By: Vasut H.R. No. 8
R E S O L U T I O N
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the 87th
Legislature, that Rule 1, Section 15, of the permanent rules of the
House of Representatives of the 87th Legislature is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 15. Standing Committee Appointments – (a) The speaker
shall designate the chair and vice-chair of each standing
substantive committee and shall also appoint membership of the
committee, subject to the provisions of Rule 4, Section 2.
(b) If members of equal seniority request the same
committee, the speaker shall decide which among them shall be
assigned to that committee.
(c) In announcing the membership of the standing
substantive committees, the speaker shall designate which are
appointees and which acquire membership by seniority.
(d) The speaker shall appoint the chair and vice-chair of
each standing procedural committee and the remaining membership of
the committee.
(e) If a new speaker is elected to fill a vacancy in the
office after the appointment of standing committees, the new
speaker may not alter the composition of any standing committee
before the end of the session, except that the new speaker may:
(1) vacate the new speaker's membership on any
committee;
(2) make committee appointments for the member who was
removed as speaker;
(3) designate a different member of a standing
committee as committee chair; and
(4) fill vacancies that occur on a committee.
(f) (1) A member shall be removed as chair and vice-chair of
all standing and procedural committees the member serves on, but
shall retain his or her membership on the committee, if a majority
of the house adopts a motion to remove a committee chair or
vice-chair for any of the following reasons:
(A) the member is absent from the sessions of the
house without leave under Rule 5, Section 3, for more than seven (7)
cumulative days during any regular session;
(B) the member is absent from the sessions of the
house without leave under Rule 5, Section 3, for more than three (3)
cumulative days during any special session;
(C) the member is absent from the sessions of the
house without leave under Rule 5, Section 3, for more than fourteen
(14) cumulative days, with the intent to cause a lack of quorum
under Rule 5, Section 1, during the past six (6) months.
(2) A motion under Subdivision (1) must be seconded by
twenty-five (25) members, of whom the speaker may be one, and shall
be recognized as a privileged motion if otherwise in order.
(3) A motion under Subdivision (1) is not in order
unless a member has previously provided at least twenty-four hour's
notice of intent to make the motion by addressing the house when the
house is in session and stating that a member intends to make a
motion for the removal of a member(s) as chair or vice-chair of a
standing or procedural committee.
(4) A member that is subject to a motion under
Subdivision (1) is permitted, but not obligated, to address the
house for not more than 10 minutes on a motion being considered by
the full house under Subdivision (1). The time limits established
by this rule shall include time consumed in yielding to questions
from the floor. The time limit established by this rule shall not
be extended.
(5) No member may be subject to a motion under
Subdivision (1) more than once during any regular or special
session.
(6) A motion under Subdivision (1) is incidental to a
call of the house, under Rule 5, Section 7.
(g) The speaker may not appoint a member as a chair or
vice-chair of any committee if the member was removed as a chair or
vice-chair of any committee during the previous twelve (12) months
pursuant to Subsection (f).
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
87th Legislature, that Rule 5, Section 8, of the permanent rules of
the House of Representatives of the 87th Legislature 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.
(c) Any member without sufficient excuse who fails to appear
in the hall within twenty-four (24) hours of a call of the house, or
within twenty-four (24) hours of the appointed time for the member
to appear pursuant to any written permission of the speaker, shall
be fined a sum equal to two times the member's per diem per day the
member is absent without excuse during a call of the house. Such
fine shall be remitted to the sergeant-at-arms and made payable to
the Texas House of Representatives.
(d) Any member without sufficient excuse who fails to appear
in the hall within forty-eight (48) hours of a call of the house, or
within forty-eight (48) hours of the appointed time for the member
to appear pursuant to any written permission of the speaker, shall
be re-designated as having zero years and zero days of cumulative
service as a member of the house of representatives for purposes of
seniority under these Rules and any privileges appurtenant thereto.
There shall be no method by which to reinstate the seniority of a
member that has been re-designated as having zero years and zero
days of cumulative service as a member of the house of
representatives for purposes of seniority under this subsection.
(e) Any member without sufficient excuse who fails to appear
in the hall within seventy-two (72) hours of a call of the house, or
within seventy-two (72) hours of the appointed time for the member
to appear pursuant to any written permission of the speaker, shall
be removed as chair and vice-chair of all standing and procedural
committees the member serves on, but shall retain his or her
membership on the committee.