Bill Text: PA HR274 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to further provide for standing committees and subcommittees.

Sponsorship: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 23-3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-04-28 - Referred to RULES [HR274 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-HR274-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 1663
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 274 Session of2009
INTRODUCED BY BENNINGHOFF, HUTCHINSON, BOYD, CHRISTIANA, COX, CREIGHTON, CUTLER, FLECK, GABIG, GIBBONS, GRELL, GROVE, W. KELLER, METCALFE, MOUL, OBERLANDER, RAPP, ROAE, ROHRER, SCHRODER, STERN, TRUE AND VULAKOVICH, APRIL 28, 2009
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, APRIL 28, 2009
A RESOLUTION
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to further
provide for standing committees and subcommittees.
RESOLVED, That House Rule 43 be amended to read:
RULE 43
Standing Committees and Subcommittees
The Committee on Committees shall consist of the Speaker and
15 members of the House, ten of whom shall be members of the
majority party and five of whom shall be members of the minority
party, whose duty shall be to recommend to the House the names
of members who are to serve on the standing committees of the
House. Except for the Speaker, the Majority and Minority
Leaders, Whips, Caucus Chairs, Caucus Secretaries, Caucus
Administrators, Policy Chairs and the chairs and minority chairs
of standing committees, each member shall be entitled to serve
on not less than two standing committees.
The Speaker shall appoint the chair and vice-chair of each
standing committee when such standing committee has no standing
subcommittees as prescribed herein, except the Committee on
Appropriations which shall also have a vice-chair appointed by
the Speaker; when the standing committee has standing
subcommittees, the Speaker shall appoint a subcommittee chair
for each standing subcommittee. The Speaker shall appoint a
secretary for each standing committee. The Minority Leader shall
appoint the minority chair, minority vice-chair and minority
secretary of each standing committee and the minority
subcommittee chair for each standing subcommittee. A member of a
standing committee may not serve as chair of the same standing
committee during more than three consecutive sessions.
Except for members who decline chair status or minority chair
status in writing or who are barred from serving as a chair or
minority chair under this rule, the chair and minority chair of
each standing committee except the Appropriations Committee
shall be limited only to the members of the applicable caucus
with the most seniority as members of their respective caucus.
Whenever there are more caucus members with equal seniority than
available chairs or minority chairs for that caucus, the
selection of a chair or minority chair from among such caucus
members shall be in the discretion of the appointing authority.
The appointing authority may designate the standing committee to
which the appointing authority shall appoint a member as chair
or minority chair without regard to seniority. The Speaker and
the Floor Leader, Whip, Caucus Chair, Caucus Secretary, Caucus
Administrator and Policy Chair of the majority party and
minority party shall not be eligible to serve as chair or
minority chair of any standing committee and no member may serve
as chair or minority chair of more than one standing committee.
Any chair or minority chair held by a member who fails to
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meet the requirements of this rule shall become vacant by
automatic operation of this rule. If the appointing authority
fails to make an appointment of a chair or minority chair prior
to the organizational meeting of a standing committee or fails
to fill a vacancy within seven calendar days after it occurs,
such position shall be deemed to remain vacant in violation of
this rule. Whenever a chair or minority chair becomes vacant or
remains vacant in violation of this rule, the member of the
applicable caucus who meets the requirements of this rule shall
automatically fill the vacancy and, if there are two or more
such eligible caucus members for any such vacancy or vacancies,
they shall be filled from among such eligible members through a
lottery to be conducted under the supervision of the Chief Clerk
after giving notice of the time and place thereof to all
eligible members, to the Speaker, to the Majority Leader and to
the Minority Leader.
Nothing in this rule shall prohibit the appointing authority
from transferring a member from the chair or minority chair of a
standing committee to the chair or minority chair of another
standing committee.
Whenever the appointment of a chair or minority chair will
cause the applicable caucus to exceed its permissible allocation
of members on a standing committee, the appointing authority
shall make a temporary transfer of an eligible committee member
to the standing committee vacated by the member appointed as
chair or minority chair until a regular committee appointment
can be made in accordance with the rules of the House. If the
Speaker or Minority Leader fails to make a temporary transfer
within seven calendar days after such appointment, the committee
member with the least seniority, who is eligible for transfer,
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shall be automatically transferred to the committee vacated by
the newly appointed chair or minority chair and, if more than
one committee member is eligible for such transfer, the transfer
shall be implemented through a lottery conducted under the
supervision of the Chief Clerk.
The Speaker of the House, Floor Leader of the majority party
and the Floor Leader of the minority party shall be ex-officio
members of all standing committees, without the right to vote
and they shall be excluded from any limitation as to the number
of members on the committees or in counting a quorum.
Twenty-four standing committees of the House, each to consist
of 26 members except the Committee on Appropriations, which
shall consist of 35 members, are hereby created. In addition,
there are hereby created 46 standing subcommittees.
All standing committees shall consist of 15 members of the
majority party and 11 members of the minority party, except the
Committee on Appropriations which shall consist of 21 members of
the majority party and 14 members of the minority party. The
quorum for each of the standing committees and subcommittees
shall be no less than the majority of said committees. The
following are the standing committees and subcommittees thereof:
(1) Aging and Older Adult Services
(a) Subcommittee on Care and Services
(b) Subcommittee on Programs and Benefits
(2) Agriculture and Rural Affairs
(3) Appropriations
(a) Subcommittee on Health and Welfare
(b) Subcommittee on Education
(c) Subcommittee on Economic Impact and Infrastructure
(d) Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy
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(e) Subcommittee on Criminal Justice
(4) Children and Youth
(5) Commerce
(a) Subcommittee on Financial Services and Banking
(b) Subcommittee on Housing
(c) Subcommittee on Economic Development
(d) Subcommittee on Small Business
(6) Consumer Affairs
(a) Subcommittee on Public Utilities
(b) Subcommittee on Telecommunications
(7) Education
(a) Subcommittee on Basic Education
(b) Subcommittee on Higher Education
(c) Subcommittee on Special Education
(8) Environmental Resources and Energy
(a) Subcommittee on Energy
(b) Subcommittee on Mining
(c) Subcommittee on Parks and Forests
(9) Finance
(10) Game and Fisheries
(11) Gaming Oversight
(12) Health and Human Services
(a) Subcommittee on Health
(b) Subcommittee on Human Services
(c) Subcommittee on Drugs and Alcohol
(d) Subcommittee on Mental Health
(13) Insurance
(14) Judiciary
(a) Subcommittee on Crime and Corrections
(b) Subcommittee on Courts
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(c) Subcommittee on Family Law
(15) Intergovernmental Affairs
(a) Subcommittee on Information Technology
(b) Subcommittee on Federal-State Relations
(16) Labor Relations
(17) Liquor Control
(a) Subcommittee on Licensing
(b) Subcommittee on Marketing
(18) Local Government
(a) Subcommittee on Boroughs
(b) Subcommittee on Counties
(c) Subcommittee on Townships
(19) Professional Licensure
(20) State Government
(21) Tourism and Recreational Development
(a) Subcommittee on Arts and Entertainment
(b) Subcommittee on Recreation
(c) Subcommittee on Travel Promotion
(22) Transportation
(a) Subcommittee on Highways
(b) Subcommittee on Public Transportation
(c) Subcommittee on Transportation Safety
(d) Subcommittee on Aviation
(e) Subcommittee on Railroads
(23) Urban Affairs
(a) Subcommittee on Cities, Counties - First Class
(b) Subcommittee on Cities, Counties - Second Class
(c) Subcommittee on Cities, Third Class
(24) Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness
(a) Subcommittee on Military and Veterans Facilities
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(b) Subcommittee on Security and Emergency Response
Readiness
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