
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The work done by the General Assembly is during the
formal legislative session when it meets three days a week. What many people
don't realize is that most of the work is done by committees. The committees
are the backbone of the legislative process. Before any Bill is considered
by either body, many hours of work take place by the members of the standing
committee to which the Bill is assigned. The Legislature relies on its
committees to eliminate the less important measures and report only those
deserving the attention of the entire House or Senate. By working through
standing committees, each house may have each Bill considered by members
who have specialized in the subject of the Bill. Many members have expert
knowledge of particular subjects and these members are usually placed on
committees to take full advantage of their knowledge and experience. Because
of this the Legislature usually accepts the recommendations of the standing
committees. This is not to say that the General Assembly isn't aware of
its responsibility to consider all pending Bills. A great deal of work
is done by interim committees, or committees appointed to consider important
subjects between the sessions of the Legislature. Interim committees usually
are composed of members of both houses and Governor's appointees and meet
to examine problems which should be studied.
One cannot underestimate the importance of the research,
study and information gathering that must take place for any Bill. Research
facilities and assistants in the General Assembly gather this information
and compile it for the members to study. As subjects and issues grow more
complex, there is greater demand for this research. The public may never
see this "behind the scenes" work, but there is a great deal
of preparation done for every Bill before it reaches the floor of the Senate
or the House..
All legislatures work mainly through standing committees
in considering Bills. Committee work is probably the most important part
of the legislative process. There are eleven standing committees in the
House. Each considers Bills about a specific subject or area of legislation.
The committees are:
* Agriculture, Natural Resources
and Environmental Affairs
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 members
* Education and Public Works . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 members
* Legislative Ethics . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 members
* Interstate Cooperation . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 members
* Invitations and Memorial
Resolutions . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 members
* Judiciary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 members
* Labor, Commerce and Industry . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 members
* Medical, Military, Public and
Municipal Affairs
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 members
* Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 members
* Ways and Means . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 members
* Operation and Management-
advisory to the Speaker
about
personnel, administration
and management . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 members
There are 15 Senate standing committees with membership
of not fewer than 5 nor more than 18 members. The committees are:
* Agriculture and Natural Resources
* Banking and Insurance
* Corrections and Penology
* Education
* Ethics
* Finance
* Fish, Game and Forestry
* General Committee
* Interstate Cooperation
* Invitations
* Judiciary
* Labor, Commerce and Industry
* Medical Affairs
* Rules
* Transportation
Standing committees examine Bills and recommend action
on them. During the day when the Legislature is in session but not actually
meeting, the committees will meet and work on the Bills referred to them.
When a committee completes work on a Bill, it prepares
a report and submits this with its recommendation when the reports of committees
are called for in the daily session. The Bill, with the committee report,
is put on the Calendar for second reading and is taken up, provided five
members do not object. A Bill must be on the desks of the members at least
one day ( when they are in session) before second reading. If a committee
has acted on a prefiled Bill during the interim (the gap between years
of a two-year session), the Clerk receives the committee report and sends
a copy of it to the members. On most Bills, recommendations of the committee
are followed, but either house may overrule the action of the committee.
In order to prevent a committee from killing a Bill by not working on it,
either house may recall the Bill from committee by a majority vote.
Bills are listed on the Calendar by number, sponsors
and title, in the order they are introduced and reported by committees.
They are then considered for second reading unless they are contested,
either by objection of five members or an unfavorable committee report.
Some Bills, such as the State Appropriations Bill, are set for Special
Order, which moves them to the top of the Calendar. A Bill on second reading
may be fully debated, amended, committed or recommitted, tabled, etc.
After a Bill has been discussed, it is voted on. Voting
may be by division, voice vote or roll call. A roll call vote is required
on second reading of contested Bills. Other requests for a roll call vote
must be seconded by ten members. Since there are more members in the House
than the Senate, individual voice votes would take a lot of time. Because
of this, the House uses a voting machine instead of calling each member's
name. The members vote by pushing buttons on their desks. Votes are registered
by lights which light up on a board in the chamber. The board contains
all the members' names and how each member voted. The votes are recorded
and entered in the Journal. A request for a roll call vote in the Senate
must be seconded by five Senators. The names are called in alphabetical
order by the Reading Clerk and the votes are entered into the Journal.
During third reading a Bill may be acted on as in second
reading, except that it takes unanimous consent to amend it. If a Bill
is recommitted (sent back to committee) and the committee wants to amend
it, they can do so without unanimous consent, but it still requires a majority
vote of the House for the adoption of the amendment. After the amendments
are written into the Bill and it is signed by the Speaker, it is then signed
by the Clerk and sent to the Senate by messenger, where it follows practically
the same route under slightly different rules. If the Senate amends a House
Bill, it is returned to the House for consideration. The House may agree
or disagree with the Senate amendment or make changes to the Senate amendment
and return it to the Senate. Should the House disagree with the Senate
amendment, a message is sent to the Senate and they will either insist
on or recede from their amendment.
If the Senate insists upon its amendment, a message
is sent to the House, with the names of three Senators appointed to a conference
committee by the President of the Senate. The Speaker of the House then
appoints three members of the House to a conference committee. The six
members meet and try to reach an agreement. If they agree, their report
is sent to both houses for adoption. When the report is adopted by both
houses, the Bill is ordered enrolled for ratification. Should the conference
committee not agree, they may return to their respective bodies and ask
for free conference powers, which requires a two-thirds vote of each house.
The free conference committee may rewrite the Bill, where the conference
committee cannot alter or delete anything agreed to by both houses. If
the House concurs in the Senate amendment, the Bill is ordered enrolled
for ratification and the title changed to an Act. Then, the Bill is enrolled
(rewritten into Act form by Legislative Council), placed in Act backs (folders),
attached to the original Bill and returned to the house in which it originated
to await ratification.
When invited to ratify by the Senate, the Speaker, Clerk
and Sergeant at Arms of the House go to the Senate Chamber to ratify Acts.
During the ratification, the presiding officers and Clerks of the two houses
sign the Acts. The Acts are immediately sent to the Governor's office by
the Clerk of the Senate. The Governor has five days, Sundays excluded,
during the session to approve or disapprove an Act. When he signs the Act
or allows it to become Law without his signature, it is sent to the Secretary
of State's office to be filed permanently. If he vetoes the Act, it must
be returned with his veto message, to the Clerk of the house in which it
originated by midnight of the fifth day. That body may then consider it.
If they override the Governor's veto (this requires a two-thirds majority
of each house present and voting), then it is sent to the other body for
its consideration. Should either the House or the Senatenot override the
Governor's veto, the Act is dead. If the two houses override the veto,
the Act is sent to the Secretary of State's office and becomes a part of
the statutes. The 20th day after the Act's approval by the Governor it
becomes effective unless some other day is specified in the Act.
Sometimes what the Legislature wants to do cannot be
done by passing a Bill and requires a Constitutional amendment. When this
happens, a Joint Resolution is prepared to propose an amendment to the
Constitution. This Joint Resolution is introduced and follows the same
course as ordinary Bills. The Resolution must be passed in each house by
a two-thirds vote of all members elected and does not require the approval
of the Governor. It is then placed before the voters of the State at the
next general election. If a majority votes for the amendment, a Bill to
ratify the amendment is introduced in the next session. It must pass by
a simple majority vote and does not need the Governor's signature.
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