By: Darby	H.R. No. 96

	R E S O L U T I O N
	BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the 87th
	Texas Legislature, That the permanent rules of the House of
	Representatives of the 87th Legislature are amended as follows:
	SECTION 1.  Rule 4, Section 9, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 9.  MEETING WHILE HOUSE IN SESSION. (a)  Except as
	otherwise provided by this section, no [No] standing committee or
	subcommittee shall meet during the time the house is in session
	without permission being given by a majority vote of the house. No
	standing committee or subcommittee shall conduct its meeting on the
	floor of the house or in the house chamber while the house is in
	session, but shall, if given permission to meet while the house is
	in session, retire to a designated committee room for the conduct of
	its meeting.
	(b)  Permission of the house is not required for a committee
	or subcommittee to meet, in a designated committee room, while the
	house is in session if:
	(1)  a call of the house has been ordered and a quorum
	of the house has not yet been secured; and
	(2)  the members of the committee or subcommittee
	registered as present under the call of the house have received
	written permission of the speaker, under Rule 5, Section 8, to leave
	the hall of the house.
	SECTION 2.  Rule 4 is amended by adding Section 10A to read
	as follows:
	Sec. 10A.  PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC HEARING BY MEMBER ABSENT
	WITHOUT SUFFICIENT EXCUSE UNDER A CALL OF THE HOUSE. If a member
	was absent from the sessions of the house without sufficient excuse
	during a call of the house and did not voluntarily appear in the
	hall of the house under Rule 5, Section 8, the member may not
	participate in a public hearing, either in person or under Section
	16A, during that regular or special session until the expiration of
	the 48-hour period that begins at the time the member enters the
	hall of the house while the house is in session and reports the
	member's name to the journal clerk to be entered in the journal as
	present.
	SECTION 3.  Rule 5, Section 3, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 3.  LEAVE OF ABSENCE. (a)  No member shall be absent
	from the sessions of the house without leave, and no member shall be
	excused on his or her own motion.
	(b)  A leave of absence may be granted by a majority vote of
	the house and may be revoked at any time by a similar vote.
	(c)  Any member granted a leave of absence due to a meeting of
	a committee or conference committee that has authority to meet
	while the house is in session shall be so designated on each roll
	call or registration for which that member is excused.
	(d)  Unless the house excuses the payment of the fine by a
	majority vote, each member who is absent without leave during a call
	of the house is liable to the house for a fine in the amount of $500
	for each calendar day of absence, exclusive of the day on which the
	call was ordered and the day of the member's return to the hall of
	the house.
	(e)  The Committee on House Administration shall notify a
	member of the total amount of fines for which payment is not
	excused. A member must pay the amount stated in the committee's
	notice by making payment of that amount to the House Business Office
	not later than the third business day of the first calendar month
	after the date of the committee's notice. If a member does not make
	full payment as required by this subsection, the committee shall
	direct the House Business Office to reduce the amount of the monthly
	credit to the member's operating account established under the
	housekeeping resolution by 30 percent in each month that any amount
	of a fine remains due and owing. When a member has made full payment
	as required by this subsection, the committee shall direct the
	House Business Office to restore the impounded funds to the
	member's operating account subject to any limitations on the
	carrying forward of unexpended funds established by the
	housekeeping resolution.
	SECTION 4.  Rule 5, Section 8, 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. For purposes of this
	subsection, the following are not considered to be business:
	(1)  receipt of messages from the governor and senate
	under Rule 13, Sections 1 and 2;
	(2)  the signing of measures by the speaker in the
	presence of the house under Rule 1, Section 13; and
	(3)  the referral of proposed legislation to committee
	by the speaker under Rule 1, Section 4.
	(c)  In discharging a member under Subsection (a), the house
	may:
	(1)  refuse to excuse payment of the fine imposed under
	Section 3(d);
	(2)  reprimand the member;
	(3)  censure the member;
	(4)  revoke the speaker's designation of the member as
	chair of a standing, select, or interim committee; or
	(5)  stay the imposition of any penalty.
	(d)  The house may not impose a penalty under Subsection
	(c)(4) unless the member has been absent without leave for the
	purpose of impeding the action of the house for more than two
	calendar days, exclusive of the day the call was ordered and the day
	of the member's return to the hall of the house.
	(e)  Before action is taken by the house under Subsection
	(c)(4), the matter shall be referred to the Committee on House
	Administration for investigation and report. A report issued under
	this subsection shall not be considered by the house until a printed
	copy of the report has been provided to each member of the house at
	least 24 hours before consideration.
	(f)  When filling a vacancy in the position of chair of a
	committee that results from a penalty imposed under Subsection
	(c)(4), the speaker must designate the new chair from the existing
	membership of the committee.