Bill Text: TX HR72 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 2nd Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Amending House Rule 1 Section 15, and Rule 5, Sections 3 and 8.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 32-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-08-23 - Referred to House Administration [HR72 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HR72-Introduced.html
By: Vasut | H.R. No. 72 |
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BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the 87th | ||
Legislature, that Rule 1, Section 15, of the permanent rules of the | ||
House of Representatives of the 87th Legislature is amended to read | ||
as follows: | ||
Sec. 15. Standing Committee Appointments - (a) The speaker | ||
shall designate the chair and vice-chair of each standing | ||
substantive committee and shall also appoint membership of the | ||
committee, subject to the provisions of Rule 4, Section 2. | ||
(b) If members of equal seniority request the same | ||
committee, the speaker shall decide which among them shall be | ||
assigned to that committee. | ||
(c) In announcing the membership of the standing | ||
substantive committees, the speaker shall designate which are | ||
appointees and which acquire membership by seniority. | ||
(d) The speaker shall appoint the chair and vice-chair of | ||
each standing procedural committee and the remaining membership of | ||
the committee. | ||
(e) If a new speaker is elected to fill a vacancy in the | ||
office after the appointment of standing committees, the new | ||
speaker may not alter the composition of any standing committee | ||
before the end of the session, except that the new speaker may: | ||
(1) vacate the new speaker's membership on any | ||
committee; | ||
(2) make committee appointments for the member who was | ||
removed as speaker; | ||
(3) designate a different member of a standing | ||
committee as committee chair; and | ||
(4) fill vacancies that occur on a committee. | ||
(f)(1) A member shall be removed as chair and vice-chair of | ||
all standing and procedural committees the member serves on, but | ||
shall retain his or her membership on the committee, if a majority | ||
of the house adopts a motion to remove a committee chair or | ||
vice-chair for any of the following reasons: | ||
(A) the member is absent from the sessions of the | ||
house without leave under Rule 5, Section 3, for more than seven (7) | ||
cumulative days during any regular session; | ||
(B) the member is absent from the sessions of the | ||
house without leave under Rule 5, Section 3, for more than three (3) | ||
cumulative days during any special session; | ||
(C) the member is absent from the sessions of the | ||
house without leave under Rule 5, Section 3, for more than fourteen | ||
(14) cumulative days, with the intent to cause a lack of quorum | ||
under Rule 5, Section 1, during the past six (6) months. | ||
(2) A motion under Subdivision (1) must be seconded by | ||
twenty-five (25) members, of whom the speaker may be one, and shall | ||
be recognized as a privileged motion if otherwise in order. | ||
(3) A motion under Subdivision (1) is not in order | ||
unless a member has previously provided at least twenty-four hour's | ||
notice of intent to make the motion by addressing the house when the | ||
house is in session and stating that a member intends to make a | ||
motion for the removal of a member(s) as chair or vice-chair of a | ||
standing or procedural committee. | ||
(4) A member that is subject to a motion under | ||
Subdivision (1) is permitted, but not obligated, to address the | ||
house for not more than 10 minutes on a motion being considered by | ||
the full house under Subdivision (1). The time limits established | ||
by this rule shall include time consumed in yielding to questions | ||
from the floor. The time limit established by this rule shall not | ||
be extended. | ||
(5) No member may be subject to a motion under | ||
Subdivision (1) more than once during any regular or special | ||
session. | ||
(6) A motion under Subdivision (1) is incidental to a | ||
call of the house, under Rule 5, Section 7. | ||
(g) The speaker may not appoint a member as a chair or | ||
vice-chair of any committee if the member was removed as a chair or | ||
vice-chair of any committee during the previous twelve (12) months | ||
pursuant to Subsection (f). | ||
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the | ||
87th Legislature, that Rule 5, Section 8, of the permanent rules of | ||
the House of Representatives of the 87th Legislature is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 8. Securing a Quorum. (a) When a call of the house is | ||
moved for one of the above purposes and seconded by 15 members (of | ||
whom the speaker may be one) and ordered by a majority vote, the | ||
main entrance to the hall and all other doors leading out of the | ||
hall shall be locked and no member permitted to leave the house | ||
without the written permission of the speaker. The names of members | ||
present shall be recorded. All absentees for whom no sufficient | ||
excuse is made may, by order of a majority of those present, be sent | ||
for and arrested, wherever they may be found, by the | ||
sergeant-at-arms or an officer appointed by the sergeant-at-arms | ||
for that purpose, and their attendance shall be secured and | ||
retained. The house shall determine on what conditions they shall | ||
be discharged. Members who voluntarily appear shall, unless the | ||
house otherwise directs, be immediately admitted to the hall of the | ||
house and shall report their names to the clerk to be entered in the | ||
journal as present. | ||
(b) Until a quorum appears, should the roll call fail to | ||
show one present, no business shall be transacted, except to compel | ||
the attendance of absent members or to adjourn. It shall not be in | ||
order to recess under a call of the house. | ||
(c) Any member without sufficient excuse who fails to appear | ||
in the hall within twenty-four (24) hours of a call of the house, or | ||
within twenty-four (24) hours of the appointed time for the member | ||
to appear pursuant to any written permission of the speaker, shall | ||
be fined a sum equal to two times the member's per diem per day the | ||
member is absent without excuse during a call of the house. Such | ||
fine shall be remitted to the sergeant-at-arms and made payable to | ||
the Texas House of Representatives. | ||
(d) Any member without sufficient excuse who fails to appear | ||
in the hall within forty-eight (48) hours of a call of the house, or | ||
within forty-eight (48) hours of the appointed time for the member | ||
to appear pursuant to any written permission of the speaker, shall | ||
be re-designated as having zero years and zero days of cumulative | ||
service as a member of the house of representatives for purposes of | ||
seniority under these Rules and any privileges appurtenant thereto. | ||
There shall be no method by which to reinstate the seniority of a | ||
member that has been re-designated as having zero years and zero | ||
days of cumulative service as a member of the house of | ||
representatives for purposes of seniority under this subsection. | ||
(e) Any member without sufficient excuse who fails to appear | ||
in the hall within seventy-two (72) hours of a call of the house, or | ||
within seventy-two (72) hours of the appointed time for the member | ||
to appear pursuant to any written permission of the speaker, shall | ||
be removed as chair and vice-chair of all standing and procedural | ||
committees the member serves on, but shall retain his or her | ||
membership on the committee. |