2023 House Resolution 19

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That Rules 33, 34, 36, 38, and 41 of the Standing Rules of the House of Representatives are hereby amended to read as follows:

Names and Number of Members.

Rule 33. (1) All standing committees shall be appointed by the Speaker, except where the House shall otherwise order.

(2) The standing committees of the House and the number of Members shall be as follows:

(a) Agriculture (13)

(b) Appropriations (30 29)

(c) Criminal Justice (13)

(d) Economic Development and Small Business (13)

(e) Education (13 14)

(f) Elections (8)

(g) Energy, Communications, and Technology (17)

(h) Ethics and Oversight (9)

(h) Families, Children and Seniors (10)

(i) Government Operations (5)

(k) Health Policy (19)

(l) Higher Education (14)

(l m) Insurance and Financial Services (17)

(m n) Judiciary (13)

(n o) Labor (10)

(n p) Local Government and Municipal Finance (13)

(o q) Military, Veterans and Homeland Security (10)

(p r) Natural Resources, Environmental, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation (9)

(r s) Regulatory Reform (15)

(t) Tax Policy (12)

(u) Transportation, Mobility and Infrastructure (13)

(3) Statutory Standing Committees:

(a) Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (5)

(b) House Fiscal Agency Governing Committee (6)

(c) Legislative Council (6)

(4) The House Journal shall report the roll call on all motions to report bills, resolutions and reorganization orders. (See Const 1963, Art 4 § 17)

(5) Committees shall adopt a meeting schedule at the commencement of each term which shall be printed in the House Journal. Additional meetings may be called by the Chair or by a majority of the Members in writing to the Clerk. The Chair may cancel any scheduled meeting, except one called by a majority of the Members, by notice to the Members.

Uniform Committee Rules.

Rule 34. (1) The Clerk of the House shall assign committee clerks with the approval of the respective committee Chairs. Duties of committee clerks shall be prescribed by the Clerk.

(2) Special committees shall operate under the same rules as standing committees insofar as practical. Conference committees on House bills shall meet at a place assigned by the Clerk.

(3) All committees will operate under the following rules:

(a) A quorum of a committee shall consist of a majority of the Members appointed and serving;

(b) Members of standing committees may not check in for a committee meeting and leave their vote. Members of committees may only cast a vote if they are present at the meeting during the vote;

(c) Members of standing committees may utilize Remote Participation in accordance with subsection (14) for purposes of committee deliberation;

(d) It shall require an affirmative vote of a majority of the Members appointed to and serving on a committee in order to:

(i) Report a bill or resolution out of committee

(ii) Recommend an amendment to a bill or resolution

(iii) Reconsider a vote to report a bill or resolution from committee

(e) Provided a quorum of a committee is present, it shall require an affirmative vote of a majority of the Members voting in order to:

(i) Table a bill or resolution

(ii) Take a bill or resolution from the table

(iii) Reconsider a vote, other than in subdivision (d)(iii)

(f) It shall require an affirmative vote of a majority of the Members voting in order to postpone action on a bill or resolution;

(g) The Chair of a standing committee shall determine the agenda for a committee meeting; and

(h) The Chair of a standing committee, in consultation with the Speaker, may create subcommittees and shall designate what is to be considered by each subcommittee. The Chair of the standing committee shall designate a Chair of the subcommittee and shall appoint Members to each subcommittee.

(4) The Speaker may designate additional Members to serve on any subcommittee of a standing committee as voting members who do not serve on the full committee.

(5) Subcommittees shall follow the same rules as standing committees.

(6) Meetings or public hearings of committees may be scheduled outside of Lansing with prior written approval of the Speaker. Subcommittees must have the prior written approval of the Chair of the standing committee and the Speaker in order to conduct a public hearing or meeting outside of Lansing.

(7) All meetings or public hearings of committees or subcommittees shall comply with the following procedures in order to assure public access (See Const 1963, Art 4 §§ 16 and 17):

(a) All meetings or public hearings shall be open to the public and accessible;

(b) The right of any person to attend a meeting or public hearing includes the right to tape-record, videotape, and/or broadcast live;

(c) The right of any person to attend a meeting or public hearing may not be conditioned on prior approval of, or notice to, the committee or subcommittee;

(d) All decisions of a committee or subcommittee shall be made at a public meeting;

(e) The right of a person to attend a meeting or public hearing shall not be limited by a requirement that she or he register or otherwise provide her or his name or other identifying information;

(f) A person shall not be excluded from a meeting or public hearing of a committee or subcommittee except for a breach of the peace or in order to protect the health and safety of persons in attendance at the meeting;

(g) A conference committee shall give a 6-hour notice. A second conference committee shall give a 1-hour notice. Notice of a conference committee meeting shall include written notice to each member of the conference committee and the Majority and Minority Leaders of each house indicating the time and place of the meeting; (See Act 267 of 1976, MCL 15.265)

(h) A rescheduled or a special meeting of a committee or subcommittee shall be posted at least 18 hours before the scheduled meeting time. No committee, subcommittee, or conference committee shall remain in session or stand in recess beyond the hour of 12:00 midnight; and

(i) Notice of committee or subcommittee meetings or public hearings shall include notice that individuals needing special services to fully participate in the meeting or public hearing may contact the committee or subcommittee Chair to request the necessary assistance.

(8) Each committee shall have written minutes prepared of each meeting. The minutes shall include the date, time, place, Members present, Members absent, Members excused, and any decisions which were made. The minutes shall also include all roll call votes taken at the meeting. The proposed minutes of a meeting shall be available for inspection by the public within 8 working days of the meeting. Minutes shall be approved by the committee at the next meeting. Approved minutes shall be available for public inspection no later than 5 working days after approval.

(9) Committees may excuse a Member from attending a committee meeting.

(10) Committees shall not meet after a session of the House has been called to order without the consent of the House.

(11) To the extent practical, special committees shall follow the same rules as standing committees of the House.

(12) With approval of a majority of the Members appointed and serving on the committee, a committee may adopt additional rules provided they do not conflict with the Uniform Standing Committee Rules or with the Standing Rules of the House.

(13) A motion for previous question is not in order.

(14) ”Remote Participation” under this rule means simultaneous, interactive participation in a committee meeting or public hearing by electronic means for purposes of questioning and testimony. All of the following apply if Remote Participation is used:

(a) Members that are participating remotely shall be considered present for the purpose of a quorum;

(b) Members that are participating remotely may not vote on any bill, resolution, motion, or proceeding before the committee;

(c) The electronic means for participating remotely shall be established and administered by the committee clerk but must include live, two-way communication to allow members to hear and interact throughout the committee meeting or public hearing; and

(d) The committee Chair and committee clerk must be physically present for all committee meetings and public hearings.

Committee and Auditor General Reports.

Rule 36. Upon receipt of Auditor General reports, the Ethics and Oversight Committee shall review the reports and, if appropriate, refer the reports to the appropriate standing committee for consideration. Consideration by the standing committee shall not impede or preclude any Member from initiating any action in response to an Auditor General report.

Reports of Committees.

Rule 38. (1) A committee may recommend amendments, a substitute, or referral to another committee, with or without recommendation as to passage or adoption. A substitute is an amendment that replaces all of the language in a bill or resolution.

(2) Substitutes reported by the committee shall include all adopted amendments and shall be prepared by the Legislative Service Bureau. A majority of the Members serving on a committee shall be necessary to report a bill or resolution out of the committee. A majority of the Members appointed to a committee and serving shall constitute a quorum. Minority reports shall not be permitted or received by the House. Bills or resolutions reported without recommendation as to passage or adoption shall lie on the table.

(3) All bills favorably reported back to the House shall be referred to second reading together with amendments recommended by the standing committee. All resolutions reported back to the House shall be referred to reports of standing committees together with amendments recommended by the standing committee. If more than one standing committee has considered a bill, only the amendments recommended by the last committee to consider the bill shall be considered.

(4) Except as provided in subsection (6), a bill creating or revising a criminal offense or a bill with a recommended amendment that creates or revises a criminal offense may only be favorably reported back to the House by the Judiciary Committee.

(5) Except as provided in subsection (6), a bill containing an appropriation or a bill with a recommended amendment that contains an appropriation may only be favorably reported back to the House by the Appropriations Committee.

(6) The following committees may favorably report any bill back to the House:

(a) Appropriations;

(b) Judiciary;

(c) Government Operations;

(d) Rules and Competitiveness;

(e) Any special or select committee.

Introduction.

Rule 41. (1) All bills to be introduced shall be approved as to form and numbering of sections by the Legislative Service Bureau and be signed by the Member introducing them. Ten Four copies of each shall be delivered to the office of the Clerk by the sponsoring or co-sponsoring Member not later than three hours prior to calling the House to order, unless permitted by a simple majority vote of those voting. If the sponsoring or co-sponsoring Member is unable to deliver the ten four copies to the office of the Clerk due to a family or medical exigency, then the leader of that Member’s caucus may deliver the copies on his or her behalf. The Clerk shall number bills in the order of receiving, and present the same to the House at the next session of the House. All bills shall be introduced in printed form.

(2) Once a bill has been turned in to the Clerk’s office for introduction, up to three hours prior to calling the House to order, a Member may add his or her signature as a co-sponsor only with the permission of the sponsor.

(3) No person may add or remove any signature, other than his or her own, from a bill being introduced.

(4) The Speaker shall refer all bills and joint resolutions to a standing committee no later than one House legislative day after being submitted to the Clerk.

(5) The Speaker may change the original referral of a bill or resolution by written communication submitted to the Clerk before the end of session on the next House legislative day following the day of the original referral. Notice of the referral shall be announced by the Clerk and printed in the Journal.