Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HR1001 Compare Versions

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33 State of Arkansas 1
44 95th General Assembly 2
55 Regular Session, 2025 HR 1001 3
66 4
77 By: Representative Evans 5
88 6
99 7
1010 HOUSE RESOLUTION 8
1111 TO ADOPT THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF 9
1212 THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 10
1313 11
1414 12
1515 Subtitle 13
1616 TO ADOPT THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF 14
1717 REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY -FIFTH 15
1818 GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 16
1919 17
2020 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY -FIFTH GENERAL 18
2121 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19
2222 20
2323 SECTION 1. The Rules of the House of Representatives of the Ninety -21
2424 Fifth General Assembly of the State of Arkansas are adopted to read as 22
2525 follows: 23
2626 24
2727 MEMBERS 25
2828 1. Every representative shall be present within the House during the 26
2929 session of the House and every member shall be present at each committee 27
3030 meeting of which he or she is a member, unless excused or necessarily 28
3131 prevented. It is the policy of the Arkansas General Assembly, as a term -29
3232 limited body, to encourage legislators to learn as much as possible by 30
3333 attending meetings of committees of which they are not a member. Prior 31
3434 signed and documented approval must be obtained from the chairperson of a 32
3535 committee for a visiting non -committee member to enjoy certain privileges 33
3636 offered to regular members. 34
3737 2. For the purpose of seating in the House Chamber for an upcoming 35
3838 regular session of the General Assembly, the Speaker of the House, following 36 HR1001
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4141 the November General Election, shall declare all House Chamber seats vacant 1
4242 and representatives and representatives -elect must select in the order of 2
4343 their seniority any seat not occupied after notification by the Chief Clerk 3
4444 of available seats. Absence or failure to select a seat at the assigned 4
4545 selection time will automatically allow the Speaker to assign the member to 5
4646 his or her same seat if it is available or the member or member -elect to a 6
4747 seat selected by the Speaker. The Chief Clerk shall furnish voting machine 7
4848 and desk keys. 8
4949 3. When it is necessary for seniority of incoming members to be 9
5050 determined by lot, the Speaker of the House and the Speaker -designate of the 10
5151 House shall conduct a drawing by lots upon receiving certification from the 11
5252 Secretary of State of the election of membership to each General Assembly. 12
5353 Qualified and certified persons to be seated and officially receive the oath 13
5454 of office may do so only at a time and place prescribed by the House. No 14
5555 person having resigned from public office as a provision to a plea agreement 15
5656 to avoid felony prosecution shall be seated or administered the oath of 16
5757 office. Incoming members with previous legislative tenure shall be placed 17
5858 highest in seniority among the incoming members based upon previous terms of 18
5959 service. Where an equivalence of full terms of service exists, seniority for 19
6060 those with equal terms shall be asserted by drawing lots to determine their 20
6161 numerical standing. 21
6262 4. A majority of all representatives elected to the House shall be 22
6363 necessary to transact business. When less than a quorum of House members 23
6464 shall assemble, those present shall be authorized to send for the absent 24
6565 representatives or adjourn. Penalties may be decided by a majority of the 25
6666 representatives present. (Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, § 11) 26
6767 5. Each representative is expected to vote on each question put before 27
6868 the House unless he or she has an immediate personal interest. 28
6969 6. Any representative shall have the right to explain his/her vote on 29
7070 any bill or other question before the House, in writing. Such explanation 30
7171 shall not be entered upon the Journal, but shall be filed with the Chief 31
7272 Clerk. 32
7373 7. Every bill or resolution in the possession of the House or of any 33
7474 committee thereof shall be made available to any member for his/her 34
7575 examination. 35
7676 8. No member at any time shall take from the House or any committee 36 HR1001
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7979 any bill or other paper belonging to the House, without consent of the 1
8080 Speaker, subject to the will of the House. 2
8181 9. It shall be the duty of each representative to know, practice and 3
8282 preserve Parliamentary Law. 4
8383 5
8484 THE SPEAKER 6
8585 10. Selection. 7
8686 10.(a) As used in this rule, the term “Speaker -designate” shall mean 8
8787 the member of the House of Representatives selected by the House of 9
8888 Representatives of each General Assembly held preceding the convening of the 10
8989 next-following regular session of the General Assembly, in the following 11
9090 manner: 12
9191 10.(a)(1) A caucus of the entire House of Representatives shall be 13
9292 held fifteen (15) minutes following sine die adjournment of the fiscal 14
9393 session held in each even -numbered year, at which time the members of the 15
9494 House shall select by secret ballot a member of the House to be known as the 16
9595 Speaker-designate. Each candidate for Speaker -designate shall be allowed 17
9696 fifteen (15) minutes to address the House before the ballot is taken. All 18
9797 members are required to be present for the addresses and for the 19
9898 election. In the event a member is unable to attend, absentee ballots may be 20
9999 requested by a member for himself/herself from the Speaker's Office no sooner 21
100100 than twenty (20) calendar days prior to the scheduled election and must be 22
101101 completed and returned to the Speaker's Office no later than four p.m. (4:00 23
102102 p.m.) the day before the scheduled election. It is the intent of the 24
103103 Speaker’s office to accommodate any and all members for Speaker -designate 25
104104 voting, should a member have a documented emergency arise, the Speaker may 26
105105 direct staff to allow for absentee voting up to two (2) hours prior to the 27
106106 scheduled election. Leave for absence shall be requested immediately before 28
107107 the time of the election. The Speaker shall announce the name and number of 29
108108 votes received by the candidate who received at least a majority of the votes 30
109109 of the membership of the House. Each candidate shall be entitled to verify 31
110110 the number of votes he or she received. 32
111111 10.(a)(2) The candidate receiving a majority vote of the membership of 33
112112 the House of Representatives shall be declared the winner of such election 34
113113 for Speaker-designate of the House of Representatives of the next -following 35
114114 General Assembly. 36 HR1001
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117117 10.(a)(3) If no candidate receives a majority vote of the membership 1
118118 of the House of Representatives, the names of the two (2) candidates 2
119119 receiving the highest number of votes cast shall be placed on a run -off 3
120120 ballot and distributed among the membership of the House of Representatives 4
121121 in the same manner provided above. 5
122122 10.(a)(4) If it is determined that the Speaker -designate will not 6
123123 serve as a member of the House of Representatives of the next -following 7
124124 General Assembly due to death, resignation, or failure to be a candidate for 8
125125 or to win reelection, a vacancy in the position of Speaker -designate shall 9
126126 exist and be filled at the caucus of the entire House of Representatives -10
127127 elect held on the Friday of the week designated for the biennial Institute of 11
128128 Legislative Procedure (House Legislative Orientation), and the Speaker of the 12
129129 House of Representatives shall be elected upon convening of the next regular 13
130130 session. 14
131131 10.(a)(5) It is the intent of this subsection that the Speaker -15
132132 designate be the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the next -16
133133 following General Assembly, subject to selection by the membership of the 17
134134 House upon convening of the regular session. 18
135135 10.(a)(6) Petitions seeking pledge signatures of members of the House 19
136136 of Representatives for a particular candidate seeking selection as Speaker -20
137137 designate shall not be circulated among the members of the House of 21
138138 Representatives. 22
139139 10.(b) At the beginning of each session the members of the House of 23
140140 Representatives shall choose from its own membership a presiding officer 24
141141 designated as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 25
142142 11. Duties. The duties of the Speaker of the House shall be to: 26
143143 11.(a) Take the chair each day at the hour fixed on the preceding day 27
144144 at adjournment. After the opening prayer and pledge of allegiance, he or she 28
145145 shall immediately call the members to order, and on the appearance of a 29
146146 quorum, cause the Journal of the preceding day to be read; 30
147147 11.(b) Have control of the area set aside for use by the House and, in 31
148148 case of disturbance therein, shall have the authority to have the areas 32
149149 cleared. He or she or his or her designee shall supervise and control the 33
150150 temporary employees while the legislature is in session and the permanent 34
151151 employees during the biennium (Arkansas Code 10 -2-125 -- Employees and 35
152152 officers.); 36 HR1001
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155155 11.(c) Preserve order and decorum; 1
156156 11.(d) Sign all acts, proceedings and orders of the House. All writs, 2
157157 warrants and subpoenas issued by the House shall be signed and attested by 3
158158 him or her and the Clerk (Joint Rules of the House of Representatives and 4
159159 the Senate, Rule 10; Arkansas Code, Title 21, Chapter 10 - Uniform Facsimile 5
160160 Signatures of Public Officials Act); 6
161161 11.(e) Decide, with assistance of the Parliamentarian, all points of 7
162162 order, subject to appeal by any representative; 8
163163 11.(f) Appoint and confirm all representatives to certain committees 9
164164 and to appoint and confirm committee chairpersons and vice chairpersons in 10
165165 accordance with the House Rules and Statutes; 11
166166 11.(g) Assign all bills to their appropriate committee; 12
167167 11.(h) The Speaker shall not be required to vote, but may do so at 13
168168 his/her discretion. If the Speaker allows a substitute Speaker, neither the 14
169169 Speaker nor the substitute Speaker, if voting, shall be struck during the 15
170170 sounding of the ballot. 16
171171 11.(i) State the question to the House before each vote is taken; 17
172172 11.(j) Appoint, at the beginning of each session, a member of the 18
173173 House to serve as Speaker Pro Tempore. The Speaker Pro Tempore shall serve 19
174174 during the absences of the Speaker and shall perform the Speaker’s duties. 20
175175 The Speaker Pro Tempore shall not serve more than ten (10) consecutive 21
176176 legislative days without the consent of the House, or beyond adjournment. 22
177177 The Speaker of the House may appoint four (4) Assistant Speakers Pro Tempore; 23
178178 11.(k) Supervise and direct the preparation of the daily House 24
179179 calendar; 25
180180 11.(l) Administer the Oath of Office to the Chief Clerk and the 26
181181 Parliamentarian at the beginning of each legislative session; 27
182182 11.(m) Vacate the Speaker’s office by January 1 of the calendar year 28
183183 that a new General Assembly is to convene (odd -numbered years) so as to allow 29
184184 the Speaker-designate the privilege of the use of the office in preparation 30
185185 for the forthcoming General Assembly; 31
186186 11.(n) Vacate the Speaker’s premises by December 15 in the even -32
187187 numbered years; and 33
188188 11.(o) Keep a permanent register of the seniority of the members of 34
189189 the House of Representatives. 35
190190 11.(p) When either body shall request a conference, and appoint a 36 HR1001
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193193 committee for that purpose, the other body shall also appoint a committee of 1
194194 equal number to confer, and such conference shall be held at any time and 2
195195 place agreed on by the chairpersons. 3
196196 11.(q) Approve, by cosigning with either the Chief of Staff or the 4
197197 Coordinator of Legislative Services, the disbursement of all House funds. 5
198198 6
199199 CHIEF OF STAFF 7
200200 12. The Chief of Staff shall be appointed by the Speaker with the 8
201201 approval of the House Management Committee. 9
202202 13. The duties of the Chief of Staff shall be to: 10
203203 13.(a) Oversee all facets of the daily operations of the House 11
204204 ensuring compliance with all Rules of the House, all local, state and federal 12
205205 laws, policies, regulations and policy statements; 13
206206 13.(b) Act as travel supervisor or assign duty to designated staff; 14
207207 13.(c) Act as purchasing agent or assign duty to designated staff; 15
208208 13.(d) Coordinate preparation for General, Fiscal and Special Sessions 16
209209 of the House of Representatives; and 17
210210 13.(e) Act as custodian of House properties. 18
211211 19
212212 COORDINATOR OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES 20
213213 14. The Coordinator of House Legislative Services shall be appointed 21
214214 by the Speaker of the House with the approval of the House Management 22
215215 Committee. 23
216216 15. The duties of the Coordinator of House Legislative Services shall 24
217217 be to: 25
218218 15.(a) Coordinate and supervise the activities of the Chief Clerk, 26
219219 employees of the House Fiscal Office, and other temporary and permanent 27
220220 employees as assigned by the Chief of Staff; 28
221221 15.(b) Keep or cause to be kept all fiscal accounts and records; and 29
222222 15.(c) Report to the Chief of Staff. 30
223223 31
224224 THE CHIEF CLERK 32
225225 16. The Chief Clerk shall be appointed by the Speaker, subject to 33
226226 confirmation by a majority vote of the membership of the House. 34
227227 17. The duties of the Chief Clerk shall be to (Arkansas Code § 10-2-35
228228 102): 36 HR1001
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231231 17.(a) Have custody of all bills, papers and records of the House and 1
232232 not to permit them to be taken out of his or her custody except by the 2
233233 provisions established in Rule 8 of the Rules of the House of 3
234234 Representatives. Staff must sign a receipt for all bills taken from the 4
235235 Clerk; 5
236236 17.(b) Keep the Journal of the proceedings of the House, and, under 6
237237 the direction of the Speaker, subject to the will of the House, correct 7
238238 errors in the Journal; 8
239239 17.(c) Keep the necessary records for the House; 9
240240 17.(d) Supervise the engrossment and enrollment of bills and to 10
241241 certify their passage, with the assistance of the appropriate committee 11
242242 (Joint Rules of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Rules 6 -- 9.); 12
243243 17.(e) Transmit bills, other documents, and messages to the Senate, as 13
244244 required and secure a receipt thereof and to receive communications from the 14
245245 Senate and receipts of bills, documents and messages; 15
246246 17.(f) Attend every session of the House, call or delegate the reading 16
247247 of the roll and the reading of all bills, resolutions and other papers as 17
248248 directed by the Speaker; 18
249249 17.(g) Coordinate and supervise activities of temporary and permanent 19
250250 employees as assigned by the Chief of Staff; 20
251251 17.(h) Be responsible for the distribution of all literature within 21
252252 the House Chamber and other House premises. One copy of such literature 22
253253 which is distributed in the House Chamber and House premises must bear the 23
254254 signature of a representative authorizing distribution and the signed copy 24
255255 must be filed with the Chief Clerk; and 25
256256 17.(i) The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House are 26
257257 authorized, subject to approval by the appropriate designated committee, to 27
258258 correct obvious errors occurring in documents originating in the House and 28
259259 the Senate respectively, provided that each such correction is noted on the 29
260260 bill jacket and is documented by a “correction note” at the end of the 30
261261 official daily Journal for the date on which the correction was made. 31
262262 32
263263 PARLIAMENTARIAN 33
264264 18. The duties of the Parliamentarian shall be to: 34
265265 18.(a) Convene the first session of the House at the time prescribed 35
266266 by law. The Parliamentarian shall call the members to order, call the roll, 36 HR1001
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269269 preserve order and decorum, and decide all questions of order subject to 1
270270 appeal by any representative pending the election of the Speaker. The 2
271271 Parliamentarian of the previous House shall serve as the official 3
272272 Parliamentarian until the appointment of a new Parliamentarian. In the 4
273273 absence of a Parliamentarian of the previous House, the Speaker of the House 5
274274 shall designate a temporary Parliamentarian to convene the first session of 6
275275 the House; 7
276276 18.(b) Assist the Speaker in deciding all points of order; 8
277277 18.(c) Advise the Speaker on the proprieties of motions and the 9
278278 numbers of votes necessary for passage; 10
279279 18.(d) Assist the Speaker in the supervision of the preparation of the 11
280280 daily House calendar; 12
281281 18.(e) Assist the Speaker in the selection of a Chaplain for the day; 13
282282 18.(f) Assist the Speaker in the assignment of bills to their 14
283283 appropriate committee; 15
284284 18.(g) Sit as an ex -officio non-voting member of the House Rules 16
285285 Committee, and serve as secretary and advisor to the House Committee on the 17
286286 Journal; Engrossed and Enrolled Bills; 18
287287 18.(h) Prepare and distribute the House Rules and amendments thereto, 19
288288 under the supervision of the Speaker and the House Rules Committee; and 20
289289 18.(i) Have an adequate knowledge of Parliamentary Law and the Rules 21
290290 of the Arkansas House of Representatives. 22
291291 23
292292 PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE 24
293293 19. When a question is under debate, motions shall have precedence in 25
294294 the following order (the request for a quorum call is always in order; the 26
295295 Chairperson is not compelled to accept any motion): 27
296296 19.(a) To fix the time to which the House will adjourn (non -debatable) 28
297297 (majority of a quorum); 29
298298 19.(a)(1) (A majority of a quorum is a majority of those voting when 30
299299 at least a majority of the members are present and voting;) 31
300300 19.(b) To adjourn (non -debatable) (majority of a quorum); 32
301301 19.(c) To take a recess (non -debatable) (majority of a quorum); 33
302302 19.(d) Postpone temporarily; lay on the table (non -debatable) 34
303303 (majority of a quorum) To take from the table (non -debatable) (majority of a 35
304304 quorum) (when the motion to take from the table is adopted, the proposition 36 HR1001
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307307 takes the same position it held when the motion to lay on the table was 1
308308 adopted); 2
309309 19.(e) Immediate consideration (non -debatable) (2/3 of a quorum); 3
310310 19.(f) Previous question (non -debatable) (5 seconds) (majority of a 4
311311 quorum); 5
312312 19.(g) Limit or extend debate (non -debatable) (2/3 of a quorum); 6
313313 19.(h) To expunge (debatable) (2/3 of membership) (67); 7
314314 19.(i) Postpone to a day certain (debatable) (majority of a quorum); 8
315315 19.(j) Committee of the Whole, go into (non -debatable) (majority of a 9
316316 quorum); 10
317317 19.(k) Refer (debatable) (majority of a quorum); 11
318318 19.(l) Amend (debatable) (majority of a quorum); 12
319319 19.(m) Postpone indefinitely (debatable) (majority of membership); 13
320320 19.(n) Take out of proper order (non -debatable) (2/3 of a quorum); 14
321321 19.(o) Special order of business (debatable) (2/3 of a quorum); and 15
322322 19.(p) To suspend the rules (non -debatable) (2/3 of a quorum). 16
323323 20. A motion to adjourn shall always be in order, when the Floor can 17
324324 be obtained for that purpose, except when the previous question has been 18
325325 ordered. 19
326326 21. The motion to recess, when the Floor can be obtained for that 20
327327 purpose, must specify the time which shall elapse and the time for 21
328328 reconvening. It may be amended to alter specific time. 22
329329 22. Previous question: 23
330330 22.(a) When any debatable question is before the House, any member may 24
331331 move the previous question. It shall be seconded by five (5) members whether 25
332332 the question shall be stated. When the previous question shall have been 26
333333 adopted, the proponents shall be allowed fifteen (15) minutes in which to 27
334334 debate it, and the opponents of the main question shall be allowed fifteen 28
335335 (15) minutes, after which time a vote upon the main question shall be taken. 29
336336 22.(b) Pending a vote on the main question, one (1) motion to refer is 30
337337 permitted. A motion to refer under this rule applies to House resolutions as 31
338338 well as to House bills, to Senate bills and to Senate amendments to a House 32
339339 bill, and to a motion to amend the Journal. The motion to refer under this 33
340340 rule is non-debatable and may not be laid upon the table. 34
341341 23. A motion to postpone to a day certain may not specify the hour; a 35
342342 special order is necessary to specify the hour; the motion may be amended and 36 HR1001
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345345 it is debatable within narrow limits only, confined to the merit of the 1
346346 motion itself. 2
347347 24. The simple motion to refer is debatable within its narrow limits, 3
348348 but the merits of the proposition to which it is proposed to refer may not be 4
349349 brought into the debate. The motion to refer with instructions is debatable 5
350350 (majority vote of a quorum). When a question is raised about the proper 6
351351 referral of a bill to committee, if the Speaker admits error in the referral 7
352352 of the bill to a committee, the bill may be re -referred by a majority vote of 8
353353 a quorum; however, if the Speaker does not admit error in the referral of the 9
354354 bill to committee, the bill may only be re -referred by a two-thirds (2/3) 10
355355 vote of a quorum. When a bill is re -referred to a committee, any previous 11
356356 committee recommendation is automatically stripped from the bill. 12
357357 24.(a) When a motion is under consideration, only two (2) substitutes 13
358358 to that motion shall be in order. Only a motion applicable to the main 14
359359 motion and of a higher precedence upon recognition may be substituted for the 15
360360 motion under consideration. A substitute to the third degree shall not be in 16
361361 order. Unless specified otherwise by the presenter of the motion at the time 17
362362 the motion is made, a substitute motion shall apply to the main motion. 18
363363 25. The motion to postpone indefinitely opens to debate all the merits 19
364364 of the proposition to which it is applied. It may not be applied to the 20
365365 motion to refer, or to suspend the rules, or to motions relating to the order 21
366366 of business. 22
367367 25.(a) The motion for indefinite postponement and possible 23
368368 consideration by a joint interim committee shall be as follows: "Mr. Speaker, 24
369369 I move that consideration of _______ be postponed indefinitely and that 25
370370 consideration be given by the joint interim committee on _______ for a study 26
371371 of ______." (majority of membership). 27
372372 26. The motion to limit or extend debate must specify time 28
373373 limitations. A substitute motion specifying a lesser time may be accepted. 29
374374 27. Reconsideration: 30
375375 27.(a) When a proposition has been made and carried or lost, it shall 31
376376 be in order for any member of the majority on the same or succeeding 32
377377 legislative day to move for the reconsideration thereof, or give notice of 33
378378 his or her intentions to do so and such motion shall take precedence over 34
379379 other questions except consideration of a conference report or a motion to 35
380380 adjourn: Provided, the motion or proposition shall only be considered during 36 HR1001
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383383 the period reserved for regular bills. The notice shall not be withdrawn 1
384384 after the said succeeding legislative day without the consent of the House, 2
385385 and thereafter any member may call it up for consideration: Provided, the 3
386386 notice to reconsider must be disposed of within three (3) legislative days 4
387387 following the day the vote was taken; provided, that such notice to 5
388388 reconsider cannot be given after the 57th day of a regular session or during 6
389389 a special session or fiscal session during which times a motion to reconsider 7
390390 must be disposed of immediately. 8
391391 27.(b) The provisions of the rule that the motion may be made “by any 9
392392 member of the majority” is construed, in case of a tie, to mean the member of 10
393393 the prevailing side, and the same construction applies in the case of a two -11
394394 thirds (2/3) vote. Where the yeas and nays have not been ordered recorded in 12
395395 the Journal, any member, irrespective of whether he or she voted with the 13
396396 majority or not, may make the motion to reconsider or give notice thereof; 14
397397 but a member who was absent or who was paired in favor of the majority 15
398398 contention and did not vote may not make a motion. 16
399399 27.(c) A bill in the possession of the House is not considered passed 17
400400 or an amendment agreed to if a motion to reconsider is pending; the effect of 18
401401 the motion being to suspend the original proposition. A notice or motion to 19
402402 reconsider shall not be allowed unless the bill is in the House. A bill 20
403403 shall not leave the House once notice of reconsideration is given. When the 21
404404 motion to reconsider is decided in the affirmative, the question immediately 22
405405 recurs on the motion reconsidered. However, prior to consideration of the 23
406406 question at hand, the Speaker shall have the title, expressing the main 24
407407 contents of the proposition being reconsidered, read to the House. When the 25
408408 motion to reconsider is defeated, a second motion to reconsider may not be 26
409409 made. 27
410410 27.(d) The motion to reconsider is agreed to by a majority of a 28
411411 quorum, even though the vote reconsidered requires a majority or more of the 29
412412 membership. Upon reconsideration when a proposition has been voted twice and 30
413413 either carried or lost it is considered "Clinched". 31
414414 27.(e) A notice to reconsider is not debatable. A motion to 32
415415 reconsider is debatable when the item to which it applies is debatable. 33
416416 27.(f) No bill, petition, memorial, or resolution referred to a 34
417417 committee or reported there -from for recommitment shall be brought back into 35
418418 the House on a motion to reconsider. 36 HR1001
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421421 27.(g) The "Clincher” motion is two (2) motions in one (1); it is a 1
422422 motion to reconsider and to lay on the table. Having prevailed, the 2
423423 proposition shall not be again considered except by expunging the record. 3
424424 The "Clincher" motion is adopted by a majority of the membership. The 4
425425 Speaker shall accept a "Sound the Ballot" request after the "Clincher" has 5
426426 been adopted and before the next order of business is called. 6
427427 27.(h) No “Clincher” motion shall be entertained on a bill passed 7
428428 during the morning hour or which has been represented to be non -controversial 8
429429 regardless of when passed. Prior to the 60th day of a session, no bill 9
430430 passed during the morning hour, or a bill appearing on the non -controversial 10
431431 bill calendar which has passed, shall be transmitted to the Senate until the 11
432432 expiration of the morning hour of the day next following its passage in which 12
433433 the House is in session. 13
434434 28. No dilatory motion shall be entertained by the Speaker. 14
435435 29. Two-thirds (2/3) of a quorum may suspend the rules, other than 15
436436 rules that require a two -thirds (2/3) or three -fourths (3/4) vote of the 16
437437 membership. Rule 12 of the Joint Rules of the Senate and House of 17
438438 Representatives - Suspension of Joint Rules 18
439439 30. No standing rule or order shall be revised without one (1) day’s 19
440440 notice being given thereof. 20
441441 31. In every case not provided for in the House rules, the Speaker, 21
442442 the Parliamentarian, and the members shall be guided by Mason’s Manual of 22
443443 Legislative Procedure. Each member of the Rules Committee may be furnished a 23
444444 copy of the current edition and of each new or revised edition of Mason’s 24
445445 Manual of Legislative Procedure and additional copies may be available to 25
446446 other members from the Parliamentarian, upon approval of the Rules Committee. 26
447447 27
448448 DAILY ORDER OF BUSINESS 28
449449 32. The House shall convene at a time ordered by the House membership. 29
450450 33. The daily order of business shall be: 30
451451 (a) Prayer 31
452452 (b) Pledge of Allegiance 32
453453 (c) Roll Call 33
454454 (d) Leaves of absence 34
455455 (e) Reading and approval of the previous day’s Journal 35
456456 (f) Reports from select committees 36 HR1001
457457
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459459 (g) Reports from standing committees 1
460460 (h) Unfinished business 2
461461 (i) Executive communications 3
462462 (j) Introduction, reading and advancement of bills and resolutions 4
463463 33.(k)1. Senate communications and amendments to House bills 5
464464 2. Introduction, reading and advancement of bills and joint 6
465465 resolutions 7
466466 3. Bills and resolutions from the Senate on first reading 8
467467 4. Bills and resolutions from the Senate on second reading 9
468468 5. Senate bills and joint resolutions on third reading 10
469469 33.(l) Announcement of committee meetings, and 11
470470 33.(m) Adjournment. 12
471471 34.(a) Introduction and reading of bills and resolutions may be 13
472472 ordered by the Speaker of the House at his or her discretion. 14
473473 34.(b) The following types of resolutions shall be considered for 15
474474 passage during the time set aside for the consideration of members' own 16
475475 amendments to their own bills: a memorial resolution, a concurrent memorial 17
476476 resolution, and a resolution or a concurrent resolution that commends, 18
477477 congratulates, or recognizes an individual, group, or other entity. 19
478478 Notwithstanding Rule 27 (h), a concurrent resolution or concurrent memorial 20
479479 resolution that is subject to this rule may be transmitted to the Senate on 21
480480 the same day that it is passed. A joint resolution proposing a 22
481481 Constitutional amendment shall be placed on the regular House calendar and is 23
482482 subject to Rule 27 (h). 24
483483 35. Items “(a)” through “(h)” shall take no more than one (1) hour of 25
484484 House time each day unless extended by a majority vote of the House members 26
485485 present. 27
486486 36. Unfinished business items, except items “(a)” through “(g)", take 28
487487 up where the House left the day before when it adjourned. Items “(a)” 29
488488 through “(g)" begin new each day. 30
489489 37. Privileged matters may interrupt the order of business. These 31
490490 privileged matters are: 32
491491 37.(a) Appropriation bills and revenue bills, sponsored by the 33
492492 committees on Budget, Revenue and Taxation and the Committee on Rules; 34
493493 37.(b) Conference reports; 35
494494 37.(c) Special orders reported by the Committee on Rules for 36 HR1001
495495
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497497 consideration by the House; 1
498498 37.(d) Consideration of amendments between the House and Senate after 2
499499 disagreement; 3
500500 37.(e) Question of privilege; 4
501501 37.(f) Privileged resolutions reported under the right to report any 5
502502 time; and 6
503503 37.(g) Bills returned with the objections of the Governor. 7
504504 8
505505 BILLS 9
506506 38. Any representative may introduce bills, petitions, resolutions and 10
507507 memorials by filing them with the Clerk of the House. (Arkansas Code § 10-2-11
508508 112 - Prefiling of bills and resolutions -- Assignment to committee -12
509509 - Printing.) 13
510510 38.(a) Each measure must have an original along with copies and 14
511511 captions, the number of which is to be determined by the Chief Clerk. 15
512512 38.(b) The Clerk shall take the original and perforate or stamp it as 16
513513 the original. 17
514514 38.(c) No action shall be taken in the House on any bill, resolution, 18
515515 or amendment that is not physically in the House. However, in the House the 19
516516 motion to recall a bill or resolution may be made regardless of the location 20
517517 of the bill or resolution. 21
518518 38.(d) No alterations or erasures or otherwise defacement of the bill 22
519519 or amendments shall be permitted. 23
520520 38.(e) All amendments shall be entered on a separate sheet of paper 24
521521 noting the page number, the line or lines to be changed and the words to be 25
522522 deleted or inserted. 26
523523 38.(f) All bills, resolutions, amendments, petitions and memorials 27
524524 must be signed by the author. 28
525525 38.(g) The improper introduction of a bill, resolution, amendment, 29
526526 petition or memorial involves a question of privilege. Such measures 30
527527 improperly introduced, as determined by the Speaker or the House Committee on 31
528528 the Journal; Engrossed and Enrolled Bills, shall be returned to the 32
529529 representative who introduced them. 33
530530 38.(h) The style of the laws of the State of Arkansas shall be: “Be it 34
531531 enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas.” (Arkansas 35
532532 Constitution, Article 5, § 19 - Style of laws -- Enacting Clause.) 36 HR1001
533533
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535535 38.(i) The General Assembly of Arkansas shall not pass any local or 1
536536 special act. This amendment shall not prohibit the repeal of local or 2
537537 special acts. (Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 14 - Local Acts.) 3
538538 38.(j) No bill shall be passed by either house containing more than 4
539539 one subject, which shall be expressed in the title, and the subtitle. Rule 4 5
540540 of the Joint Rules of the Senate and House of Representatives - Contents of 6
541541 Bills 7
542542 38.(k) In making appropriations for any fiscal year, the General 8
543543 Assembly shall first pass the General Appropriation Bill provided for in 9
544544 Section 30 of Article 5 of the Constitution, and no other appropriation bill 10
545545 may be enacted before that shall have been done. (Arkansas Constitution, 11
546546 Article 5, § 40 - General appropriation bill -- Enactment. 12
547547 38.(l) No money shall be drawn from the treasury except in pursuance 13
548548 of specific appropriation made by law, the purpose of which shall be 14
549549 distinctly stated in the bill, and the maximum amount which may be drawn 15
550550 shall be specified in dollars and cents; and no appropriation shall be for a 16
551551 longer period than one (1) fiscal year. (Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, 17
552552 § 29 - Appropriations.) 18
553553 The general appropriation bill shall embrace nothing but appropriations 19
554554 for the ordinary expense of the executive, legislative and judicial 20
555555 departments of the State; all other appropriations shall be made by separate 21
556556 bills, each embracing but one (1) subject. (Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, 22
557557 § 30 - General and special appropriations.) 23
558558 No state tax shall be allowed, or appropriation of money made, except 24
559559 to raise means for the payment of the just debts of the State, for defraying 25
560560 the necessary expenses of government, to sustain common schools, to repel 26
561561 invasion and suppress insurrection, except by a majority of two -thirds (2/3) 27
562562 of both houses of the General Assembly. (Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, 28
563563 § 31 - Purposes of taxes and appropriations.) 29
564564 None of the rates for property, excise, privilege or personal taxes, 30
565565 now levied shall be increased by the General Assembly except after the 31
566566 approval of the qualified electors voting thereon at an election, or in case 32
567567 of emergency, by the votes of three -fourths (3/4) of the members elected to 33
568568 each House of the General Assembly. (Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, 34
569569 § 38 - Taxes -- Increase -- Approval by electors.) 35
570570 Excepting monies raised or collected for educational purposes, highway 36 HR1001
571571
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573573 purposes, to pay Confederate pensions and the just debts of the State, the 1
574574 General Assembly is hereby prohibited from appropriating or expending more 2
575575 than the sum of Two and One -Half Million Dollars for all purposes, for any 3
576576 fiscal year; provided the limit herein fixed may be exceeded by the votes of 4
577577 three-fourths (3/4) of the members elected to each House of the General 5
578578 Assembly. (Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, § 39 - State expenses -6
579579 - Limitation -- Exceptions.) 7
580580 38.(m)(1) No appropriation bill shall be filed for introduction in 8
581581 either the House of Representatives or the Senate later than the fiftieth 9
582582 (50th) day of a regular session except upon consent of two -thirds (2/3) of 10
583583 the members elected to each house. 11
584584 (2)(A) No appropriation bill shall be filed for introduction in 12
585585 either the House of Representatives or the Senate later than the fifteenth 13
586586 (15th) day of a fiscal session except upon consent of two -thirds (2/3) of the 14
587587 members elected to each house. 15
588588 (B) For a fiscal session, a non -appropriation bill shall 16
589589 not be filed for introduction until identical resolutions authorizing the 17
590590 introduction of the non -appropriation bill have been approved by an 18
591591 affirmative vote of two -thirds (2/3) of the members elected to each house. 19
592592 (C) The identical resolutions authorizing the introduction 20
593593 of a non-appropriation bill in a fiscal session shall not be filed for 21
594594 introduction in either the House of Representatives or the Senate later than 22
595595 the first (1st) day of a fiscal session. 23
596596 (D) A non-appropriation bill shall not be filed for 24
597597 introduction in either the House of Representatives or the Senate later than 25
598598 the fifteenth (15th) day of a fiscal session. 26
599599 (3) When the filing deadline for any bills or resolutions ends 27
600600 on Saturday or Sunday, the deadline is extended until the close of business 28
601601 the following Monday. 29
602602 38.(n)(1) No resolution proposing a constitutional amendment shall be 30
603603 filed in the House of Representatives after the thirty -first (31st) day of 31
604604 each regular session of the General Assembly. Proposed constitutional 32
605605 amendments may only be considered during regular sessions. 33
606606 (2) All resolutions proposing constitutional amendments shall be 34
607607 referred to the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, 35
608608 which by an affirmative vote of its members may recommend proposals one -at-a-36 HR1001
609609
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611611 time to the House of Representatives for its consideration. 1
612612 (3) Any proposed constitutional amendment initiated in and 2
613613 approved by the House of Representatives shall be transmitted to the Senate 3
614614 for its consideration. If the Senate fails to approve a House -proposed 4
615615 constitutional amendment, the House of Representatives may proceed to 5
616616 initiate other proposed constitutional amendments one -at-a-time for Senate 6
617617 consideration. 7
618618 (4) Any proposed constitutional amendment received from the 8
619619 Senate shall be referred to the House Committee on State Agencies and 9
620620 Governmental Affairs, which by an affirmative vote of its members may 10
621621 recommend the proposal to the House of Representatives for its consideration. 11
622622 (5) Upon adoption by the General Assembly of a House -proposed 12
623623 constitutional amendment and a Senate -proposed constitutional amendment, in 13
624624 accordance with the Joint Rules, a third proposed constitutional amendment 14
625625 may be considered and voted upon by the General Assembly only after identical 15
626626 resolutions authorizing the consideration of the third proposed 16
627627 constitutional amendment have been approved by an affirmative vote of two -17
628628 thirds (2/3) of the members elected to each house. 18
629629 38.(o)(1) Any proposed legislation affecting any publicly supported 19
630630 retirement system or pension plan to be considered by the General Assembly at 20
631631 a regular session shall be introduced in the General Assembly during the 21
632632 first fifteen (15) calendar days of a regular session. (Arkansas Code § 10-2-22
633633 115, Introduction of bills affecting public retirement programs.) 23
634634 (2) No such bill shall be introduced after the fifteenth day of 24
635635 a regular session unless its introduction is first approved by a three -25
636636 fourths (3/4) vote of the full membership of each House of the General 26
637637 Assembly. (Arkansas Code § 10-2-115, Introduction of bills affecting public 27
638638 retirement programs.) 28
639639 (3) A bill affecting any publicly supported retirement system or 29
640640 systems shall not be introduced or considered at any special session or 30
641641 fiscal session of the General Assembly unless the introduction and 31
642642 consideration of the bill is first approved by a three -fourths (3/4) vote of 32
643643 the full membership of each House of the General Assembly. (Arkansas Code 33
644644 § 10-2-115, Introduction of bills affecting public retirement programs.) 34
645645 38.(p)(1) A bill affecting the State and Public School Life and Health 35
646646 Insurance Program or that imposes a new or increased cost obligation for 36 HR1001
647647
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649649 health benefit plans, including pharmacy benefits, on an entity of the state 1
650650 on the State and Public School Life and Health Insurance Program to be 2
651651 considered by the General Assembly at a regular session shall be introduced 3
652652 in the General Assembly during the first fifteen (15) calendar days of a 4
653653 regular session. 5
654654 (2)(A) A bill affecting the State and Public School Life 6
655655 and Health Insurance Program or that imposes a new or increased cost 7
656656 obligation for health benefit plans, including pharmacy benefits, on an 8
657657 entity of the state on the State and Public School Life and Health Insurance 9
658658 Program shall not be introduced after the fifteenth day of a regular session 10
659659 unless the introduction of the bill is first approved by a three -fourths 11
660660 (3/4) vote of the full membership of each house of the General Assembly. 12
661661 (B) If the General Assembly recesses for longer than 13
662662 three (3) consecutive days during the first fifteen (15) calendar days of a 14
663663 regular session, the fifteen -day introduction deadline shall be extended for 15
664664 a time period equal to the recess. 16
665665 (3) A bill affecting the State and Public School Life and 17
666666 Health Insurance Program or that imposes a new or increased cost obligation 18
667667 for health benefit plans, including pharmacy benefits, on an entity of the 19
668668 state on the State and Public School Life and Health Insurance Program shall 20
669669 not be introduced or considered at a fiscal session or an extraordinary 21
670670 session of the General Assembly unless the introduction and consideration of 22
671671 the bill is first approved by a two -thirds (2/3) vote of the full membership 23
672672 of each house of the General Assembly. 24
673673 38.(q)(1) The following proposed legislation to be considered by the 25
674674 General Assembly at a regular session shall be introduced in the General 26
675675 Assembly during the first thirty -one (31) calendar days of a regular session: 27
676676 (A) A bill that creates a new scholarship to be funded 28
677677 with net proceeds from the state lottery or the Higher Education Grants Fund 29
678678 Account, as applicable; and 30
679679 (B) A bill that affects an existing scholarship that is 31
680680 funded with net proceeds from the state lottery or the Higher Education 32
681681 Grants Fund Account, as applicable. 33
682682 (2)(A) A bill creating a new scholarship to be funded with net 34
683683 proceeds from the state lottery or the Higher Education Grants Fund Account, 35
684684 as applicable, or affecting an existing scholarship that is funded with net 36 HR1001
685685
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687687 proceeds from the state lottery or the Higher Education Grants Fund Account, 1
688688 as applicable, shall not be introduced after the thirty -first day of a 2
689689 regular session unless its introduction is first approved by a three -fourths 3
690690 (3/4) vote of the full membership of each chamber of the General Assembly. 4
691691 (B) If the General Assembly recesses for longer than three 5
692692 (3) consecutive days during the first thirty -one (31) days of a regular 6
693693 session, the deadline imposed under this section shall be extended for a time 7
694694 period equal to the recess. 8
695695 (3) A bill creating a new scholarship to be funded with net 9
696696 proceeds from the state lottery or the Higher Education Grants Fund Account, 10
697697 as applicable, or affecting an existing scholarship that is funded with net 11
698698 proceeds from the state lottery or the Higher Education Grants Fund Account, 12
699699 as applicable, shall not be introduced or considered at a special session or 13
700700 fiscal session of the General Assembly unless the introduction or 14
701701 consideration of the bill is first approved by a two -thirds (2/3) vote of the 15
702702 full membership of each chamber of the General Assembly. 16
703703 38.(r) “Fiscal impact statement” means a realistic statement of the 17
704704 estimated financial cost of implementing or complying with a proposed law 18
705705 regarding: 19
706706 (1) Municipalities; 20
707707 (2) Counties; 21
708708 (3) Education, as related to the State of Arkansas and local 22
709709 school districts grades kindergarten through twelve (K -12); 23
710710 (4) Corrections, if imposing new or additional costs and 24
711711 restrictions on inmate population patterns or affecting programs or services 25
712712 of the Department of Correction; 26
713713 (5) Lottery, if amending Arkansas Code, Title 23, Chapter 115 or 27
714714 imposing a new or increased cost to the Office of the Arkansas Lottery or a 28
715715 lottery; 29
716716 (6) Health benefit plans, if imposing a new or increased cost 30
717717 obligation for health benefit plans, including pharmacy benefits, on an 31
718718 entity of the state Imposing a new or increased cost on the State and Public 32
719719 School Life and Health Insurance Program ; or 33
720720 (7) New or existing scholarships to be funded with net proceeds 34
721721 from the state lottery or the Higher Education Grants Fund Account, as 35
722722 applicable. 36 HR1001
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725725 38.(s) When any House or Senate bill requiring an expenditure of public 1
726726 funds or otherwise imposing a new or increased cost obligation is pending 2
727727 before any committee of the House of Representatives, any member of the 3
728728 committee may request that a fiscal impact statement for such bill be placed 4
729729 on the desk of each member of the committee before the bill is called up for 5
730730 final action in the committee. If such request is made, the chairperson of 6
731731 the committee shall refer the bill to the appropriate state agency or to the 7
732732 legislative staff for the preparation of a fiscal impact statement, to be 8
733733 returned to the committee in writing not later than five (5) days from the 9
734734 date of the request. 10
735735 38.(t) Any time before a bill requiring an expenditure of public funds 11
736736 or otherwise imposing a new or increased cost obligation is read for the 12
737737 third time in the House of Representatives, any member of the House may 13
738738 request and the Speaker shall direct that a fiscal impact statement for the 14
739739 bill be prepared and placed on the desk of each member not later than five 15
740740 (5) days from the date of the request. 16
741741 38.(u) Fiscal impact statements shall be made available to House 17
742742 Committees: 18
743743 (1) At least one (1) day before the bill may be called up for 19
744744 final action in the House Committee during a regular legislative session or 20
745745 fiscal session of the General Assembly; and 21
746746 (2) At least one (1) day before the bill may be called up for 22
747747 final action in the House Committee during a special session of the General 23
748748 Assembly. 24
749749 Fiscal impact statements shall be made available to the full House of 25
750750 Representatives at least one (1) day before the bill may be called up for 26
751751 third reading and final action in the House of Representatives. 27
752752 38.(v)(1) Except for bills imposing a new or increased cost obligation 28
753753 for health benefit plans on an entity of the state on the State and Public 29
754754 School Life and Health Insurance Program or bills regarding new or existing 30
755755 scholarships to be funded with net proceeds from the state lottery or the 31
756756 Higher Education Grants Fund, failure of the sponsor of a bill to provide the 32
757757 fiscal impact statement required in this rule shall not prohibit the 33
758758 consideration of it in the committee to which referred or on the Floor of the 34
759759 House of Representatives, if no objection to it is made at the time such 35
760760 action is taken. 36 HR1001
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763763 (2)(A) A bill filed in the House of Representatives that 1
764764 will impose a new or increased cost obligation for health benefit plans, 2
765765 including pharmacy benefits, on an entity of the state on the State and 3
766766 Public School Life and Health Insurance Program shall: 4
767767 (i) Have a fiscal impact statement attached to 5
768768 the bill prepared and filed with the chair of the committee to which the bill 6
769769 is referred; and 7
770770 (ii) Not be taken up by the committee to which 8
771771 the bill is referred until a fiscal impact statement is provided to the chair 9
772772 of the committee. 10
773773 (B) If a bill is called up for final passage in the 11
774774 House of Representatives and a fiscal impact statement has not been provided 12
775775 by the sponsor of the bill or by the committee to which the bill was 13
776776 referred, a member of the House of Representatives may object to the bill’s 14
777777 being called up for final passage until a fiscal impact statement is prepared 15
778778 and made available on the desk of each member of the House of Representatives 16
779779 at least one (1) day before the bill is called up for final passage. 17
780780 (C) An affirmative vote of two -thirds (2/3) of a 18
781781 quorum present and voting shall override the objection. 19
782782 (D) If an objection is made without override, the 20
783783 presiding officer of the House of Representatives shall cause the bill to be 21
784784 referred to an actuary for the preparation of a fiscal impact statement, 22
785785 which shall be filed with the presiding officer not later than five (5) days 23
786786 from the date of the request. 24
787787 (3)(A) Any bill filed with the House of Representatives 25
788788 that creates a new scholarship to be funded with net proceeds from the state 26
789789 lottery or the Higher Education Grants Fund Account, as applicable, or 27
790790 affects an existing scholarship that is funded with net proceeds from the 28
791791 state lottery or the Higher Education Grants Fund Account, as applicable, 29
792792 shall: 30
793793 (i) Have a lottery fiscal impact statement 31
794794 attached to it that is in the form set forth in Arkansas Code § 6 -85-502; and 32
795795 (ii) Not be taken up by the House Committee on 33
796796 Education and the Senate Committee on Education meeting jointly, until a 34
797797 lottery fiscal impact statement is attached. 35
798798 39.(a) The first reading of a bill shall be for information and unless 36 HR1001
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801801 otherwise ordered by the House, it shall be placed on the second reading 1
802802 calendar. (Every bill shall be read at length on three different days in 2
803803 each house, unless the rules be suspended by two -thirds (2/3) of the House, 3
804804 when the same may be read a second or third time on the same day; (Arkansas 4
805805 Constitution, Article 5, § 22 - Passage of bills.) 5
806806 39.(b) No bill shall be read and considered either a first, second or 6
807807 third time which does not contain a bill number, at least one author, a title 7
808808 expressing the main contents of the bill, a subtitle, an enacting clause and 8
809809 at least one section which shall be expressed in the title and the subtitle. 9
810810 The Speaker shall not entertain a motion to suspend this rule. 10
811811 39.(c)(1) "Shell bill" means a bill, typically with no substantive 11
812812 provisions, that is introduced for purposes of later being amended to include 12
813813 the actual legislative proposals advanced by the sponsor and within the 13
814814 subject matter of the title of the shell bill. 14
815815 (2) After a bill has been read for the first time, the 15
816816 Speaker may declare a bill to be a shell bill and refer the shell bill to the 16
817817 House Committee on the Journal; Engrossed and Enrolled Bills. 17
818818 (3) Notwithstanding House Rule 40.(d), shell bills may be 18
819819 amended after first reading with a substantive amendment under the process of 19
820820 members amending their own bills with their own amendments. If the Committee 20
821821 on the Journal; Engrossed and Enrolled Bills determines that the shell bill 21
822822 has been substantively amended and engrossed and no longer meets the 22
823823 definition of a shell bill, it shall report its determination to the Speaker. 23
824824 The Speaker shall then direct the Clerk to read the bill a second time and 24
825825 assign the bill to committee. 25
826826 40. Second reading 26
827827 40.(a) A bill shall be read a second time and the Speaker shall assign 27
828828 the bill to its appropriate committee. 28
829829 40.(b) A bill or resolution may not be divided for assignment to 29
830830 committee although it may contain certain matters properly within the 30
831831 jurisdiction of several committees. 31
832832 40.(c) Before consideration by a committee, any representative may 32
833833 attach an amendment to the bill which shall be referred to the committee with 33
834834 the bill, without debate. It is the author’s responsibility to have the 34
835835 amendment properly numbered by the Bill Clerk, not the committee staff. An 35
836836 amendment must be properly filed by the author and properly numbered by the 36 HR1001
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839839 Bill Clerk prior to being voted on by the House. 1
840840 40.(d) In order to amend a bill, it shall be necessary to adopt a 2
841841 motion to place the bill back on second reading for the purpose of submitting 3
842842 an amendment. 4
843843 40.(e) When a bill has a committee recommendation, it is the author’s 5
844844 responsibility to place the bill on the calendar for consideration. 6
845845 41.(a) A bill shall not be called for a third reading and final 7
846846 passage until a photocopied, printed copy, or electronic copy of same shall 8
847847 have been placed on every representative’s desk for twenty -four (24) hours. 9
848848 The twenty-four (24) hour period begins when a bill is initially 10
849849 introduced and read across the desk. 11
850850 41.(b) A bill shall not be placed on a committee agenda until the 12
851851 second calendar day following the initial filing of the bill. 13
852852 42. A calendar of bills and resolutions to be considered in the order 14
853853 of business during any legislative day shall be printed and placed on the 15
854854 members’ desks prior to the adjournment of the preceding legislative day. 16
855855 Calendared items are considered to be a motion for passage. 17
856856 43. A bill ordered to be engrossed or enrolled shall be typed or 18
857857 photocopied. 19
858858 44. A bill having been rejected may not be brought up again during the 20
859859 same legislative session unless it be an appropriation bill. Appropriation 21
860860 bills may be considered a total of two times during any calendar day. 22
861861 Following a second consideration during the same calendar day, a motion to 23
862862 reconsider or a motion to expunge must be adopted before an appropriation 24
863863 bill may be considered. 25
864864 45.(a) When a bill has been passed and transmitted to the Senate, it 26
865865 may be recalled from the Senate by the same vote that was necessary to pass 27
866866 the bill. 28
867867 45.(b) When a bill has been passed and transmitted to the Governor's 29
868868 Office, it may be recalled from the Governor's Office by the same vote that 30
869869 was necessary to pass the bill. 31
870870 46. A committee may receive a bill, resolution, amendment, petition 32
871871 and memorial only through the House, and the House may receive same only 33
872872 through a member. (Art.5, Sec. 34 -- No new bill shall be introduced into 34
873873 either house during the last three days of a regular or fiscal session.) 35
874874 47. Amendments to bills and resolutions: 36 HR1001
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877877 47.(a) When a bill or resolution is under consideration, amendments 1
878878 shall be in order. Upon adoption, amendments shall become a part of the bill 2
879879 or resolution. Amendments to amendments may not be offered. All amendments 3
880880 offered before the House or one of its committees must be typewritten on an 4
881881 approved amendment form and signed by the sponsor. All amendments shall be 5
882882 attached to the original bill, numbered by the Bill Clerk, and shall be 6
883883 placed physically or electronically upon the members’ desks before being 7
884884 acted upon by the House. 8
885885 47.(b) When a House bill has been amended in the Senate, upon return 9
886886 of said bill to the House, the Speaker shall re -refer the bill, together with 10
887887 the Senate amendment(s), to the committee to which the bill was originally 11
888888 referred, for review. Concurrence in the Senate amendment shall not be 12
889889 considered by the House until the committee report is received by the House. 13
890890 When a House bill is amended and passed by the Senate and is returned to the 14
891891 House, the bill shall be reprinted with the Senate amendments included 15
892892 therein and specifically identified and shall be placed on each member’s desk 16
893893 before final action is taken on the bill by the House. When the Senate 17
894894 amendment is before the House, the same number of votes will be required to 18
895895 concur in the Senate amendment as was required in the original passage of the 19
896896 bill in the House. Amendments containing an emergency clause require sixty -20
897897 seven (67) votes. 21
898898 47.(c) Fifty-one (51) votes shall be required to adopt a House 22
899899 amendment to a House or Senate bill. When a House bill has been amended in 23
900900 the House, it shall not be acted upon until it has been engrossed and such 24
901901 engrossed bill has been printed and placed on each member’s desk. 25
902902 47.(d) Every amendment proposed must be germane to the subject of the 26
903903 proposition to be amended. 27
904904 47.(e) All appropriation bills and other bills which are required to 28
905905 be submitted to the Budget Committee, or to another designated committee of 29
906906 the House and Senate, which are amended on the Floor of either House of the 30
907907 General Assembly by an amendment which was not recommended favorably by the 31
908908 Budget Committee, or by any other committee of the House and Senate to which 32
909909 referred, shall be re -referred to such committee of the House and Senate for 33
910910 consideration and recommendation before said bill may be considered for final 34
911911 passage or concurrence by the House of Representatives. 35
912912 47.(f) Members’ own House bills and Senate bills on which a House 36 HR1001
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915915 member is the lead sponsor may be amended with their own amendments beginning 1
916916 at a specific time set aside by the House. Senate bills may be amended in 2
917917 accordance with the applicable rules provided for amending members' own House 3
918918 bills with their own amendments. 4
919919 47.(g) Members’ own amendments to their own House bills and Senate 5
920920 bills with House sponsors must be signed only by the sponsor of the bill 6
921921 whose name is listed first in the list of sponsors. 7
922922 47.(h) Members’ own amendments to their own House bills and Senate 8
923923 bills on which there are House sponsors must be presented to the House Bill 9
924924 Clerk only by the sponsor of the House or Senate bill whose name is listed 10
925925 first in the list of sponsors. 11
926926 47.(i) After acceptance, the House Bill Clerk shall furnish the 12
927927 sponsor with a stamped and numbered copy of the members’ signed amendment. 13
928928 47.(j) The sponsor shall present a stamped, numbered and signed copy 14
929929 of a proposed amendment to the Calendar Clerk in order to have the bill and 15
930930 amendment placed on the “Members’ Own Bill/Own Amendment Calendar”. 16
931931 47.(k) A House or Senate bill to be amended by a member with his or 17
932932 her own amendment shall only be placed on the “Members’ Own Bill/Own 18
933933 Amendment Calendar” by the sponsor whose name is listed first on the bill. 19
934934 47.(l) An objection by any member, written or oral, to the Speaker of 20
935935 the House or his or her designee, shall cause a member’s own amendment to his 21
936936 or her own bill to not be considered and to be removed from the “Members’ Own 22
937937 Bill/Own Amendment Calendar” and automatically placed on the same day’s 23
938938 regular amendment calendar for consideration. 24
939939 47.(m) A member’s own House bill or Senate bill amended with a 25
940940 member’s own amendment shall be transmitted directly to Engrossing after 26
941941 having been amended. 27
942942 47.(n) No House or Senate bills having been amended shall be 28
943943 considered by any committee or the full House until such bills have been 29
944944 engrossed, proofed and reported “correctly engrossed”. The Speaker or 30
945945 presiding officer shall not accept a motion to suspend this rule. 31
946946 47.(o) Members’ own House bills or Senate bills to be amended with 32
947947 their own amendments shall be placed on the “Members’ Own Bill/Own Amendment 33
948948 Calendar” the day preceding the day they are to be considered. 34
949949 47.(p) When a bill has a committee recommendation and is subsequently 35
950950 amended to change the title, and/or the list of sponsors and/or an emergency 36 HR1001
951951
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953953 clause, such amendment shall not cause the bill to be re -referred to 1
954954 committee. 2
955955 47.(q) Members’ own House bills may be withdrawn at a specific time 3
956956 set aside by the House by placing them on the “Withdrawal Calendar”, the day 4
957957 preceding the day they are to be withdrawn. House bills for withdrawal may be 5
958958 placed on the “Withdrawal Calendar” only by the member whose name is listed 6
959959 first as author of the bill. The member requesting withdrawal may recommend 7
960960 the bill to be studied by the same committee to which the bill was assigned 8
961961 at the time of request for withdrawal. 9
962962 47.(r) The Speaker of the House at a specific time set aside by the 10
963963 House may transfer to another committee bills or resolutions by placing them 11
964964 on the “Re-referral Calendar” no later than 4:30 p.m. the day before they are 12
965965 to be transferred. 13
966966 47.(s) Budget bills sponsored by members but recommended to be amended to 14
967967 delete the sponsor and substitute the Joint Budget Committee as sponsor may 15
968968 be amended during the period set aside to amend "Members Own Bills with their 16
969969 Own Amendments". 17
970970 47.(t) The Rules governing members amending their own bills with their 18
971971 own amendments shall be in effect for House and Senate Budget bills so far as 19
972972 they are applicable. 20
973973 47.(u) Budget bills to be amended deleting the sponsor and 21
974974 substituting the Joint Budget Committee shall be placed on the Joint Budget 22
975975 Calendar by the Joint Budget Calendar Clerk. 23
976976 47.(v) The House Chairman of the Joint Budget Committee shall sign all 24
977977 amendments deleting the sponsor and substituting the Joint Budget Committee 25
978978 as sponsor. 26
979979 27
980980 RESOLUTIONS 28
981981 48. Resolutions shall follow the same procedure as bills. 29
982982 49. A House resolution shall be directed at some matter for the sole 30
983983 action of the House and may be introduced in extraordinary sessions, lack of 31
984984 germaneness notwithstanding. Fifty -one (51) votes shall be required to adopt 32
985985 a House resolution. 33
986986 50. Joint resolutions are for incidental, unusual, or informal 34
987987 objectives of legislation (i.e., as extending the thanks of the State to 35
988988 individuals; invitations to celebrities to visit the State), or to submit 36 HR1001
989989
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991991 proposed amendments to the United States Constitution, ratifying United 1
992992 States Constitutional amendments and proposing amendments to the Arkansas 2
993993 Constitution. 3
994994 51. Concurrent resolutions shall be a means of expressing fact, 4
995995 principles, opinions, purposes, and all other matters requiring concurrence 5
996996 of both houses except the subject matter provided for in the joint 6
997997 resolution. A concurrent resolution is binding on neither house until agreed 7
998998 to by both. 8
999999 52. Resolutions of Inquiry: 9
10001000 52.(a) All resolutions of inquiry addressed to the heads of executive 10
10011001 departments shall be reported to the House within one (1) week after 11
10021002 presentation. 12
10031003 52.(b) A House resolution authorizing a committee to request 13
10041004 information is treated as a resolution of inquiry. 14
10051005 52.(c) A resolution of inquiry from a committee shall have a 15
10061006 privileged status to report. 16
10071007 53. Non-procedural Resolutions During a Special Session. 17
10081008 (a) As used in this section, "non -procedural resolution" means a 18
10091009 resolution unrelated to the procedures followed by the House of 19
10101010 Representatives or the Senate or both during a legislative session. 20
10111011 (b) A non-procedural resolution shall not be introduced at any 21
10121012 special session of the General Assembly. 22
10131013 23
10141014 STANDING, SELECT, AND SPECIAL COMMITTEES 24
10151015 (Arkansas Code, Title 10, Subchapter 2 -- Interim Committees Generally) 25
10161016 53. The committees of the House of Representatives shall consist of 26
10171017 ten (10) standing committees, seven (7) select committees, and three (3) 27
10181018 special committees. The standing committees shall be five (5) Class "A" 28
10191019 committees and five (5) Class "B" committees. The seven (7) select 29
10201020 committees shall be five (5) joint select committees and two (2) House select 30
10211021 committees. The three (3) special committees shall be two (2) joint 31
10221022 committees and one (1) House committee. The House standing, joint select, 32
10231023 select and special committees are as follows: 33
10241024 53.(a) HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEES 34
10251025 Class "A" Committees 35
10261026 Education 36 HR1001
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10291029 Judiciary 1
10301030 Public Health, Welfare and Labor 2
10311031 Public Transportation 3
10321032 Revenue and Taxation 4
10331033 Class "B" Committees 5
10341034 Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs 6
10351035 Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development 7
10361036 City, County and Local Affairs 8
10371037 Insurance and Commerce 9
10381038 State Agencies and Governmental Affairs 10
10391039 53.(b) JOINT SELECT COMMITTEES 11
10401040 (1) Joint Budget -- (to consist of twenty four (24) members of the 12
10411041 House and twenty four (24) members of the Senate, and the immediate past co -13
10421042 chairs of the Legislative Council and ex -officio members in accordance with 14
10431043 Arkansas Code § 10-3-502. (Arkansas Code, Subchapter 5, -- Joint Budget 15
10441044 Committee) The House members of the Joint Budget Committee shall be known as 16
10451045 the House Budget Committee. 17
10461046 (2) Joint Committee on Energy -- (to consist of fifteen (15) members 18
10471047 of the House, fifteen (15) House alternates, and ten (10) members of the 19
10481048 Senate. (Arkansas Code, Title 10, Subchapter 8 -- Energy Committees.) 20
10491049 (3) Joint Committee on Public Retirement and Social Security 21
10501050 Programs -- (to consist of ten (10) members of the House, ten (10) House 22
10511051 alternates, and ten (10) members of the Senate. (Arkansas Code, Title 10, 23
10521052 Subchapter 7 -- Retirement Committees) 24
10531053 (4) Joint Performance Review Committee -- (to consist of twenty (20) 25
10541054 members of the House and ten (10) members of the Senate. (Arkansas Code, 26
10551055 Title 10, Subchapter 9 -- Joint Performance Review Committees) 27
10561056 (5) Joint Committee on Advanced Communications and Information 28
10571057 Technology -- (to consist of ten (10) members of the House, ten (10) House 29
10581058 alternates, and seven (7) members of the Senate. (Arkansas Code, Title 10, 30
10591059 Subchapter 17 -- Joint Committee on Advanced Communications and Information 31
10601060 Technology) 32
10611061 53.(c) HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEES 33
10621062 House Rules Committee shall consist of no more than fifteen (15) 34
10631063 members. 35
10641064 House Management Committee shall consist of the Speaker and no more 36 HR1001
10651065
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10671067 than six (6) additional members. 1
10681068 53.(d) SPECIAL COMMITTEES 2
10691069 (1) Joint Interim Committee on Legislative Facilities -- (to 3
10701070 consist of fourteen (14) members of the General Assembly, as follows: 4
10711071 (a) The chairperson of the House Budget Committee; 5
10721072 (b) Two (2) members of the House of Representatives 6
10731073 appointed by the Speaker; 7
10741074 (c) The chairperson of the House Management Committee and 8
10751075 two (2) additional members of the House Management Committee to be designated 9
10761076 by its chairperson; 10
10771077 (d) The Speaker of the House of Representatives or his or 11
10781078 her designee; and 12
10791079 (e) Seven (7) members of the Senate to be named by the 13
10801080 Senate Committee on Committees. (Arkansas Code, Title 10, Subchapter 11 -- 14
10811081 Joint Interim Committee on Legislative Facilities) 15
10821082 (2) House Committee on the Journal; Engrossed and Enrolled Bills 16
10831083 shall consist of not more than five (5) members. The House Committee on the 17
10841084 Journal; Engrossed and Enrolled Bills shall not be considered a standing or 18
10851085 select committee. The committee shall consist of the Speaker of the House of 19
10861086 Representatives or his or her designee who shall be chairperson, the 20
10871087 chairperson of the House Rules Committee who shall be the vice chairperson, 21
10881088 the chairperson of the House Management Committee, and two (2) members of the 22
10891089 House appointed by the Speaker of the House; and, the House Parliamentarian 23
10901090 shall serve as secretary and advisor to the committee. The chairperson of the 24
10911091 committee shall receive an allowance in accordance with Arkansas Code § 10 -2-25
10921092 215. 26
10931093 (3) Joint Committee on Legislative Printing Requirements and 27
10941094 Specifications -- (to consist of the chairperson and vice chairperson of the 28
10951095 House Management Committee, the chairperson and vice chairperson of the 29
10961096 Senate Efficiency Committee, the Speaker of the House of Representatives or 30
10971097 his or her designee and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. (Arkansas 31
10981098 Code, Title 10, Subchapter 6 -- Joint Committee on Legislative Printing 32
10991099 Requirements and Specifications) 33
11001100 54.(a) STANDING COMMITTEES 34
11011101 (1) Selection of membership positions on House committees for 35
11021102 members-elect shall take place during the caucus of the entire House of 36 HR1001
11031103
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11051105 Representatives-elect following the November General Election. 1
11061106 (2) Each standing committee shall consist of twenty (20) 2
11071107 members. Each member of the House of Representatives shall serve on two (2) 3
11081108 standing committees, one (1) of which shall be a Class “A” standing committee 4
11091109 and one (1) of which shall be a Class “B” standing committee. A member may 5
11101110 not serve on more than one (1) committee of the same class. Members of the 6
11111111 standing committees shall be selected as follows: 7
11121112 (A) Each Class “A” standing committee and each Class “B” 8
11131113 standing committee shall have five (5) members from each of the four (4) 9
11141114 House district caucuses. 10
11151115 (B)(i) The most senior member of the House of 11
11161116 Representatives shall select first and shall choose a position on a Class “A” 12
11171117 standing committee. The next -senior member shall then choose a position on a 13
11181118 Class “A” standing committee. The seniority rotation procedure shall 14
11191119 continue until the member with the least seniority makes his or her 15
11201120 selection. 16
11211121 (ii) After the member with the least seniority makes 17
11221122 his or her Class “A” standing committee selection, the most senior member 18
11231123 shall select his or her Class “B” standing committee. The seniority rotation 19
11241124 shall continue until the member with the least seniority selects his or her 20
11251125 Class “B” standing committee. 21
11261126 (C)(i) A member may trade a committee membership with 22
11271127 another member. 23
11281128 (ii) A trade of committee membership may only occur 24
11291129 by the close of business on the day of the committee selection process. 25
11301130 (iii) A trade of committee membership shall be in 26
11311131 writing and signed by the members who are trading their committee 27
11321132 memberships, the trading members’ political caucus leaders, and the Speaker 28
11331133 of the House of Representatives. 29
11341134 (iv) Once completed, written and signed 30
11351135 documentation of the trade of committee membership shall filed in the House 31
11361136 Journal. 32
11371137 (D)(i) The Speaker of the House shall have the authority 33
11381138 to make adjustments to committee membership following the committee selection 34
11391139 process only for the purpose of adjusting the majority to minority party 35
11401140 ratio on the standing committees. 36 HR1001
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11431143 (ii) The adjustments to committee membership made by 1
11441144 the Speaker shall not exceed placing eleven (11) members of the majority 2
11451145 party on a twenty (20) member committee. 3
11461146 (3) Standing committee membership shall be confirmed at the same 4
11471147 time that House members are administered the oath of office. 5
11481148 (4) From within each standing committee there shall be created 6
11491149 three (3) permanent subcommittees consisting of eight (8) members. Each 7
11501150 member of the House of Representatives shall serve on two (2) permanent 8
11511151 subcommittees, one (1) from a Class “A” standing committee and one (1) from a 9
11521152 Class “B” standing committee. The Speaker of the House of Representatives and 10
11531153 the chairperson of each standing committee shall jointly appoint from the 11
11541154 membership of the standing committee six (6) persons for each permanent 12
11551155 subcommittee available, provided further the chairperson and vice chairperson 13
11561156 of each standing committee shall be ex -officio, voting members of each 14
11571157 permanent subcommittee created from within their standing committee. The 15
11581158 permanent subcommittees of the standing committees may meet after having 16
11591159 first obtained prior approval of the standing committee chairperson. 17
11601160 (5) There shall be no transfers from one standing committee to 18
11611161 another or from one permanent subcommittee to another during the biennium 19
11621162 following initial biennial appointment and or confirmation. After selection 20
11631163 of standing committee members and permanent subcommittee members, a vacancy 21
11641164 occurring on a standing committee or permanent subcommittee during the 22
11651165 biennium because of the death, resignation, expulsion, etc., of a member, 23
11661166 shall be temporarily filled by the Speaker of the House of Representatives 24
11671167 assigning the newly elected member, for the remainder of the biennium, to the 25
11681168 “A” and “B” standing committees, and the permanent subcommittees previously 26
11691169 held by their predecessor. The newly elected member does not automatically 27
11701170 assume a chairmanship or vice -chairmanship, which vacancies shall be filled 28
11711171 in the same manner as the original appointment. 29
11721172 (6) A non-returning member of the House of Representatives who 30
11731173 has been assigned an office or other premises shall vacate the office or 31
11741174 other premises by December 15 following the General Election in the even -32
11751175 numbered years; and, by the same date, a returning member shall be prepared 33
11761176 to vacate his or her assigned office or premises at the direction of the 34
11771177 Speaker. 35
11781178 54.(b) SELECT COMMITTEES 36 HR1001
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11811181 (1) With the exception of the House Budget Committee, the 1
11821182 Speaker shall appoint all members and all alternates on all House select 2
11831183 committees and all Joint Select Committees. The Speaker shall appoint ex -3
11841184 officio members in accordance with the law. 4
11851185 (2)(A) Selection of positions on the House Budget Committee 5
11861186 shall occur following the Class “A” standing committee and Class “B” standing 6
11871187 committee selections and in conjunction with selection of members for the 7
11881188 Legislative Council and the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee. 8
11891189 (B) The most senior member of the House of Representatives 9
11901190 shall select first and shall choose a primary or alternate position on the 10
11911191 House Budget Committee, the Legislative Council, or the Legislative Joint 11
11921192 Auditing Committee. The next -senior member shall then choose a primary or 12
11931193 alternate position on the House Budget Committee, the Legislative Council, or 13
11941194 the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee. The seniority rotation procedure 14
11951195 shall continue until the member with the least seniority makes his or her 15
11961196 selection or until all primary and alternate positions on the House Budget 16
11971197 Committee, the Legislative Council, or the Legislative Joint Auditing 17
11981198 Committee are filled. 18
11991199 (C)(i) The Speaker of the House shall have the authority 19
12001200 to make adjustments to committee membership following the committee selection 20
12011201 process only for the purpose of adjusting the majority to minority ratio on 21
12021202 the House Budget Committee, the Legislative Council, and the Legislative 22
12031203 Joint Auditing Committee. 23
12041204 (ii) The adjustments to committee membership made by 24
12051205 the Speaker shall not exceed the minimum necessary to ensure majority party 25
12061206 membership exceeds minority party membership on the committees. 26
12071207 (iii) Final committee memberships shall be announced 27
12081208 no later than the House Orientation held in December before a Regular 28
12091209 Session. 29
12101210 (3) The House Budget Committee shall consist of six (6) members 30
12111211 of the House of Representatives and two (2) alternates from each House caucus 31
12121212 district. At the time the alternates are selected, one (1) shall be 32
12131213 designated as first alternate and the other as second alternate. The term of 33
12141214 office of the members shall be from January 1 of odd -numbered years through 34
12151215 December 31 of the following even -numbered year. Vacancies in either a member 35
12161216 or alternate member position shall be filled in the same manner as the 36 HR1001
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12191219 initial member or alternate member position was filled. House Budget 1
12201220 Committee membership shall be confirmed at the same time that House members 2
12211221 are administered the oath of office. Prior to confirmation, however, members 3
12221222 chosen to serve on the House Budget Committee shall conduct pre -session 4
12231223 budget hearings, either standing alone or in conjunction with the Legislative 5
12241224 Council. 6
12251225 (4) No member of the House of Representatives shall serve on 7
12261226 more than one (1) select committee. The Legislative Council, the Legislative 8
12271227 Joint Auditing Committee, the House Budget Committee, the House Committee on 9
12281228 the Journal; Engrossed and Enrolled Bills, and the House Management Committee 10
12291229 are excluded therefrom. 11
12301230 54.(c)(1) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint a 12
12311231 chairperson and a vice chairperson of each standing committee and each select 13
12321232 committee who shall serve at the pleasure of the Speaker of the House of 14
12331233 Representatives. The Speaker, in consultation with the chairperson of each 15
12341234 standing committee, shall appoint from the membership of each permanent 16
12351235 subcommittee, a chairperson and vice chairperson provided however that the 17
12361236 vice chairperson of the standing committee may be the chairperson of a 18
12371237 permanent subcommittee. No member of the House of Representatives, with the 19
12381238 exception of each House standing committee vice chairperson, shall be 20
12391239 chairperson or vice chairperson of more than one (1) standing committee, 21
12401240 select committee, or permanent subcommittee. 22
12411241 (2) The rules or proceedings of the House of Representatives 23
12421242 shall be observed in all select committees, standing committees, and 24
12431243 subcommittees of the House of Representatives so far as the rules or 25
12441244 proceedings may be applicable. 26
12451245 (3) The House Committee on the Journal; Engrossed and Enrolled 27
12461246 Bills shall serve as the supervisory committee over the preparation of the 28
12471247 Journal and engrossing and enrolling of bills. 29
12481248 (4) After the membership of a standing committee or a permanent 30
12491249 subcommittee is established, no member shall be removed from any standing 31
12501250 committee or any permanent subcommittee during the biennium for which he or 32
12511251 she was selected. All appointees selected by the Speaker of the House of 33
12521252 Representatives serve at his or her discretion. 34
12531253 55. Committee Operations. 35
12541254 55.(a) Each committee of the House shall be provided a secretary who 36 HR1001
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12571257 shall maintain a current record of all bills, resolutions, amendments, 1
12581258 petitions, memorials, or other matters filed in committee. A record of 2
12591259 committee actions (committee reports, committee adopted amendments, etc.) 3
12601260 shall be filed with the Chief Clerk of the House as the first priority upon 4
12611261 adjournment of the committee. The secretary shall post, on a bulletin board 5
12621262 and/or electronically, a current list of all measures pending before the 6
12631263 committee. 7
12641264 55.(b) All committees shall consider the bills, resolutions, 8
12651265 amendments, petitions, and memorials referred to them and make one of the 9
12661266 following reports in writing to the House: 10
12671267 (1) That a bill, resolution, petition or memorial “do pass”; 11
12681268 (2) That a bill, resolution, petition or memorial “do not pass”, 12
12691269 in which event the measure shall not be considered unless the vote is 13
12701270 expunged; 14
12711271 (3) That a bill, resolution, petition or memorial “do pass as 15
12721272 amended”. 16
12731273 55.(c) No bill, resolution, petition or memorial shall be acted upon 17
12741274 by the House without a “do pass” or a “do pass as amended” recommendation. 18
12751275 No bills shall be placed on the non -controversial calendar or deemed to be 19
12761276 non-controversial in any way unless a motion is adopted in the committee to 20
12771277 which the bill was referred. With a quorum present, the motion is considered 21
12781278 adopted if there are no negative votes. 22
12791279 55.(d) The appropriate subject matter standing committees of the House 23
12801280 and the Senate may meet as joint committees whenever agreed by said 24
12811281 committees, for the purposes of holding public hearings or considering any 25
12821282 proposed or pending legislation but upon conclusion of the joint meeting of 26
12831283 said committees, each standing committee of the House of Representatives and 27
12841284 the Senate shall take such action and report to their respective houses as 28
12851285 determined by said committees. Whenever the appropriate subject committees 29
12861286 of the House and Senate hold hearings or meetings, the chairperson of the 30
12871287 House committee and the chairperson of the Senate committee shall by 31
12881288 agreement determine which of them shall preside at the joint meeting. 32
12891289 Rules 56-59 [Repealed.] 33
12901290 60. Meetings and Hearings: 34
12911291 60.(a) All committee and subcommittee meetings including but not 35
12921292 limited to hearings at which public testimony is to be taken, (normally 36 HR1001
12931293
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12951295 called “public hearings”) shall be open to the public (Arkansas Constitution, 1
12961296 Article 5, § 13, Sessions to be open.) and shall be scheduled at least 2
12971297 eighteen (18) hours in advance; agendas of bills, resolutions, and other 3
12981298 proposals to be considered at such meetings shall be posted in a designated 4
12991299 place at least eighteen (18) hours in advance; but in case of an emergency, a 5
13001300 two-thirds (2/3) majority of the membership of the committee may bring bills 6
13011301 up for consideration upon notice of not less than two (2) hours. 7
13021302 60.(b) Special meetings of a standing committee may be called by the 8
13031303 chairperson of the committee or by a majority of the members of the committee 9
13041304 for conducting any business of the committee; provided, a special meeting of 10
13051305 the committee may not conflict with regularly scheduled meetings of any 11
13061306 standing committee; provided further, special meetings shall be subject to 12
13071307 the same procedures regarding the publishing of agendas and notices of 13
13081308 meetings that apply to regular standing committee meetings. 14
13091309 60.(c) The Speaker of the House shall establish a schedule of House 15
13101310 standing and select committee meetings so as to minimize conflicts. 16
13111311 61.(a) All persons wishing to offer testimony to a committee hearing 17
13121312 shall be given a reasonable opportunity to do so as determined by a majority 18
13131313 of the committee. An oral or written statement shall not be a prerequisite 19
13141314 to offer testimony before a committee. 20
13151315 61.(b)(1) The committee shall have the opportunity to ask questions of 21
13161316 persons offering testimony. 22
13171317 (2) Electronic devices such as smart phones, tablets or personal 23
13181318 computers may be used by participants in debate but during presentations may 24
13191319 not be employed for personal communications with outside parties. 25
13201320 62. All contested elections cases entertained by the House shall be 26
13211321 referred to the Rules Committee which shall make its final recommendation not 27
13221322 later than two (2) weeks from the first day of the session. 28
13231323 63. No committee shall sit while the House is in session except the 29
13241324 Committee on Rules or a Conference Committee, which shall notify the House. 30
13251325 64.(a) The following subject areas shall be within the jurisdiction of 31
13261326 each of the respective House standing committees: 32
13271327 (1) Committee on Education – matters pertaining to public 33
13281328 kindergarten, elementary, secondary, and adult education, vocational 34
13291329 education, vocational -technical schools, vocational rehabilitation, higher 35
13301330 education, private educational institutions, similar legislation, and 36 HR1001
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13331333 resolutions germane to the subject matter of the committee; 1
13341334 (2) Committee on Judiciary – matters pertaining to state and 2
13351335 local courts, court clerks and stenographers and other employees of the 3
13361336 courts, civil and criminal procedures, probate matters, civil and criminal 4
13371337 laws, similar matters, and resolutions germane to the subject matter of the 5
13381338 committee; 6
13391339 (3) Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor – matters 7
13401340 pertaining to public health, mental health, mental retardation illness, 8
13411341 intellectual disability , public welfare, human relations and resources, 9
13421342 environmental affairs, water and air pollution, labor and labor relations, 10
13431343 contractors and contracting, similar legislation, and resolutions germane to 11
13441344 the subject matter of the committee; 12
13451345 (4) Committee on Public Transportation – matters pertaining to 13
13461346 roads and highways, city streets, county roads, road vehicles, highway 14
13471347 safety, airports and air transportation, common and contract carriers, mass 15
13481348 transit, similar legislation, and resolutions germane to the subject matter 16
13491349 of the committee; 17
13501350 (5) Committee on Revenue and Taxation – matters pertaining to 18
13511351 the levy, increase, reduction, collection, enforcement and administration of 19
13521352 taxes and other revenue -producing measures, and resolutions germane to the 20
13531353 subject matter of the committee; 21
13541354 (6) Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and 22
13551355 Military Affairs – matters pertaining to the aged, child custody, adoptions, 23
13561356 problems of aging; children and youth, military, veterans, legislative 24
13571357 affairs, memorials, other matters whenever the subject matter is not germane 25
13581358 to the subject matter of any other standing committee and resolutions germane 26
13591359 to the subject matter of the committee; 27
13601360 (7) Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development 28
13611361 – matters pertaining to agriculture, livestock, forestry, industrial 29
13621362 development, natural resources, oil and gas, publicity and parks, levee and 30
13631363 drainage, rivers and harbors, similar legislation and resolutions germane to 31
13641364 the subject matter of the committee; 32
13651365 (8) Committee on City, County and Local Affairs – matters 33
13661366 pertaining to city and municipal affairs, county affairs, local improvement 34
13671367 districts, water districts, interlocal government cooperation, similar 35
13681368 legislation and resolutions germane to the subject matter of the committee; 36 HR1001
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13711371 (9) Committee on Insurance and Commerce – matters pertaining to 1
13721372 banks and banking, savings and loan associations, stock, bonds, and other 2
13731373 securities, securities dealers, insurance, public utilities, partnerships and 3
13741374 corporations, home mortgage financing and housing, similar legislation and 4
13751375 resolutions germane to the subject matter of the committee; 5
13761376 (10) Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs – 6
13771377 matters pertaining to state government and state agencies, except where the 7
13781378 subject matter relates more appropriately to another committee, proposed 8
13791379 amendments to the Constitution of the State of Arkansas or the Federal 9
13801380 government, election laws and procedures, Federal and interstate relations, 10
13811381 similar legislation, and resolutions germane to the subject matter of the 11
13821382 committee; 12
13831383 64.(b) The following permanent subcommittees are hereby created from 13
13841384 within each standing committee: 14
13851385 (1)For the House standing committee on Aging, Children and Youth, 15
13861386 Legislative and Military Affairs, the following permanent subcommittees are 16
13871387 created: 17
13881388 (A) Aging 18
13891389 (B) Children and Youth 19
13901390 (C) Legislative, Military and Veterans Affairs 20
13911391 (2) For the House standing committee on Agriculture, Forestry 21
13921392 and Economic Development, the following permanent subcommittees are created: 22
13931393 (A) Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources 23
13941394 (B) Small Business and Economic Development 24
13951395 (C) Parks and Tourism 25
13961396 (3) For House standing committee on City, County and Local 26
13971397 Affairs, the following permanent subcommittees are created: 27
13981398 (A) Planning 28
13991399 (B) Finance 29
14001400 (C) Local Government Personnel 30
14011401 (4) For the House standing committee on Education, the following 31
14021402 permanent subcommittees are created: 32
14031403 (A) Early Childhood 33
14041404 (B) Kindergarten Through Twelve, Vocational/Technical 34
14051405 Institutions 35
14061406 (C) Higher Education 36 HR1001
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14091409 (5) For the House standing committee on Insurance and Commerce, 1
14101410 the following permanent subcommittees are created: 2
14111411 (A) Financial Institutions 3
14121412 (B) Insurance 4
14131413 (C) Utilities 5
14141414 (6) For the House standing committee on Judiciary, the following 6
14151415 permanent subcommittees are created: 7
14161416 (A) Courts/Civil Law 8
14171417 (B) Corrections/Criminal Law 9
14181418 (C) Juvenile Justice/Child Support 10
14191419 (7) For the House standing committee on Public Health, Welfare 11
14201420 and Labor, the following permanent subcommittees are created: 12
14211421 (A) Human Services 13
14221422 (B) Health Services 14
14231423 (C) Labor and Environment 15
14241424 (8) For the House standing committee on Public Transportation, 16
14251425 the following permanent subcommittees are created: 17
14261426 (A) Motor Vehicle and Highways 18
14271427 (B) Public Transportation and Rail 19
14281428 (C) Waterways and Aeronautics 20
14291429 (9) For the House standing committee on Revenue and Taxation, 21
14301430 the following permanent subcommittees are created: 22
14311431 (A) Sales, Use, Miscellaneous Taxes and Exemptions 23
14321432 (B) Income Taxes—Personal and Corporate 24
14331433 (C) Complaints and Remediation 25
14341434 (10) For the House standing committee on State Agencies and 26
14351435 Governmental Affairs, the following permanent subcommittees are created: 27
14361436 (A) State Agencies and Reorganization 28
14371437 (B) Constitutional Issues 29
14381438 (C) Elections 30
14391439 65.(a) Committee on Rules: 31
14401440 (1) All proposed action touching the rules, joint rules, and 32
14411441 order of business shall be referred to the Committee on Rules. 33
14421442 (2) It shall always be in order to call up, for consideration, a 34
14431443 report from the Committee on Rules. 35
14441444 (3) The Committee on Rules shall present to the House reports 36 HR1001
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14471447 concerning rules, joint rules, and order of business on the third day after 1
14481448 convening of the House. The permanent rules shall be adopted by a majority 2
14491449 of the members and thereafter they may be changed only by a vote of sixty -3
14501450 seven (67) members. 4
14511451 (4) The Speaker shall refer any matter he or she deems 5
14521452 appropriate to the Committee on Rules, including without limitation any 6
14531453 matters dealing with alcohol, cigarettes, movies, pornography, tobacco, 7
14541454 tobacco products, coin operated amusement devices, vending machines, 8
14551455 lobbying, code of ethics, bingo, lotteries, raffles, racing, race tracks, 9
14561456 pari-mutuel betting and similar legislation. 10
14571457 (5) Rules of the preceding General Assembly shall automatically 11
14581458 be adopted as temporary rules of the current assembly and may be amended or 12
14591459 suspended by a majority vote of the membership. 13
14601460 65.(b) House Budget Committee. All appropriation bills coming before 14
14611461 the House shall be assigned to and considered by the House Budget Committee. 15
14621462 66. No committee shall transact business without a quorum (a majority 16
14631463 of the committee membership present). The request for a quorum call is 17
14641464 always in order. All final action on bills, and on proposed amendments to 18
14651465 bills, shall be decided by a majority vote of the total membership of the 19
14661466 committee. Provided, however, that the Speaker of the House shall not be 20
14671467 included for the purpose of determining what is a majority of a standing 21
14681468 committee, unless present at the time of the vote. A member of the committee 22
14691469 must be present at the time of the vote for his or her vote to be counted on 23
14701470 any matter considered by the committee (no pairs, no proxies). 24
14711471 66.(a) A bill, resolution or amendment in a House committee, having 25
14721472 been rejected twice, shall not be placed on the committee calendar again or 26
14731473 considered again during the same legislative session unless the vote is 27
14741474 expunged (two-thirds of the membership of the committee). The motion to 28
14751475 expunge shall be placed by a committee member at the bottom of the committee 29
14761476 agenda. A bill or resolution may be amended before a second consideration; 30
14771477 but, unless expunged, even an amended bill having failed twice shall not be 31
14781478 placed on the calendar or considered. 32
14791479 67. Upon written request by the author of a bill directed to the 33
14801480 chairperson of the committee, a bill shall be considered by the full 34
14811481 committee within ten (10) days of the time of such request, but the 35
14821482 committees may delay final action on a bill by a majority vote of the 36 HR1001
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14851485 committee. 1
14861486 68. No bill shall be introduced with a committee as the author of said 2
14871487 bill unless that committee has voted unanimously to sponsor the bill. 3
14881488 69. Committee Records and Reports: 4
14891489 69.(a) The chairperson of each committee of the House shall keep or 5
14901490 cause to be kept a separate record for each committee meeting in which there 6
14911491 shall be entered: 7
14921492 (1) The time and place of each hearing and each meeting of the 8
14931493 committee. 9
14941494 (2) The number and title of the bill with one of the following 10
14951495 three recommendations: “do pass”, “do pass as amended”, or “do not pass”. If 11
14961496 a committee recommends a bill “do pass as amended” and any of the amendments 12
14971497 recommended by the committee are not adopted on the Floor, the bill shall be 13
14981498 re-referred to the same committee for further consideration and 14
14991499 recommendation. 15
15001500 (3) A summary of each bill’s major provision which may be 16
15011501 several paragraphs in length in case of major bills or simply the title of 17
15021502 the bill in the case of minor bills. 18
15031503 (4) The reason for the committee’s action on the bill, including 19
15041504 a brief minority report, if requested by any two (2) committee members. 20
15051505 (5) A record of how every member voted on each bill when action 21
15061506 is taken by the committee, including votes on a motion to postpone 22
15071507 consideration on the bill and a recorded vote on any other motion, if 23
15081508 requested by any two (2) committee members. 24
15091509 (6) A list of all people testifying before a committee on each 25
15101510 bill, the interest that they represent, and an indication of their position 26
15111511 on the bill. 27
15121512 69.(b) Such records for each separate committee meeting shall be 28
15131513 approved by the chairperson before the expiration of a seven (7) day period, 29
15141514 with the exception of those records referred to in (a) 1. and 2., hereinabove 30
15151515 which shall be filed immediately with the Clerk of the House. 31
15161516 69.(c) Other reports may be filed with the Clerk of the House. 32
15171517 70. Consent Calendar – Supplemental Calendar. In addition to the 33
15181518 regular calendar of the House of Representatives, there shall be a consent 34
15191519 calendar on which shall be placed bills that have been recommended “do pass” 35
15201520 by committee, which are deemed by the committee or by the Speaker to be non -36 HR1001
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15231523 controversial, and may be used for other non -controversial matters such as 1
15241524 resolutions and amendments to bills proposed by the author of the bill, if 2
15251525 the Speaker deems such matter to be non -controversial. The Speaker of the 3
15261526 House shall maintain the consent calendar. Provided, that a list of bills 4
15271527 and other matters on the consent calendar which are to be considered on a 5
15281528 particular day shall be circulated among the members of the House of 6
15291529 Representatives the day prior to the date on which the consent calendar is to 7
15301530 be considered. If as many as five (5) members object to a bill or other 8
15311531 matter on the consent calendar being considered as non -controversial, the 9
15321532 Speaker of the House shall remove the same from the consent calendar and 10
15331533 shall place it on the regular calendar of the House business. When deemed 11
15341534 advisable, in addition to the regular calendar and the consent calendar, the 12
15351535 Speaker may provide for a supplemental calendar on which shall be placed 13
15361536 bills and resolutions and other matters as requested by the members for 14
15371537 consideration. The list of bills, resolutions and other matters on the 15
15381538 supplemental calendar for consideration on a particular day shall be 16
15391539 circulated among the members of the House. If as many as five (5) members 17
15401540 object to a bill, resolution or any other matter on the supplemental calendar 18
15411541 the same shall be removed and placed on the regular House calendar for 19
15421542 consideration consistent with the wishes of the House. No bill or resolution 20
15431543 may be placed for consideration on any more than one (1) House calendar, 21
15441544 supplemental calendars excepted. 22
15451545 71. A vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the elected membership of the House 23
15461546 of Representatives shall be necessary to remove a bill from a committee. A 24
15471547 bill may be reported by a committee at any time as provided by the House 25
15481548 Rules except for bills introduced after the fiftieth (50th) day of the 26
15491549 Regular Session, or during a special session, which shall, upon written 27
15501550 request by the author, be acted on at the next regular meeting of the 28
15511551 committee, but committees may delay final action on a bill by a majority vote 29
15521552 of the committee. 30
15531553 72.(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), no action may be taken in 31
15541554 the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor or on the Floor of 32
15551555 the House of Representatives on any bill that provides for licensure of any 33
15561556 profession, occupation or class of health care providers not currently 34
15571557 licensed or expands the scope of practice of any profession, occupation, or 35
15581558 class of health care providers unless the House Committee on Public Health, 36 HR1001
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15611561 Welfare and Labor has initiated a study of the feasibility of such 1
15621562 legislation at least thirty (30) days prior to convening the next legislative 2
15631563 session. 3
15641564 72.(b) A bill providing for the licensure of any profession, 4
15651565 occupation, or class of health care providers not currently licensed or 5
15661566 expanding the scope of any practice of any profession, occupation, or class 6
15671567 of health care providers may be acted upon without the initiation of a 7
15681568 feasibility study required in subsection (a) upon a two -thirds (2/3) vote of 8
15691569 the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee membership. 9
15701570 10
15711571 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE 11
15721572 73. All measures involving a tax or an appropriation of money, or 12
15731573 property, may be first considered in a Committee of the Whole, amendments can 13
15741574 be offered in the Committee of the Whole. 14
15751575 74. The Speaker of the House, in setting the calendar of budgets or 15
15761576 appropriation bills to be considered in the House shall, from time to time, 16
15771577 confer with the chairperson of the House Budget Committee on the 17
15781578 appropriation bills pending and may designate specific days or times to be 18
15791579 set aside in the House to be devoted solely to consideration of appropriation 19
15801580 bills and other budget matters. At least by the end of business on the 20
15811581 previous day before any appropriation bill is to be considered by the House, 21
15821582 the chairperson of the House Budget Committee shall cause to be prepared and 22
15831583 placed on each member’s desk a listing of appropriation bills to be 23
15841584 considered in the Committee of the Whole or the House, broken down as 24
15851585 follows: 25
15861586 74.(a) Appropriation bills sponsored by the Joint Budget Committee or 26
15871587 the House Budget Committee, prepared in accordance with Legislative Council 27
15881588 recommendations; 28
15891589 74.(b) All other appropriation bills sponsored by the Joint Budget 29
15901590 Committee or the House Budget Committee which were not considered by the 30
15911591 Legislative Council; 31
15921592 74.(c) Bills introduced by members of the House (or Senate) that shall 32
15931593 have been recommended by the Joint Budget Committee or the House Budget 33
15941594 Committee “do pass” or “do pass as amended”; and 34
15951595 74.(d) Appropriation bills amended in the Senate without Joint Budget 35
15961596 Committee or House Budget Committee action. The aforementioned list of 36 HR1001
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15991599 appropriation bills shall include the number of the bill, the author of the 1
16001600 bill, and the name and agency and/or program for which the appropriation is 2
16011601 to be made. In the event the Joint Budget Committee or the House Budget 3
16021602 Committee recommendations in regard to the appropriation shall differ, in any 4
16031603 respect, from the recommendations made by the Legislative Council in regard 5
16041604 thereto, said list shall identify each such change in the appropriation bill 6
16051605 which differs from the recommendation of the Legislative Council. 7
16061606 75. In forming a Committee of the Whole House, the Speaker may leave 8
16071607 his or her chair after appointing a chairperson to preside, who shall have 9
16081608 the same power as the Speaker to preserve order. A majority of a quorum is 10
16091609 required to resolve the House into a Committee of the Whole. 11
16101610 76. When the House resolves itself into the Committee of the Whole, 12
16111611 non-members who are to participate in the matters to be discussed may be 13
16121612 invited into the House Chambers by the proponents or opponents of the 14
16131613 proposals to be discussed but all such non -members shall leave at the time 15
16141614 the committee arises. 16
16151615 77. A Committee of the Whole cannot report a measure without a quorum 17
16161616 of its members present. 18
16171617 78. The rules and proceedings of the House shall be observed in 19
16181618 Committee of the Whole House so far as they may be applicable. Decisions 20
16191619 will be made by voice or standing votes. 21
16201620 79. No motion which has as its effect the limiting of debate in the 22
16211621 Committee of the Whole shall be entertained by the chairperson. The motion 23
16221622 for the disposition of any matter referred to the committee shall be, “Mr. or 24
16231623 Madam Chair, I move the committee do now rise and report”. If the committee 25
16241624 had no specific report, the motion should be to rise and report progress. 26
16251625 27
16261626 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL; LEGISLATIVE JOINT AUDITING COMMITTEE 28
16271627 80. Legislative Council. 29
16281628 80.(a)(1) The House of Representatives shall select twenty (20) 30
16291629 members to serve on the Legislative Council, to include five (5) members from 31
16301630 each of the four (4) House district caucuses, in the manner set forth in Rule 32
16311631 54.(b) of these rules. 33
16321632 (2) The Speaker shall select one (1) of their number as 34
16331633 Legislative Council co -chair and one (1) of their number as Legislative 35
16341634 Council co-vice-chair. No more than two (2) members selected from each caucus 36 HR1001
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16371637 shall reside within the same county. The term of office of the members shall 1
16381638 be from January 1 of odd-numbered years to December 31 of the following even -2
16391639 numbered year. Legislative Council membership shall be confirmed at the same 3
16401640 time that House members are administered the oath of office. 4
16411641 80.(b) In order that there may be no House vacancies on the 5
16421642 Legislative Council at any time, at the time of selection of the House 6
16431643 members to the Legislative Council, there shall be selected from each House 7
16441644 Caucus District in the same manner as is set forth in Rule 54.(b) of these 8
16451645 rules, a first alternate and a second alternate for each member selected from 9
16461646 that district. In the event that any House member or House alternate of the 10
16471647 Legislative Council resigns from the Legislative Council, is disqualified 11
16481648 from serving on the Legislative Council, dies, or for any other reason there 12
16491649 becomes a permanent vacancy in a House position on the Legislative Council, 13
16501650 the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall select from the same House 14
16511651 caucus district a replacement member or alternate to serve the remainder of 15
16521652 the term. When a vacancy occurs in a House member position on the Legislative 16
16531653 Council or a House alternate position on the Legislative Council, that 17
16541654 person’s alternate shall serve until a new member is chosen. The Speaker of 18
16551655 the House of Representatives shall notify the Legislative Council chairperson 19
16561656 of all changes in membership on the Legislative Council. 20
16571657 80.(c) Ex-officio members shall be selected in accordance with 21
16581658 Arkansas Code § 10-3-301. 22
16591659 81. Legislative Joint Auditing Committee. 23
16601660 81.(a) The House of Representatives shall select twenty (20) members to 24
16611661 serve on the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, to include five (5) 25
16621662 members from each of the four (4) House District Caucuses, in the manner set 26
16631663 forth in Rule 54.(b) of these rules. Following the selections, the Speaker 27
16641664 of the House of Representatives shall select one (1) of their number as 28
16651665 Legislative Joint Auditing Committee co -chair and one (1) of their number as 29
16661666 Legislative Joint Auditing Committee co -vice-chair. No more than two (2) 30
16671667 members shall reside within the same county. The term of office of the 31
16681668 members shall be from January 1 of odd -numbered years to December 31 of the 32
16691669 following even-numbered year. Legislative Joint Auditing Committee membership 33
16701670 shall be confirmed at the same time that House members are administered the 34
16711671 oath of office. 35
16721672 81.(b) In order that there may be no House vacancies on the 36 HR1001
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16751675 Legislative Joint Auditing Committee at any time, at the time of selection of 1
16761676 the House members to the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee there shall be 2
16771677 selected, from each House Caucus District in the same manner as is set forth 3
16781678 in Rule 54.(b) of these rules, a first alternate and a second alternate for 4
16791679 each member selected from that House caucus district. In the event that any 5
16801680 House member or House alternate of the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee 6
16811681 resigns from the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, is disqualified from 7
16821682 serving on the Committee, dies, or for any other reason there becomes a 8
16831683 permanent vacancy in a House position on the Legislative Joint Auditing 9
16841684 Committee, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall select from the 10
16851685 same House caucus district a replacement member or alternate to serve the 11
16861686 remainder of the term. When a vacancy occurs in a House member position on 12
16871687 the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee or a House alternate position on the 13
16881688 Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, that person’s alternate shall serve 14
16891689 until a new member is chosen. The Speaker of the House of Representatives 15
16901690 shall notify the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee chairperson of all 16
16911691 changes in membership on the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee. 17
16921692 81.(c) Ex-officio members shall be selected in accordance with 18
16931693 Arkansas Code §§ 10-3-403 and 10-3-404. 19
16941694 20
16951695 CAUCUS DISTRICTS 21
16961696 82. Each of the four caucuses shall select from among the members of 22
16971697 the caucus a chairperson. 23
16981698 The First Caucus District shall be composed of the following House of 24
16991699 Representatives Districts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 25
17001700 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, and 68. 26
17011701 The Second Caucus District shall be composed of the following House of 27
17021702 Representatives Districts: 41, 42, 43, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 66, 67, 69, 28
17031703 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, and 83. 29
17041704 The Third Caucus District shall be composed of the following House of 30
17051705 Representatives Districts: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 31
17061706 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 47, 48, 49, 50, and 51. 32
17071707 The Fourth Caucus District shall be composed of the following House of 33
17081708 Representatives Districts: 29, 44, 45, 46, 52, 53, 65, 80, 84, 85, 86, 87, 34
17091709 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, and 100. 35
17101710 36 HR1001
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17131713 DEBATE 1
17141714 83. When a representative desires to speak or to have the attention of 2
17151715 the House, he or she shall rise from his or her seat and respectfully address 3
17161716 himself or herself to “Mr. or Madam Speaker”, (or in the Committee of the 4
17171717 Whole, “Mr. or Madam Chairperson”) and upon recognition, he or she may 5
17181718 address the House from his or her seat or the “well” of the House. 6
17191719 Representatives must be at their seats before obtaining recognition. Any 7
17201720 representative who receives recognition from the Chair must confine himself 8
17211721 or herself to the question before the House, or a privileged motion. No 9
17221722 representative shall proceed until recognized by the Speaker. When two (2) 10
17231723 or more representatives arise at once, the Speaker shall name the member who 11
17241724 shall be first to speak. 12
17251725 84. When a representative desires to interrupt a representative having 13
17261726 the Floor, he or she shall first obtain recognition of the Speaker and 14
17271727 permission of the representative occupying the Floor; and when so recognized 15
17281728 and such permission is obtained, he or she may ask questions of the 16
17291729 representative occupying the Floor; but shall not propound a series of 17
17301730 interrogatives or otherwise badger the representative having the Floor. 18
17311731 85. No representative shall occupy more than thirty (30) minutes in 19
17321732 debate on any question in the House. The representative reporting a measure 20
17331733 under consideration from a committee or the author may open and close debate. 21
17341734 If debate shall extend beyond one (1) day, the author or sponsor shall be 22
17351735 entitled to thirty (30) minutes to close. The right to close may not be 23
17361736 automatically exercised after limited debate, the previous question or 24
17371737 immediate consideration is voted. 25
17381738 86. No representative shall speak more than once on the same question 26
17391739 without leave of the House. One (1) mover, proposer or introducer of the 27
17401740 question pending may speak the second time and close, but not until every 28
17411741 representative choosing to speak shall have been heard. 29
17421742 87. A representative having the Floor may not yield it to another for 30
17431743 any purpose including making a motion; but, if he or she desires to allow a 31
17441744 motion to be made, he or she must yield the Floor. 32
17451745 33
17461746 DECORUM 34
17471747 88. No person other than a member of the Arkansas General Assembly, 35
17481748 designated legislative staff, or on special and certain occasions those 36 HR1001
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17511751 persons specifically invited by the Speaker of the House, shall be permitted 1
17521752 on the Floor of the House Chamber while the House is in session or in brief 2
17531753 recess. The Speaker shall develop policies governing limited public access 3
17541754 to the Floor during the interim. Arrangements for photographers shall be 4
17551755 established, the direction and control of which shall be regulated by the 5
17561756 Speaker of the House. No one in the House Chamber other than a member of the 6
17571757 Legislature may advocate or oppose passage of a measure while the House is in 7
17581758 session. No legislative aides, lobbyists or unauthorized persons shall be 8
17591759 permitted access to the House Floor, work areas, or House support areas. 9
17601760 This Rule shall be enforced by the Speaker of the House and/or the House 10
17611761 Management Committee. The House Management Committee and the Rules Committee 11
17621762 shall recommend punishment to the House for violation of this Rule. (Arkansas 12
17631763 Code 10-2-110 -- Disorderly Conduct) 13
17641764 89. The House Chamber during regular, fiscal and special sessions and 14
17651765 during the interim shall be used only for the legislative business of the 15
17661766 House and for the caucus meetings of its members, except upon occasions where 16
17671767 the House, by resolution, agrees to take part in any ceremonies to be 17
17681768 observed therein; and the Speaker shall not entertain a motion for suspension 18
17691769 of this rule. 19
17701770 90. No representative shall use intemperate language with reference to 20
17711771 the House or its members. 21
17721772 91. If any representative, in speaking or otherwise, transgresses the 22
17731773 rules of the House, the Speaker shall or any representative may, call him or 23
17741774 her to order. He or she shall immediately be seated unless permitted, on a 24
17751775 motion of another representative, to explain. The House shall, if called 25
17761776 upon, decide on the issue without debate. If the decision is in favor of the 26
17771777 representative called to order, he or she shall be free to continue; and, if 27
17781778 the dispute shall warrant, a representative shall be open to censure or such 28
17791779 punishment as the House shall impose. 29
17801780 92. Normal conformity to good manners and taste shall be expected of 30
17811781 each member of the House. Representatives shall avoid references to 31
17821782 personalities and extend to each representative courtesies which they wish 32
17831783 for themselves. 33
17841784 93. Introduction of and recognition of family, constituents, or groups 34
17851785 shall not become excessive. Members should be extremely reluctant in using 35
17861786 the time of the House for these personal courtesies. If deemed appropriate by 36 HR1001
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17891789 the Speaker of the House, he or she shall make all introductions from 1
17901790 information provided to the Speaker by a member or appropriate House staff. 2
17911791 94. The smoking of cigarettes, cigars and pipes or other tobacco 3
17921792 products shall not be permitted in the Chamber of the House of 4
17931793 Representatives or in the members’ private work area. 5
17941794 95. A Roll Call shall not be interrupted by a motion or other order of 6
17951795 business from the time the Speaker calls up the ballot until he or she casts 7
17961796 up the ballot and announces the result of said ballot. 8
17971797 9
17981798 VOTING 10
17991799 96. No person not a representative shall cast a vote for a 11
18001800 representative. 12
18011801 97. Any question or motion, except final passage of a bill or final 13
18021802 action on a joint resolution, may be put to the House by a voice vote at the 14
18031803 discretion of the Speaker. 15
18041804 98. Any five (5) representatives shall have the right to call for the 16
18051805 ayes and nays and have the result entered on the Journal. (Arkansas 17
18061806 Constitution, Article 5, § 12 -- Powers and duties of each house.) 18
18071807 99. Any representative who will be absent from the House may pair his 19
18081808 or her vote with a representative who shall be present. 20
18091809 99.(a) These representatives must be casting opposite votes. 21
18101810 99.(b) Dated pairs reflecting the bill number are counted when signed 22
18111811 by both representatives, 23
18121812 (1) in the presence of each other, and witnessed by another 24
18131813 representative, or 25
18141814 (2) when the member who will not be present for the vote signs 26
18151815 the pair form in the presence of a person authorized by law to take 27
18161816 acknowledgements and who verifies the identity of the signer. 28
18171817 99.(c) Pairs shall be presented to the Speaker only on the day of the 29
18181818 vote for which the representatives are paired is to be taken. 30
18191819 99.(d) Pairs shall be announced by the Speaker immediately prior to 31
18201820 the Roll Call from a Pair Form presented to the Speaker by the representative 32
18211821 present. At the time of the announcement the Speaker shall (1) determine 33
18221822 that the member who is required to be present is present, and (2) provide the 34
18231823 membership with an opportunity to express procedural objections to the pairs. 35
18241824 99.(e) The representative may not cast his or her vote by other 36 HR1001
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18271827 methods when he or she is paired. 1
18281828 100. The demand to “Sound the Ballot” (a device to determine how each 2
18291829 representative voted) may be accomplished by any five (5) members rising and 3
18301830 requesting the Speaker to have the names called and the way the member voted 4
18311831 repeated. When contested, any representative (except a representative voting 5
18321832 by pair vote and the Speaker and a substitute Speaker) who is not present and 6
18331833 in his seat shall have his or her vote eliminated. 7
18341834 101. After a voice vote, the Speaker or any five (5) representatives 8
18351835 that doubt the result may call for a division of the House. 9
18361836 101.(a) Representatives voting aye shall stand at their seats until 10
18371837 counted. 11
18381838 101.(b) Then, representatives voting no shall stand at their seats 12
18391839 until counted. 13
18401840 101.(c) No representative shall be counted that is not at his or her 14
18411841 assigned voting station (his or her seat on the House Floor). 15
18421842 101.(d) The Speaker or his or her designee shall be responsible for 16
18431843 counting the vote and the Speaker shall announce the result of the vote. 17
18441844 102. The Electronic Voting System shall have the same force and effect 18
18451845 as a Roll Call. (Not less than a majority of the members of each House of 19
18461846 the General Assembly may enact a law.) (Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, 20
18471847 § 21, as added by Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 19, § 1.) 21
18481848 103. The Speaker, with three (3) representatives, is sufficient to 22
18491849 adjourn, or recess to a time certain, or sine die. (Neither house shall, 23
18501850 without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three (3) days, nor 24
18511851 to any other place than that in which the two (2) houses shall be sitting.) 25
18521852 (Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, § 28 -- Adjournments) 26
18531853 (Governor’s power to adjourn) In cases of disagreement between the 27
18541854 two (2) houses of the General Assembly, at a regular or special session, with 28
18551855 respect to the time of adjournment, the Governor may, if the facts be 29
18561856 certified to him or her by the presiding officers of the two (2) houses, 30
18571857 adjourn them to a time not beyond the day of their next meeting; and, on 31
18581858 account of danger from an enemy or disease, to such other place of safety as 32
18591859 he or she may think proper. (Arkansas Constitution, Article 6, § 20 -- Power 33
18601860 to adjourn General Assembly.) 34
18611861 104. Vetoes. (Arkansas Constitution, Article 16 6, §§ 15-17; Arkansas 35
18621862 Code § 10-2-116) 36 HR1001
18631863
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18651865 105. Extraordinary sessions of the General Assembly. (Arkansas 1
18661866 Constitution, Article 6, § 19 -- Extraordinary sessions of General Assembly -2
18671867 - Calling -- Purposes.) 3
18681868 106. Homestead exemption increase (3/4 vote) (Arkansas Constitution, 4
18691869 Article 16, § 16, as added by Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 59.) 5
18701870 107. Workmen’s Compensation Laws (Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, 6
18711871 § 32, as amended by Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 26.) 7
18721872 108. It shall be a violation of the Rules of the House for any member 8
18731873 of the House to accept a campaign contribution during the period beginning 9
18741874 thirty (30) days before and ending thirty (30) days after any regular session 10
18751875 of the General Assembly. If there is an extended recess of the General 11
18761876 Assembly, the period shall end thirty (30) days after the beginning of the 12
18771877 recess. It shall also be a violation of the Rules of the House for any member 13
18781878 of the House to accept a campaign contribution during any extended session of 14
18791879 the General Assembly or during any special session of the General Assembly . 15
18801880 109. All Roll Call votes on bills, emergency clauses on bills, 16
18811881 resolutions, and amendments in the House of Representatives shall be entered 17
18821882 by the House into the General Assembly’s Internet web site. 18
18831883 110.(a)(1) Except as provided in subdivisions 110.(a)(2) and (c) of 19
18841884 this section, the House of Representatives, when in session, shall recess on 20
18851885 January 20 of any year in which the inauguration of an individual to the 21
18861886 office of President of the United States is scheduled to occur. 22
18871887 (2) If the inauguration of an individual to the office of 23
18881888 President of the United States is scheduled to occur on January 21 of any 24
18891889 year, the House of Representatives shall recess on that date rather than 25
18901890 January 20. 26
18911891 (b) The House of Representatives shall recess without regard to the 27
18921892 party affiliation of the individual scheduled for inauguration as President 28
18931893 of the United States. 29
18941894 (c) This section shall not apply if a recess under this section would 30
18951895 occur on a date the House of Representatives shall recess in observance of 31
18961896 the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. under Arkansas Code § 10 -2-128. 32
18971897 111. Eligibility, Qualifications, and Removal of Members of the House 33
18981898 of Representatives. (Arkansas Constitution, Article 5, § 12; and other 34
18991899 applicable constitutional provisions) 35
19001900 112. Impeachments. 36 HR1001
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19031903 112.(a) The House of Representatives has the sole power of impeachment 1
19041904 under Arkansas Constitution, Article 15, § 2, and shall initiate impeachment 2
19051905 proceedings by filing articles of impeachment in the form of a House 3
19061906 Resolution, co-sponsored by at least thirty -four (34) members. Upon filing 4
19071907 of the impeachment resolution, the Speaker of the House shall refer the 5
19081908 impeachment resolution to committee for the following purposes: 6
19091909 (1) To investigate the allegations asserted in the articles of 7
19101910 impeachment; and 8
19111911 (2) To make a recommendation to the House of Representatives as 9
19121912 to whether cause exists to impeach the official that is the subject of the 10
19131913 articles of impeachment. 11
19141914 112.(b) All meetings of the committee to which the articles of 12
19151915 impeachment are referred shall be open to the public. Advance notice shall 13
19161916 be given to the public for all meetings consistent with notice requirements 14
19171917 of other House committee meetings and shall include publication of the agenda 15
19181918 for the meeting. 16
19191919 112.(c) The committee shall adopt rules to govern the proceedings 17
19201920 concerning the issue of impeachment in order to ensure due process, 18
19211921 fundamental fairness, and a thorough investigation, provided that the rules 19
19221922 of the committee are not inconsistent with this rule. 20
19231923 112.(d) The committee shall gather information and may hear testimony 21
19241924 related to the question of whether cause exists to impeach the official that 22
19251925 is the subject of the articles of impeachment. 23
19261926 112.(e)(1) Upon conclusion of its investigation, the committee shall 24
19271927 return its recommendation to the House of Representatives regarding the 25
19281928 resolution containing the articles of impeachment. 26
19291929 (2) The committee by an affirmative vote of a majority of its 27
19301930 membership may offer amendments to the impeachment resolution. 28
19311931 (3) The committee shall submit to the House of Representatives, 29
19321932 along with its recommendation on the resolution, a report regarding its 30
19331933 findings and conclusions. If the recommendation of the committee is not 31
19341934 unanimous, at the request of two (2) members, the members in opposition to 32
19351935 the recommendation of the committee may submit a dissenting report. 33
19361936 (4) The recommendation of the committee, along with the 34
19371937 committee report and any dissenting report, shall be provided to the members 35
19381938 of the House of Representatives no less than three (3) business days prior to 36 HR1001
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19411941 consideration of the impeachment resolution by the House of Representatives. 1
19421942 112.(f) Upon the conclusion of the three (3) business days, the 2
19431943 Speaker of the House shall call the House of Representatives into a meeting 3
19441944 in order to take up consideration of the impeachment resolution and the 4
19451945 recommendation of the committee. 5
19461946 112.(g) Passage of the impeachment resolution shall require an 6
19471947 affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the House of 7
19481948 Representatives. The vote shall be by roll call. 8
19491949 9
19501950 ADDENDUM 10
19511951 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 11
19521952 COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS MANUAL 12
19531953 AND 13
19541954 HOUSE COMMITTEE RULES 14
19551955 15
19561956 A committee chairperson is a member appointed by the Speaker of the House to 16
19571957 function as the parliamentary head of a standing, select, special or joint 17
19581958 committee. 18
19591959 19
19601960 1) The chairperson (or vice chairperson in his or her absence) shall call 20
19611961 the committee to order at the appointed time. 21
19621962 22
19631963 2) The presider shall determine a quorum present either by declaration, 23
19641964 without objection, or by calling the roll (for quorum purposes only a roll 24
19651965 call will be required if there is one objection by a committee member to the 25
19661966 declaration of the presence of a quorum). 26
19671967 27
19681968 3) The presider shall maintain order of the committee meeting. 28
19691969 29
19701970 4) The presider shall decide all questions of order subject to appeal to the 30
19711971 Speaker of the House who may refer the question to the Rules Committee whose 31
19721972 decision may be appealed to the full House. 32
19731973 33
19741974 5) The presider shall supervise and direct the staff of the committee. 34
19751975 35
19761976 6) The presider shall prepare, or supervise the preparation of, and sign all 36 HR1001
19771977
19781978 53 01/08/2025 1:44:29 PM JET019
19791979 reports of the committee and submit them to the full House. 1
19801980 2
19811981 House Rule 55.(b) and 55.(c) 3
19821982 55.(b) All committees shall consider the bills, resolutions, 4
19831983 amendments, petitions, and memorials referred to them and make one of the 5
19841984 following reports in writing to the House: 6
19851985 55.(b)(1) That a bill, resolution, petition or memorial “do pass”; 7
19861986 55.(b)(2) That a bill, resolution, petition or memorial “do not pass”, 8
19871987 in which event the measure shall not be considered unless the vote is 9
19881988 expunged; 10
19891989 55.(b)(3) That a bill, resolution, petition or memorial “do pass as 11
19901990 amended”. 12
19911991 55.(c) No bill, resolution, petition or memorial shall be acted upon 13
19921992 by the House without a “do pass” or a “do pass as amended” recommendation. 14
19931993 No bills shall be placed on the non -controversial calendar or deemed to be 15
19941994 non-controversial in any way unless a motion is adopted in the committee to 16
19951995 which the bill was referred. With a quorum present, the motion is considered 17
19961996 adopted if there are no negative votes. 18
19971997 19
19981998 7) A quorum (one more than half the total membership of the committee) must 20
19991999 be present to transact official House committee business. 21
20002000 22
20012001 (House Rule 66) No committee shall transact business without a quorum (a 23
20022002 majority of the committee membership present). All final action on bills or 24
20032003 resolutions, and on proposed amendments to bills or resolutions, shall be 25
20042004 decided by a majority vote of the total membership of the committee. 26
20052005 Provided, however, that the Speaker of the House shall not be included for 27
20062006 the purpose of determining what is a majority of a standing committee, unless 28
20072007 present at the time of the vote. A member of the committee must be present 29
20082008 at the time of the vote for his or her vote to be counted on any matter 30
20092009 considered by the committee (no pairs, no proxies). 31
20102010 32
20112011 8) (House Rule 54. (c)(2)) The rules or proceedings of the House of 33
20122012 Representatives shall be observed in all select committees, standing 34
20132013 committees, and subcommittees of the House so far as they may be applicable. 35
20142014 36 HR1001
20152015
20162016 54 01/08/2025 1:44:29 PM JET019
20172017 The precedence of motions so far as they are applicable shall be as listed in 1
20182018 House Rule 19(a) – (q): 2
20192019 3
20202020 (House Rule 19) When a question is under debate, motions shall have 4
20212021 precedence in the following order (the request for a quorum call is always in 5
20222022 order; the chairperson is not compelled to accept any motion): 6
20232023 19(a) To fix the time to which the House will adjourn (non -debatable) 7
20242024 (majority of a quorum); 8
20252025 19(a)(1) (A majority of a quorum is a majority of those voting when at least 9
20262026 a majority of the members are present and voting); 10
20272027 19(b) To adjourn (non -debatable) (majority of a quorum); 11
20282028 19(c) To take a recess (non -debatable) (majority of a quorum); 12
20292029 19(d) Postpone temporarily; lay on the table (non -debatable) (majority of a 13
20302030 quorum) To take from the table (non -debatable) (majority of a quorum) (when 14
20312031 the motion to take from the table is adopted, the proposition takes the same 15
20322032 position it held when the motion to lay on the table was adopted); 16
20332033 19(e) Immediate consideration (non -debatable) (2/3 of a quorum); 17
20342034 19(f) Previous question (non -debatable) (5 seconds) (majority of a quorum); 18
20352035 19(g) Limit or extend debate (non -debatable) (2/3 of a quorum); 19
20362036 19(h) To expunge (debatable) (2/3 of membership) (67); 20
20372037 19(i) Postpone to a day certain (debatable) (majority of a quorum); 21
20382038 19(j) Committee of the Whole, go into (non -debatable) (majority of a 22
20392039 quorum); 23
20402040 19(k) Refer (debatable) (majority of a quorum); 24
20412041 19(l) Amend (debatable) (majority of a quorum); 25
20422042 19.(m) Postpone indefinitely (debatable) (majority of membership); 26
20432043 19.(n) Take out of proper order (non -debatable) (2/3 of a quorum); 27
20442044 19.(o) Special order of business (debatable) (2/3 of a quorum); and 28
20452045 19.(p) To suspend the rules (non -debatable) (2/3 of a quorum). 29
20462046 30
20472047 9) (House Rule 60(a)) All committee and subcommittee meetings including but 31
20482048 not limited to hearings at which public testimony is to be taken, (normally 32
20492049 called “public hearings”) shall be open to the public (Art. V, Sec. 13) and 33
20502050 shall be scheduled at least eighteen (18) hours in advance; agendas of bills, 34
20512051 resolutions, and other proposals to be considered at such meetings shall be 35
20522052 posted in a designated place at least eighteen (18) hours in advance; but in 36 HR1001
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20552055 case of an emergency, a two -thirds (2/3) majority of the membership of the 1
20562056 committee may bring bills or resolutions up for consideration upon notice of 2
20572057 not less than two (2) hours. 3
20582058 4
20592059 10) (House Rule 60(b)) Special meetings of a standing committee may be 5
20602060 called by the chairperson of the committee or by a majority of the members of 6
20612061 the committee for conducting any business of the committee; provided, a 7
20622062 special meeting of the committee may not conflict with regularly scheduled 8
20632063 meetings of any standing committee; provided further, special meetings shall 9
20642064 be subject to the same procedures regarding the publishing of agendas and 10
20652065 notices of meetings that apply to regular standing committee meetings. 11
20662066 12
20672067 11) (House Rule 61(a)) All persons wishing to offer testimony to a 13
20682068 committee hearing shall be given a reasonable opportunity to do so as 14
20692069 determined by a majority of the committee. An oral or written statement 15
20702070 shall not be a prerequisite to offer testimony before a committee. 16
20712071 17
20722072 12) (House Rule 63) No committee shall sit while the House is in session 18
20732073 except the Committee on Rules or a Conference Committee, which shall notify 19
20742074 the House. 20
20752075 21
20762076 13) (House Rule 66(a)) A bill, resolution or amendment in a House 22
20772077 committee, having been rejected twice, shall not be placed on the committee 23
20782078 agenda again or considered again during the same legislative session unless 24
20792079 the vote is expunged (two -thirds of the membership of the committee). The 25
20802080 motion to expunge shall be placed on the committee agenda, by a committee 26
20812081 member, and placed at the bottom of the active list. A bill or resolution may 27
20822082 be amended before a second consideration; but, unless expunged, even an 28
20832083 amended bill having failed twice shall not be placed on the agenda or 29
20842084 considered. Notice of reconsideration not permitted in committee. 30
20852085 31
20862086 14) (House Rule 47(a)) When a bill or resolution is under consideration, 32
20872087 amendments shall be in order. Upon adoption, amendments shall become a part 33
20882088 of the bill or resolution. Amendments to amendments may not be offered. All 34
20892089 amendments offered before the House or one of its committees must be 35
20902090 typewritten on an approved amendment form and signed by the sponsor. All 36 HR1001
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20932093 amendments shall be attached to the original bill or resolution, numbered by 1
20942094 the Bill Clerk, and shall be placed upon the members’ desks before being 2
20952095 acted upon by the House. 3
20962096 4
20972097 (House Rule 38(e)) All amendments shall be entered on a separate sheet of 5
20982098 paper noting the line or lines to be changed and the words to be deleted or 6
20992099 inserted. 7
21002100 8
21012101 15) (House Rule 68) No bill or resolution shall be introduced with a 9
21022102 committee as the author of said bill or resolution unless that committee has 10
21032103 voted unanimously to sponsor the bill or resolution. 11
21042104 12
21052105 16) (House Rule 69) Committee Records and Reports 13
21062106 69(a) The chairperson of each committee of the House shall keep or cause to 14
21072107 be kept a separate record for each committee meeting in which there shall be 15
21082108 entered: 16
21092109 (1) The time and place of each hearing and each meeting of the committee. 17
21102110 (2) The number and title of the bill or resolution with one of the following 18
21112111 three recommendations: “do pass”, “do pass as amended”, or “do not pass”. If 19
21122112 a committee recommends a bill or resolution “do pass as amended” and any of 20
21132113 the amendments recommended by the committee are not adopted on the floor, the 21
21142114 bill or resolution shall be re -referred to the same committee for further 22
21152115 consideration and recommendation. 23
21162116 (3) A summary of each bill or resolution's major provisions which may be 24
21172117 several paragraphs in length in case of major bills or resolutions or simply 25
21182118 the title of the bill or resolution in the case of minor bills or 26
21192119 resolutions. 27
21202120 (4) The reason for the committee’s action on the bill or resolution, 28
21212121 including a brief minority report, if requested by any two (2) committee 29
21222122 members. 30
21232123 (5) A record of how every member voted on each bill or resolution when 31
21242124 action is taken by the committee, including votes on a motion to postpone 32
21252125 consideration on the bill or resolution and a recorded vote on any other 33
21262126 motion, if requested by any two (2) committee members. 34
21272127 (6) A list of all people testifying before a committee on each bill or 35
21282128 resolution, the interest that they represent, and an indication of their 36 HR1001
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21312131 position on the bill or resolution. 1
21322132 2
21332133 17) (House Rule 69(b)) Such records for each separate committee meeting 3
21342134 shall be approved by the chairperson before the expiration of a seven (7) day 4
21352135 period, with the exception of those records referred to in (a)(1) and (2), 5
21362136 hereinabove which shall be filed immediately with the Clerk of the House. 6
21372137 7
21382138 18) (House Rule 24 part) When a question is raised about the proper 8
21392139 referral of a bill or resolution to committee, if the Speaker admits error in 9
21402140 the referral of the bill or resolution to a committee, the bill or resolution 10
21412141 may be re-referred by a majority vote of a quorum; however, if the Speaker 11
21422142 does not admit error in the referral of the bill or resolution to committee, 12
21432143 the bill or resolution may only be re -referred by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of 13
21442144 a quorum. When a bill or resolution is re -referred to a committee, any 14
21452145 previous committee recommendation is automatically stripped from the bill or 15
21462146 resolution. When a motion is under consideration, only two (2) substitutes 16
21472147 to that motion shall be in order. Only a motion applicable to the main 17
21482148 motion and of a higher precedence upon recognition may be substituted for the 18
21492149 motion under consideration. A substitute to the third degree shall not be in 19
21502150 order. Unless specified otherwise by the presenter of the motion at the time 20
21512151 the motion is made, a substitute motion shall apply to the main motion. 21
21522152 22
21532153 19) (House Rule 55 (a)) House Committee Staff will automatically and 23
21542154 without delay place all bills or resolutions referred to the committees on 24
21552155 the committee agendas. Staff will notify the sponsor of bills or resolutions 25
21562156 assigned to committee. Referred bills shall be placed on the committee’s 26
21572157 active agenda in the order they are read across the desk on the House Floor. 27
21582158 A bill shall not be placed on a committee agenda until the second calendar 28
21592159 day following the initial filing of the bill. When an active agenda is 29
21602160 established in a committee and bills from that agenda are not placed on the 30
21612161 deferred list and if the bills are passed over, they are placed at the bottom 31
21622162 of the list of the day’s active agenda. 32
21632163 33
21642164 20) After a bill or resolution has appeared on the committee agenda and has 34
21652165 been called up for consideration by the committee and the sponsor of the bill 35
21662166 or resolution or a representative is not present to present the bill or 36 HR1001
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21692169 resolution, the bill or resolution will be placed on the active agenda two 1
21702170 (2) additional times, but will be placed at the bottom of the active agenda. 2
21712171 3
21722172 21) The sponsor may request a bill or resolution be moved to a deferred list 4
21732173 of bills and resolutions. A bill or resolution passed over after appearing 5
21742174 on three (3) committee agendas shall be moved to the deferred list. Sponsor 6
21752175 requests to move bills or resolutions from the deferred list to the active 7
21762176 agenda must be made by 2:30 p.m. two (2) days prior to the scheduled 8
21772177 committee meeting. Bills or resolutions moved from the deferred list to the 9
21782178 active agenda shall be listed at the bottom of the active agenda. Bills or 10
21792179 resolutions on the deferred list may be moved to the active calendar as 11
21802180 provided by rule for a total of three (3) times only. A suspension of this 12
21812181 rule by the committee (two -thirds of a quorum) will be required for each 13
21822182 transfer of any bill or resolution having been moved three (3) times 14
21832183 previously. 15
21842184 16
21852185 22) Bills or resolutions suggested as non -controversial will be considered 17
21862186 before consideration of controversial bills or resolutions on the agenda. 18
21872187 The objection of one (1) committee member to the consideration of a bill or 19
21882188 resolution as non-controversial will automatically keep the bill or 20
21892189 resolution from being considered as being non -controversial. Even though a 21
21902190 bill or resolution has been considered as non -controversial, it will be 22
21912191 necessary after a “do pass” or “do pass as amended” recommendation that a 23
21922192 motion be made and there be unanimous consent of no less than a quorum of the 24
21932193 committee for a bill or resolution to be eligible to be placed on the House 25
21942194 non-controversial calendar. 26
21952195 27
21962196 23) If a bill or resolution is discussed by a committee at a meeting, but is 28
21972197 not voted on because of time limitations or because the vote is deferred to 29
21982198 the next meeting, the bill or resolution will not lose its order on the 30
21992199 agenda and will not be counted as having been considered. 31
22002200 32
22012201 24) The author/sponsor of a bill or resolution may make a presentation for 33
22022202 his or her bill or resolution and may elect at that time to respond to 34
22032203 questions from the committee members. Following the initial presentation, 35
22042204 non-legislative---non-committee members will be allowed to alternately speak 36 HR1001
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22072207 against and for the bill or resolution. A procedural motion made by a member 1
22082208 of the committee and adopted by the committee to limit or end debate will be 2
22092209 allowed to govern non -legislative--non-committee members' discussions. At the 3
22102210 conclusion of the non -legislative--non-committee member proponent and 4
22112211 opponent presentations, the sponsor may return to the podium and may elect to 5
22122212 field questions from the committee members. Those questions should be 6
22132213 limited to requests for clarification or the securing of information. 7
22142214 Questions that are rhetorically offered and are dilatory for the effect of 8
22152215 debate are discouraged. At this point, the chair will entertain motions from 9
22162216 committee members only. For disposition of a proposition in a House 10
22172217 Committee, procedural motions (limit debate, immediate consideration, etc.) 11
22182218 are allowed only following a main motion (do pass, do not pass, do pass as 12
22192219 amended, etc.). Discussion from that point forward is limited to committee 13
22202220 members for and against the motion, if debatable, in alternating fashion. If 14
22212221 immediate consideration is not adopted and if debate has not been limited and 15
22222222 time has not expired, the sponsor of the motion will be allowed to close for 16
22232223 his or her motion. During the closing, the sponsor of the motion may elect 17
22242224 to field questions from committee members. At the conclusion of these 18
22252225 presentations, a vote will be taken on the motion properly before the 19
22262226 committee. 20
22272227 21
22282228 25) As determined by the presider courtesy may be extended to General 22
22292229 Assembly members who are non -committee members who need to return to their 23
22302230 own committee meetings. 24
22312231 25
22322232 26) (House Rule 66) Eleven (11) members of a standing committee constitute 26
22332233 a committee quorum with the Speaker present if he or she is a member of the 27
22342234 committee and ten (10) members when the Speaker is not present. A committee 28
22352235 recommendation of a bill or resolution will require these same numbers. 29
22362236 30
22372237 27) Smoking is prohibited in the committee rooms and all adjoining rooms. 31
22382238 32
22392239 28) (House Rule 69(a)(5)) A roll call vote will be required if requested by 33
22402240 any two (2) committee members, except for a quorum call which may be 34
22412241 requested by one (1) member. The request for a quorum call is always in 35
22422242 order. 36 HR1001
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22452245 1
22462246 29) When a roll call is required, the roll will be called by seniority with 2
22472247 the vice chairperson being called next to last and the chairperson last. For 3
22482248 a member's vote to be counted and recorded, he or she must vote "yes", "no" 4
22492249 or "present". 5
22502250 6
22512251 30) During a roll call vote, when a member’s name has been called twice and 7
22522252 he or she does not respond, or when a member passes, they will not be allowed 8
22532253 to vote at a later time on the current issue before the committee. 9
22542254 10
22552255 31) No seconds are required during the legislative process except those that 11
22562256 are explicit in the rules, (roll call, previous question, sound the ballot, 12
22572257 etc.) 13
22582258 14
22592259 32) (House Rule 38(r)) "Fiscal impact statement" means a realistic 15
22602260 statement of the estimated financial cost of implementing or complying with a 16
22612261 proposed law regarding: 17
22622262 (1) Municipalities; 18
22632263 (2) Counties; 19
22642264 (3) Education, as related to the State of Arkansas and local school 20
22652265 districts grades kindergarten through twelve (K -12); 21
22662266 (4) Corrections, if imposing new or additional costs and restrictions 22
22672267 on inmate population patterns or affecting programs or services of the 23
22682268 Department of Correction; 24
22692269 (5) Lottery, if amending Arkansas Code, Title 23, Chapter 115, or 25
22702270 imposing a new or increased cost to the Office of the Arkansas Lottery or a 26
22712271 lottery; 27
22722272 (6) Health benefit plans, if imposing a new or increased cost 28
22732273 obligation for health benefit plans, including pharmacy benefits, on an 29
22742274 entity of the state Imposing a new or increased cost on the State and Public 30
22752275 School Life and Health Insurance Program ; or 31
22762276 (7) New or existing scholarships to be funded with net proceeds from 32
22772277 the state lottery or the Higher Education Grants Fund Account, as applicable 33
22782278 . 34
22792279 35
22802280 33) (House Rule 38(s)) When any House or Senate bill or resolution 36 HR1001
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22832283 requiring an expenditure of public funds or otherwise imposing a new or 1
22842284 increased cost obligation is pending before any committee of the House of 2
22852285 Representatives, any member of the committee may request that a fiscal impact 3
22862286 statement for such bill or resolution be placed on the desk of each member of 4
22872287 the committee before the bill or resolution is called up for final action in 5
22882288 the committee. If such request is made, the chairperson of the committee 6
22892289 shall refer the bill or resolution to the appropriate state agency or to the 7
22902290 legislative staff for the preparation of a fiscal impact statement, to be 8
22912291 returned to the committee in writing not later than five (5) days from the 9
22922292 date of the request. 10
22932293 11
22942294 34) (House Rule 38(u)) Fiscal impact statements shall be made available to 12
22952295 House Committees: 13
22962296 (1) At least one (1) day before the bill may be called up for final 14
22972297 action in the House Committee during a regular legislative session or fiscal 15
22982298 session of the General Assembly; and 16
22992299 (2) At least one (1) day before the bill may be called up for final 17
23002300 action in the House Committee during a special session of the General 18
23012301 Assembly. 19
23022302 Fiscal impact statements shall be made available to the full House of 20
23032303 Representatives at least one (1) day before the bill may be called up for 21
23042304 third reading and final action in the House of Representatives. 22
23052305 23
23062306 35) (House Rule 38(v)) (1) Except for bills imposing a new or increased 24
23072307 cost obligation for health benefit plans on an entity of the state on the 25
23082308 State and Public School Life and Health Insurance Program or bills regarding 26
23092309 new or existing scholarships to be funded with net proceeds from the state 27
23102310 lottery or the Higher Education Grants Fund, failure of the sponsor of a bill 28
23112311 or resolution to provide the fiscal impact statement required in this rule 29
23122312 shall not prohibit the consideration of it in the committee to which referred 30
23132313 or on the floor of the House of Representatives, if no objection to it is 31
23142314 made at the time such action is taken. 32
23152315 (2) A bill filed in the House of Representatives that will impose a new 33
23162316 or increased cost obligation for health benefit plans, including pharmacy 34
23172317 benefits, on an entity of the state on the State and Public School Life and 35
23182318 Health Insurance Program shall: 36 HR1001
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23212321 (A) Have a fiscal impact statement attached to the bill prepared 1
23222322 and filed with the chair of the committee to which the bill is referred; and 2
23232323 (B) Not be taken up by the committee to which the bill is 3
23242324 referred until a fiscal impact statement is provided to the chair of the 4
23252325 committee. 5
23262326 (3)(A) Any bill filed with the House of Representatives that creates a 6
23272327 new scholarship to be funded with net proceeds from the state lottery or the 7
23282328 Higher Education Grants Fund Account, as applicable, or affects an existing 8
23292329 scholarship that is funded with net proceeds from the state lottery or the 9
23302330 Higher Education Grants Fund Account, as applicable, shall: 10
23312331 (i) Have a lottery fiscal impact statement 11
23322332 attached to it that is in the form set forth in Arkansas Code § 6 -85-502; and 12
23332333 (ii) Not be taken up by the House Committee on 13
23342334 Education and the Senate Committee on Education meeting jointly, until a 14
23352335 lottery fiscal impact statement is attached. 15
23362336 16
23372337 TRACKING ITEM 24 17
23382338 1. “The next item on the Committee’s agenda is HB/SB _____.” 18
23392339 2. “Sen./Rep. _____, you are recognized to present HB/SB _____.” 19
23402340 3. Presentation of bill by sponsor. The sponsor may respond to questions 20
23412341 from committee members. 21
23422342 a. If there are amendments, recognize amendment sponsor(s) to present 22
23432343 amendment(s). 23
23442344 b. To consider amendment(s), use same procedure listed below for 24
23452345 consideration of bill(s). (Items 4 – 9) 25
23462346 c. Declare disposition of amendment(s). 26
23472347 d. Continue with bill as amended or unamended (back to Item 4). 27
23482348 4. Go to list of citizen proponents and opponents or ask “Is there anyone in 28
23492349 the audience that desires to speak for or against the bill?” Recognition of 29
23502350 citizens for discussion, alternating speakers in support and in opposition. 30
23512351 5. A procedural motion made by a member of the Committee and adopted by the 31
23522352 Committee to limit or end debate will be allowed to govern non -legislative, 32
23532353 non-Committee members' (citizen) discussion. 33
23542354 6. Upon completion of public commentary, recognize the sponsor for 34
23552355 questions, then move to committee discussion and motions. 35
23562356 7. Ask “What is the pleasure of the Committee?” 36 HR1001
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23592359 Motions (after recognition and the motion by a committee member 1
23602360 only) 2
23612361 a. “Rep. _____, would you like to explain your motion?” 3
23622362 b. Recognize committee members for questions/discussion. 4
23632363 c. In discussion, alternate between those supporting and those 5
23642364 opposing the motion. 6
23652365 d. A procedural motion made by a member of the Committee and adopted 7
23662366 by the Committee to limit or end debate (immediate consideration) will be 8
23672367 allowed to govern the legislative members' discussion. 9
23682368 e. Recognize the member making the motion to close for the motion if 10
23692369 debate has not been limited and time has not expired (proponents may save 11
23702370 some time for member to close). 12
23712371 f. Repeat until all motions are resolved, and action on the bill is 13
23722372 complete. 14
23732373 8. “The motion before the committee is __________. All of those in support 15
23742374 of the motion indicate so by saying ‘aye’; those opposed, ‘no’.” 16
23752375 9. The motion passes/fails, and state the disposition of the bill. 17
23762376 10. Roll call. (If requested by two or more members) Ask the committee 18
23772377 staff person to call the roll, then state the disposition of the bill. 19
23782378 20
23792379 21
23802380 22
23812381 23
23822382 24
23832383 25
23842384 26
23852385 27
23862386 28
23872387 29
23882388 30
23892389 31
23902390 32
23912391 33
23922392 34
23932393 35
23942394 36