Texas 2021 - 87th 2nd C.S.

Texas House Bill HR96 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Darby H.R. No. 96
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4	4	R E S O L U T I O N
5	5	BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the 87th
6	6	Texas Legislature, That the permanent rules of the House of
7	7	Representatives of the 87th Legislature are amended as follows:
8	8	SECTION 1. Rule 4, Section 9, is amended to read as follows:
9	9	Sec. 9. MEETING WHILE HOUSE IN SESSION. (a) Except as
10	10	otherwise provided by this section, no [No] standing committee or
11	11	subcommittee shall meet during the time the house is in session
12	12	without permission being given by a majority vote of the house. No
13	13	standing committee or subcommittee shall conduct its meeting on the
14	14	floor of the house or in the house chamber while the house is in
15	15	session, but shall, if given permission to meet while the house is
16	16	in session, retire to a designated committee room for the conduct of
17	17	its meeting.
18	18	(b) Permission of the house is not required for a committee
19	19	or subcommittee to meet, in a designated committee room, while the
20	20	house is in session if:
21	21	(1) a call of the house has been ordered and a quorum
22	22	of the house has not yet been secured; and
23	23	(2) the members of the committee or subcommittee
24	24	registered as present under the call of the house have received
25	25	written permission of the speaker, under Rule 5, Section 8, to leave
26	26	the hall of the house.
27	27	SECTION 2. Rule 4 is amended by adding Section 10A to read
28	28	as follows:
29	29	Sec. 10A. PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC HEARING BY MEMBER ABSENT
30	30	WITHOUT SUFFICIENT EXCUSE UNDER A CALL OF THE HOUSE. If a member
31	31	was absent from the sessions of the house without sufficient excuse
32	32	during a call of the house and did not voluntarily appear in the
33	33	hall of the house under Rule 5, Section 8, the member may not
34	34	participate in a public hearing, either in person or under Section
35	35	16A, during that regular or special session until the expiration of
36	36	the 48-hour period that begins at the time the member enters the
37	37	hall of the house while the house is in session and reports the
38	38	member's name to the journal clerk to be entered in the journal as
39	39	present.
40	40	SECTION 3. Rule 5, Section 3, is amended to read as follows:
41	41	Sec. 3. LEAVE OF ABSENCE. (a) No member shall be absent
42	42	from the sessions of the house without leave, and no member shall be
43	43	excused on his or her own motion.
44	44	(b) A leave of absence may be granted by a majority vote of
45	45	the house and may be revoked at any time by a similar vote.
46	46	(c) Any member granted a leave of absence due to a meeting of
47	47	a committee or conference committee that has authority to meet
48	48	while the house is in session shall be so designated on each roll
49	49	call or registration for which that member is excused.
50	50	(d) Unless the house excuses the payment of the fine by a
51	51	majority vote, each member who is absent without leave during a call
52	52	of the house is liable to the house for a fine in the amount of $500
53	53	for each calendar day of absence, exclusive of the day on which the
54	54	call was ordered and the day of the member's return to the hall of
55	55	the house.
56	56	(e) The Committee on House Administration shall notify a
57	57	member of the total amount of fines for which payment is not
58	58	excused. A member must pay the amount stated in the committee's
59	59	notice by making payment of that amount to the House Business Office
60	60	not later than the third business day of the first calendar month
61	61	after the date of the committee's notice. If a member does not make
62	62	full payment as required by this subsection, the committee shall
63	63	direct the House Business Office to reduce the amount of the monthly
64	64	credit to the member's operating account established under the
65	65	housekeeping resolution by 30 percent in each month that any amount
66	66	of a fine remains due and owing. When a member has made full payment
67	67	as required by this subsection, the committee shall direct the
68	68	House Business Office to restore the impounded funds to the
69	69	member's operating account subject to any limitations on the
70	70	carrying forward of unexpended funds established by the
71	71	housekeeping resolution.
72	72	SECTION 4. Rule 5, Section 8, is amended to read as follows:
73	73	Sec. 8. SECURING A QUORUM. (a) When a call of the house is
74	74	moved for one of the above purposes and seconded by 15 members (of
75	75	whom the speaker may be one) and ordered by a majority vote, the
76	76	main entrance to the hall and all other doors leading out of the
77	77	hall shall be locked and no member permitted to leave the house
78	78	without the written permission of the speaker. The names of members
79	79	present shall be recorded. All absentees for whom no sufficient
80	80	excuse is made may, by order of a majority of those present, be sent
81	81	for and arrested, wherever they may be found, by the
82	82	sergeant-at-arms or an officer appointed by the sergeant-at-arms
83	83	for that purpose, and their attendance shall be secured and
84	84	retained. The house shall determine on what conditions they shall
85	85	be discharged. Members who voluntarily appear shall, unless the
86	86	house otherwise directs, be immediately admitted to the hall of the
87	87	house and shall report their names to the clerk to be entered in the
88	88	journal as present.
89	89	(b) Until a quorum appears, should the roll call fail to
90	90	show one present, no business shall be transacted, except to compel
91	91	the attendance of absent members or to adjourn. It shall not be in
92	92	order to recess under a call of the house. For purposes of this
93	93	subsection, the following are not considered to be business:
94	94	(1) receipt of messages from the governor and senate
95	95	under Rule 13, Sections 1 and 2;
96	96	(2) the signing of measures by the speaker in the
97	97	presence of the house under Rule 1, Section 13; and
98	98	(3) the referral of proposed legislation to committee
99	99	by the speaker under Rule 1, Section 4.
100	100	(c) In discharging a member under Subsection (a), the house
101	101	may:
102	102	(1) refuse to excuse payment of the fine imposed under
103	103	Section 3(d);
104	104	(2) reprimand the member;
105	105	(3) censure the member;
106	106	(4) revoke the speaker's designation of the member as
107	107	chair of a standing, select, or interim committee; or
108	108	(5) stay the imposition of any penalty.
109	109	(d) The house may not impose a penalty under Subsection
110	110	(c)(4) unless the member has been absent without leave for the
111	111	purpose of impeding the action of the house for more than two
112	112	calendar days, exclusive of the day the call was ordered and the day
113	113	of the member's return to the hall of the house.
114	114	(e) Before action is taken by the house under Subsection
115	115	(c)(4), the matter shall be referred to the Committee on House
116	116	Administration for investigation and report. A report issued under
117	117	this subsection shall not be considered by the house until a printed
118	118	copy of the report has been provided to each member of the house at
119	119	least 24 hours before consideration.
120	120	(f) When filling a vacancy in the position of chair of a
121	121	committee that results from a penalty imposed under Subsection
122	122	(c)(4), the speaker must designate the new chair from the existing
123	123	membership of the committee.