By: Darby H.R. No. 96
R E S O L U T I O N
BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the 87th
Texas Legislature, That the permanent rules of the House of
Representatives of the 87th Legislature are amended as follows:
SECTION 1. Rule 4, Section 9, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 9. MEETING WHILE HOUSE IN SESSION. (a) Except as
otherwise provided by this section, no [No] standing committee or
subcommittee shall meet during the time the house is in session
without permission being given by a majority vote of the house. No
standing committee or subcommittee shall conduct its meeting on the
floor of the house or in the house chamber while the house is in
session, but shall, if given permission to meet while the house is
in session, retire to a designated committee room for the conduct of
its meeting.
(b) Permission of the house is not required for a committee
or subcommittee to meet, in a designated committee room, while the
house is in session if:
(1) a call of the house has been ordered and a quorum
of the house has not yet been secured; and
(2) the members of the committee or subcommittee
registered as present under the call of the house have received
written permission of the speaker, under Rule 5, Section 8, to leave
the hall of the house.
SECTION 2. Rule 4 is amended by adding Section 10A to read
as follows:
Sec. 10A. PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC HEARING BY MEMBER ABSENT
WITHOUT SUFFICIENT EXCUSE UNDER A CALL OF THE HOUSE. If a member
was absent from the sessions of the house without sufficient excuse
during a call of the house and did not voluntarily appear in the
hall of the house under Rule 5, Section 8, the member may not
participate in a public hearing, either in person or under Section
16A, during that regular or special session until the expiration of
the 48-hour period that begins at the time the member enters the
hall of the house while the house is in session and reports the
member's name to the journal clerk to be entered in the journal as
present.
SECTION 3. Rule 5, Section 3, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3. LEAVE OF ABSENCE. (a) No member shall be absent
from the sessions of the house without leave, and no member shall be
excused on his or her own motion.
(b) A leave of absence may be granted by a majority vote of
the house and may be revoked at any time by a similar vote.
(c) Any member granted a leave of absence due to a meeting of
a committee or conference committee that has authority to meet
while the house is in session shall be so designated on each roll
call or registration for which that member is excused.
(d) Unless the house excuses the payment of the fine by a
majority vote, each member who is absent without leave during a call
of the house is liable to the house for a fine in the amount of $500
for each calendar day of absence, exclusive of the day on which the
call was ordered and the day of the member's return to the hall of
the house.
(e) The Committee on House Administration shall notify a
member of the total amount of fines for which payment is not
excused. A member must pay the amount stated in the committee's
notice by making payment of that amount to the House Business Office
not later than the third business day of the first calendar month
after the date of the committee's notice. If a member does not make
full payment as required by this subsection, the committee shall
direct the House Business Office to reduce the amount of the monthly
credit to the member's operating account established under the
housekeeping resolution by 30 percent in each month that any amount
of a fine remains due and owing. When a member has made full payment
as required by this subsection, the committee shall direct the
House Business Office to restore the impounded funds to the
member's operating account subject to any limitations on the
carrying forward of unexpended funds established by the
housekeeping resolution.
SECTION 4. Rule 5, Section 8, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 8. SECURING A QUORUM. (a) When a call of the house is
moved for one of the above purposes and seconded by 15 members (of
whom the speaker may be one) and ordered by a majority vote, the
main entrance to the hall and all other doors leading out of the
hall shall be locked and no member permitted to leave the house
without the written permission of the speaker. The names of members
present shall be recorded. All absentees for whom no sufficient
excuse is made may, by order of a majority of those present, be sent
for and arrested, wherever they may be found, by the
sergeant-at-arms or an officer appointed by the sergeant-at-arms
for that purpose, and their attendance shall be secured and
retained. The house shall determine on what conditions they shall
be discharged. Members who voluntarily appear shall, unless the
house otherwise directs, be immediately admitted to the hall of the
house and shall report their names to the clerk to be entered in the
journal as present.
(b) Until a quorum appears, should the roll call fail to
show one present, no business shall be transacted, except to compel
the attendance of absent members or to adjourn. It shall not be in
order to recess under a call of the house. For purposes of this
subsection, the following are not considered to be business:
(1) receipt of messages from the governor and senate
under Rule 13, Sections 1 and 2;
(2) the signing of measures by the speaker in the
presence of the house under Rule 1, Section 13; and
(3) the referral of proposed legislation to committee
by the speaker under Rule 1, Section 4.
(c) In discharging a member under Subsection (a), the house
may:
(1) refuse to excuse payment of the fine imposed under
Section 3(d);
(2) reprimand the member;
(3) censure the member;
(4) revoke the speaker's designation of the member as
chair of a standing, select, or interim committee; or
(5) stay the imposition of any penalty.
(d) The house may not impose a penalty under Subsection
(c)(4) unless the member has been absent without leave for the
purpose of impeding the action of the house for more than two
calendar days, exclusive of the day the call was ordered and the day
of the member's return to the hall of the house.
(e) Before action is taken by the house under Subsection
(c)(4), the matter shall be referred to the Committee on House
Administration for investigation and report. A report issued under
this subsection shall not be considered by the house until a printed
copy of the report has been provided to each member of the house at
least 24 hours before consideration.
(f) When filling a vacancy in the position of chair of a
committee that results from a penalty imposed under Subsection
(c)(4), the speaker must designate the new chair from the existing
membership of the committee.