PRINTER'S NO. 4243
No. 851 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY STEIL, SHAPIRO, THOMAS, ADOLPH, BEAR, BEYER,
BRENNAN, CLYMER, CREIGHTON, CUTLER, GALLOWAY, GINGRICH,
GOODMAN, HANNA, HORNAMAN, HUTCHINSON, MARSHALL,
McILVAINE SMITH, MELIO, MENSCH, MOUL, MOYER, MURT, MUSTIO,
NAILOR, O'NEILL, QUINN, ROCK, ROHRER, RUBLEY, SIPTROTH,
SWANGER, TRUE AND WATSON, AUGUST 21, 2008
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, AUGUST 21, 2008
A RESOLUTION
1 Amending the House Rules by providing for limits on bill
2 introduction and for the consideration of bills.
3 RESOLVED, That House Rule 18 be amended to read:
4 RULE 18
5 Introduction and Printing of Bills
6 Bills shall be introduced in quadruplicate, signed and dated
7 by each member who is a sponsor of the bill, and filed with the
8 Chief Clerk on any day that the offices of the House of
9 Representatives are open for business. A sponsor may be added or
10 withdrawn upon written notice to the Speaker, Majority Leader,
11 Minority Leader and the prime sponsor. In the case of
12 withdrawals, the names shall be withdrawn if and when the bill
13 is reprinted. Additional sponsors may be added only by the prime
14 sponsor by providing written notice to the Speaker, Majority
15 Leader and Minority Leader.
16 Bills introduced when received at the Chief Clerk's desk
1 shall be numbered consecutively and delivered to the Speaker,
2 who shall refer each bill to an appropriate committee on any day
3 whether or not the House is in session. If the resolution
4 creating a select committee authorizes the referral of bills to
5 that committee, the Speaker may refer bills, within the scope of
6 the resolution, to such select committee. Insofar as applicable,
7 the select committee shall consider and report bills in
8 accordance with the rules governing the consideration and
9 reporting of bills by standing committees. The Speaker shall
10 report to the House the committees to which bills have been
11 referred, either on the day introduced or received or on the
12 next two legislative days the House is in session, unless the
13 House is in recess for more than four consecutive days in which
14 case the Speaker shall provide a list to the Majority Leader and
15 the Minority Leader, within two calendar days, of all bills
16 which were referred during such period when the House was not in
17 session.
18 If the Speaker neglects or refuses to refer to committee any
19 bill or bills (whether House or Senate) as above after
20 introduction or presentation by the Senate for concurrence, any
21 member may move for the reference of the bill to an appropriate
22 committee. If the motion is carried, said bill or bills shall be
23 immediately surrendered by the Speaker to the committee
24 designated in said motion.
25 The first copy of each bill introduced shall be for the
26 committee, the second copy shall be for the printer, the third
27 copy shall be for the news media and the fourth copy shall be
28 for the Legislative Reference Bureau.
29 Every bill, after introduction and reference to committee,
30 shall be printed and shall also be posted on the Internet with
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1 the hyperlink to the web page for the members of the House of
2 Representatives.
3 [Bills may not be withdrawn after reference to committee.]
4 RESOLVED, That the rules of the House of Representatives be
5 amended by adding rules to read:
6 RULE 18 (a)
7 Limitation on Bill Introductions
8 (1) All members are authorized to introduce, prime sponsor,
9 eight bills in each legislative session.
10 (2) Limitations on bills shall not apply to:
11 (a) Resolutions of any kind.
12 (b) Majority committee Chair bills pertaining to the Chair's
13 committee.
14 (c) Additional bills authorized by the Speaker for:
15 (i) Emergency situations.
16 (ii) Extension of sunset provisions.
17 (iii) Requested by Governor.
18 (iv) Legislation required to fund debt obligations or
19 current budget appropriations.
20 (d) Amendments of any kind.
21 (3) Any member may withdraw the member's bills for cause and
22 replace it with another bill as authorized by the Speaker for:
23 (a) Action by Senate on same or similar subject.
24 (b) Change in Federal law.
25 (c) Regulatory change.
26 (d) Apparent unconstitutionality.
27 (4) No bill may be introduced after June 1 of the second
28 year in the session, subject to same nonapplicable limits in
29 subsection (2).
30 RULE 21 (a)
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1 Legislative Consideration of Priority Bills
2 (1) Priority designation of bills.
3 (a) Each member may designate two bills in each session as
4 priority.
5 (b) Priority designation shall not be applicable to
6 resolutions.
7 (2) Management of priority bills.
8 (a) Request for priority designation must be made when the
9 bill is introduced.
10 (b) The speaker shall identify in a unique manner, all bills
11 with a priority designation.
12 (c) Priority bills shall be referred only to the standing
13 committee to which they are germane and may not be re-referred
14 without the consent of the prime sponsor.
15 (d) Priority bills must receive consideration and vote by
16 the standing committee within 120 calendar days from the date of
17 introduction.
18 (e) Priority bills passed by the standing committee shall
19 receive third consideration by the full House within 30 session
20 days of committee approval.
21 (f) The prime sponsor of any priority bill may request, at
22 any time, an extension of time for consideration by a standing
23 committee or by the full House.
24 (g) The prime sponsor of any priority bill may withdraw the
25 priority designation at any time, but shall not be allowed to
26 place the designation on any other bill.
27 (h) Priority designations may not be transferred to any
28 other member.
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