RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That during the 2021 Special Session I of the General Assembly, summoned by proclamation of the Governor on February 4, 2021, to begin February 10, 2021, except with the unanimous consent of the house in which the legislation is offered, no bill, joint resolution, or resolution shall be offered or considered in either house during the Special Session other than (i) bills or joint resolutions continued from the 2021 Regular Session pursuant to Section 7 of Article IV of the Constitution of Virginia and House Joint Resolution No. 575 providing for legislative continuity; (ii) the Budget Bill; (iii) single-house commending or memorial resolutions; (iv) bills, joint resolutions, or resolutions affecting the rules of procedure or schedule of business of the General Assembly, either of its houses, or any of its committees; (v) joint resolutions or resolutions relating to appointments subject to the confirmation of the General Assembly or either house; (vi) bills, joint resolutions, or resolutions relating to the election of judges and other officials subject to the election of the General Assembly; or (vii) bills or joint resolutions requested in writing by the Governor; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That notwithstanding any other provision of this resolution and in accordance with the practices of each house, a request to be removed as a co-patron shall be received no later than 3:00 p.m., Friday, February 19, 2021; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That for purposes of the procedural deadlines established herein for the 2021 Regular Session of the General Assembly:
"Budget Bill" means the general appropriation bill introduced in each house continued from the 2021 Regular Session that authorizes the biennial expenditure of public revenues for the period from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2022.
"Debt bill" means any bill that authorizes the issuance of debt.
"Legislative day" means the period of time that begins with the call to order by the presiding officer and ends when declared adjourned by the presiding officer. Unless another time is specified, any deadline established in this resolution shall expire at the end of the legislative day.
"Revenue bill" means any bill, except the Budget Bill and debt bills, that increases or decreases the total revenues available for appropriation.
"Unanimous consent" means the affirmation of all the members present in the house of origin. Any legislation intended to be offered for introduction with unanimous consent or with the written request of the Governor shall not require the consent of the house in order for the member to request the Division of Legislative Services to draft such legislation. The Division of Legislative Services shall return such legislation after the original introduction deadline; and, be it
RESOLVED FINALLY, That the 2021 Special Session I of the General Assembly shall be governed by the following procedural rules, which establish time limits for elections and all legislation continued from the 2021 Regular Session except:
(i) Bills, joint resolutions, or resolutions affecting the rules of procedure or the schedule of business of the General Assembly, either of its houses, or any of its committees, except for the time limitations established in Rule 13 for bills and joint resolutions;
(ii) House and Senate resolutions, except for the limitations established in Rules 9, 11, and 13;
(iii) Bills, joint resolutions, or resolutions introduced with unanimous consent including resolutions introduced with unanimous consent to exceed the time limitations established in Rules 9 and 11 but not the time limitations established in Rule 13;
(iv) Joint resolutions or resolutions relating to appointments subject to the confirmation of the General Assembly or either house, except for the time limitations established in Rule 13;
(v) Bills, joint resolutions, or resolutions relating to the election of judges and other officials subject to the election of the General Assembly, except for the time limitations established in Rule 13; or
(vi) Bills and joint resolutions requested in writing by the Governor.
Rule 1. Except for the Budget Bill, beginning Wednesday, February 10, 2021, the House of Delegates shall consider only Senate bills, Senate joint resolutions, House bills with Senate amendments, and House joint resolutions with Senate amendments; the Senate shall consider only House bills, House joint resolutions, Senate bills with House amendments, and Senate joint resolutions with House amendments; and each house may consider conference reports and other privileged matters relating thereto to the end that the work of each house may be disposed of by the other.
Rule 2. The committees responsible for the consideration of the Budget Bill in the houses of introduction shall complete their work on such bill no later than Wednesday, February 10, 2021, and any amendments proposed by such committees shall be made available to their respective houses on such day.
Rule 3. The houses of introduction shall complete their consideration of the Budget Bill, except for conference reports and other privileged matters relating thereto, no later than Saturday, February 13, 2021.
Rule 4. The committees responsible for consideration of revenue bills of the other house shall complete their consideration of such bills no later than Wednesday, February 17, 2021.
Rule 5. No later than Wednesday, February 17, 2021, each house shall complete consideration of the Budget Bill of the other house, except for conference reports and other privileged matters relating thereto.
Rule 6. No later than Wednesday, February 17, 2021, each house shall begin its consideration of any election to fill any judicial seat in the courts of the Commonwealth, or to fill a seat on any commission or office elected by the General Assembly. In the event that the houses cannot agree on such election before Thursday, February 18, 2021, such election shall become the subject in each house of a special and continuing joint order, and such special and continuing joint order shall have precedence over all other business of either house, until such time as both houses reach agreement on such election or either house votes to suspend or discharge the order. The Rules of each house, as far as applicable, shall be the rules governing any such election.
Rule 7. No later than Friday, February 19, 2021, each house shall complete consideration of revenue bills of the other house, except for conference reports and other privileged matters relating thereto, and the appointing authority shall appoint the conferees to the Budget Bill and such revenue bills. Any conference committee on any revenue bills shall complete its deliberations and make the report of such conference available to the General Assembly as soon as practicable.
Rule 8. Neither house shall receive from any committee any bill or joint resolution acted on by any committee later than midnight, Monday, February 22, 2021.
Rule 9. Requests for the drafting, redrafting, or correction of any single-house commending or memorial resolution shall be submitted to and received by the Division of Legislative Services no later than 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, February 23, 2021.
Rule 10. Any conference committee on the Budget Bill shall complete its deliberations and make the report of such conference available to the General Assembly as soon as practicable. Neither house shall receive, consider, or vote on any Budget Bill that is in conference unless it has been agreed to in writing or signed electronically by a majority of conferees from each house. Neither house shall consider such conference report earlier than 48 hours after receipt, unless both houses respectively determine to proceed earlier by a vote of two-thirds of the members voting in each house. No engrossment of the Budget Bill shall be required in either house, and any conference on the Budget Bill shall consider, as the basis of its deliberations, the Budget Bill as recommended by the Governor and introduced in the House and the amendments thereto proposed by each house. A report shall be issued concurrently with the report of the conference committee that identifies the following by item number, narrative description, and dollar amount: (i) any nonstate agency appropriation, (ii) any item in the conference report that was not included in a general appropriation bill as passed by either the House or the Senate, and (iii) any item that represents legislation that failed in either house during the regular or a special session.
Rule 11. No single-house commending or memorial resolution shall be offered in either house after 5:00 p.m., Thursday, February 25, 2021.
Rule 12. Except for joint resolutions affecting the rules of procedure or the schedule of business of the General Assembly, beginning Friday, February 26, 2021, the House shall consider only Senate joint resolutions and House joint resolutions with Senate amendments; the Senate shall consider only House joint resolutions and Senate joint resolutions with House amendments; and each house may consider conference reports or joint resolutions and other privileged matters relating thereto, to the end that the work of each house may be disposed of by the other.
Rule 13. Beginning Sunday, February 28, 2021, neither House shall consider any (i) conference reports, (ii) bills or joint resolutions, (iii) single-house commending or memorial resolutions, (iv) joint resolutions or resolutions relating to appointments subject to the confirmation of the General Assembly or either house, or (v) bills, joint resolutions, or resolutions relating to the election of judges and other officials subject to the election of the General Assembly.
Rule 14. This session of the General Assembly shall adjourn sine die no later than Monday March 1, 2021.
Rule 15. Pursuant to Section 6 of Article IV of the Constitution of Virginia, the General Assembly shall reconvene Wednesday, April 7, 2021, for the purpose of considering bills that may have been returned by the Governor with recommendations for their amendment and bills and items of appropriation bills, including the general appropriation act, that may have been returned by the Governor with his objections.
Rule 16. That members of the General Assembly and credentialed legislative staff attending floor sessions, committees, subcommittees, and any other meetings of the General Assembly in person or meeting in a legislative office in person shall be required to wear a facemask or face shield, and at the discretion of the Speaker of the House of Delegates for Delegates and House credentialed staff and the discretion of the chair of the Senate Committee on Rules for Senators and Senate credentialed staff, have their temperature taken daily when initially entering legislative space.
Rule 17. The conduct of the business of any subcommittee of any House committee, any joint subcommittee of House and Senate committees, and any interim study commission created pursuant to a House measure shall be governed by the Rules of the House of Delegates; the conduct of the business of any subcommittee of any Senate committee, any joint subcommittee of Senate and House committees, and any interim study commission created pursuant to a Senate measure shall be governed by the Rules of the Senate. If a House measure and a Senate measure create the same study, the conduct of business of the study shall be governed by the rules of the house of the chairman of the study, or in the case of co-chairmen, the rules of the house as agreed upon by the co-chairmen.