by Julie Pelegrin

(A previous version of this article was posted on April 30, 2015, as “The Race is On to the End of the Session: Automatic Rule Changes Pick Up the Pace”.)

On May 10, legislators, legislative staff, lobbyists, and capitol reporters can all hit the snooze button and roll over for another hour of sleep. But between now and then, there are several amendments to read, bills to consider, and differences to resolve. To help ensure that both houses can complete their work by midnight on May 9, the legislative rules automatically speed up or suspend certain procedural requirements in the last few days of the session.

Last 5 Days of Session:

• Joint Rule 7: One day after a bill is assigned to a conference committee, a majority of either house may demand a conference committee report, and the committee must deliver the report before the close of the legislative day during which the demand is made. If a bill has been assigned to a conference committee at any time during the session and the committee hasn’t turned in a report, the committee must report the bill out within these last five days of session.

Last 3 Days of Session:

• House Rule 25 (j)(3); Senate Rule 22 (f): Each House committee chairperson must submit committee reports to the House front desk as soon as possible after the committee acts on a bill. No more waiting for two or three days to turn in the report. This requirement—to submit the committee report as soon as possible—actually applies to Senate committee chairs in the last 10 days of session. And during these last 10 days, at the request of the Senate Majority Leader or President, the chairman must submit the committee report immediately. If that doesn’t happen within 24 hours after the request, the committee staff person is required to submit the report to the Senate front desk on the chairman’s behalf.
• House Rule 36 (d); Senate Rule 26 (a): The House and the Senate can consider the amendments made in the second house without waiting for each legislator in the first house to receive a copy of the rerevised bill and for the notice of consideration to be printed in the calendar.
• House Rule 36 (d); Senate Rule 26 (b): Legislators can vote on conference committee reports as soon as the reports are turned in to their respective front desks—even if the report has not been distributed to the members and has not been calendared for consideration. The usual practice, however, is to try to distribute copies of conference committee reports to legislators before the vote.
• House Rule 35 (a): Throughout most of the session, a Representative may give notice of the intention to move to reconsider a question. In this case, the Representative has until noon on the next day of actual session to move to reconsider. However, during the last three days of session, a member may not give notice of intention to reconsider.
• Senate Rule 18 (d): Throughout most of the session, a Senator may give notice of reconsideration, and the Secretary of the Senate will hold the bill for which the notice was given for up to two days of actual session. During the last three days of session, however, this rule is suspended, and a Senator cannot hold up a bill by giving notice to reconsider.
• House Rule 33 (b.5): Usually, the House rules only allow technical amendments on third reading; offering a substantial amendment on third reading may result in the bill being referred back to second reading. During the last three days of session, however, a Representative may offer a substantial amendment to a bill on third reading.

Last 2 Days of Session:

• House Rule 35 (b) and (e): A motion to reconsider usually requires a 2/3 vote to pass. In the last two days of session, however, a motion to reconsider – in a House committee or in the full House – requires only a majority vote.

Before the 117th legislative day, the Speaker of the House or the President of the Senate may announce that the House or the Senate, respectively, is in the last three days of the legislative session. This does not mean that either the House or the Senate will adjourn sine die before the 120th legislative day, but it does trigger the rule changes that apply in the last three and last two days of session.

Digest of Bills

With these expedited procedures, bills will probably be moving quickly. If you find yourself wondering which bills passed and what they do, you’ll want to check the digest of bills. The Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS) annually publishes the digest, which contains a summary of each bill enacted during the legislative session, organized by subject matter. The OLLS will publish a preliminary digest by May 9 that will include all of the bills that have passed and been signed by the Governor or allowed to become law by that date. The OLLS will publish the final digest once the 30-day period for Governor action is passed. Copies of the preliminary and final digest will be available in Room 091 in the Capitol basement and posted on the OLLS website.

By Patti Dahlberg

When legislators wish to show support for individuals or groups, make public statements about issues or concerns, or ask Congress to take action on a matter, they can request a tribute, resolution, or memorial to get the job done. Legislators decide what they wish to do, and the legislative rules direct them how to get it done.

This handy guide sums up these rules for making the right choice. For example, if a legislator wants to congratulate someone, a tribute is the way to go. It is an appropriate and efficient way to send congratulations to people or organizations or to recognize service to the state. In fact, whenever a legislator wishes to “officially” congratulate, recognize, express appreciation, commemorate, or even create a day of recognition, the rules pretty much scream “tribute”.

Tributes

Tributes are non-legislative actions and DO NOT require introduction, calendaring, or floor action. Tributes are a very efficient and effective way for legislators to show support for individuals or groups. Legislators are not limited in the number of tributes they may request, but they do need permission from the Speaker of the House or the President of the Senate  depending on the house of origin) before the tribute can be issued. The tribute’s content is unique to each request and is designed to fit the needs of each requestor — it can be short and created fairly quickly, or it can be longer and more detailed (based on information provided by the legislator). Tributes are easier to present to an individual or a group as they can be scheduled around the recipient’s and legislator’s calendars rather than the legislative calendar.  In addition, they can go on the road—the legislator can conveniently award them anywhere and any time.

Tributes are personalized and look special. They are printed in a special font, on special paper, and placed in a special folder or, if preferred (and at a slight cost), in a frame for display. Tributes are signed by the Speaker or the President or, in the case of joint tributes, both.

House Tributes:

• The House will not issue a tribute unless the Speaker of the House has given her permission;
• The Chief Clerk of the House maintains copies of each tribute issued for two years.

Under House Rule 26A, a request should be a tribute if it pertains to any of the following:

• Offering congratulations for significant public achievement;
• Recognizing meritorious individual achievement;
• Expressing appreciation for service to the state or the General Assembly;
• Recognizing an individual’s service in the military (except in the case of recognizing an individual who died while serving, which can be done by House Resolution or Joint Resolution, see House Rule 26 (a)(2)(C));
• Extending greetings to prominent visitors to the state;
• Recognizing or commemorating any individual, organization, or group for a significant event or accomplishment;
• Congratulating the members of an academic or athletic organization for achieving a specific historical, scientific, educational, or athletic goal, such as winning a league, state, or national title, competition, or championship; or
• Designating a specified day for observing any of the achievements, events, service, or accomplishments set forth above.

Senate Tributes:

• The Senate will not issue a tribute unless the President of the Senate has given his permission;
• Tributes are printed in the journal by title on the day following the issuance;
• A list of all tributes requested in the Senate is available for inspection in the office of the Secretary of the Senate.

Under Senate Rule 30A, a request should be a tribute if it pertains to any of the following:

• Offering congratulations for significant public achievements;
• Recognizing meritorious individual achievement;
• Expressing appreciation for service to the state or the General Assembly;
• Recognizing an individual’s service in the military; or
• Extending greetings to prominent visitors to the state.

The House and the Senate Rules state that a request should be a Memorial Tribute or a Joint Memorial Tribute if it expresses sentiment on the death of a person who has not served as a member of the General Assembly (except for the House exceptions listed above regarding military, law enforcement, and firefighting personnel who died while serving) or, in the Senate, meets the exceptions allowed under the rules for Senate Memorials and Joint Memorials. (Senate Rule 30 (d).)

All requests for tributes must be made to the staff designated by the Chief Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate.

Resolutions

Resolutions are non-statutory actions but DO require introduction, calendaring, and floor action.

House Resolutions:

• Representatives are limited to a total of two resolutions or joint resolutions, unless they receive special permission.
• Resolutions and joint resolutions must be introduced prior to the last thirty legislative days as required in Joint Rule 23 (g).
• Upon introduction, they are read into the record by title only and copies are printed.
• At the discretion of the Speaker, they can either be laid over for one day before being acted on or referred to a committee of reference.
• No action is taken on the resolution or joint until it is printed.

Under House Rule 26, a request can be a House Joint Resolution if it pertains to:

• Transacting the business of both the House and the Senate;
• Establishing committees comprised of members of both houses;
• Recognizing an individual member of the armed forces of this country who has died while serving in the armed forces or an individual member of a police, sheriff, or fire department who has died while performing duties for the department; or
• Expressing the will of both houses on a matter not mentioned in House Rule 26A (i.e., not a tribute).

In addition, but only in the House, pursuant to House Rule 26 (a)(3.5)(A):

• Up to six resolutions recognizing or commemorating an individual, organization, or group for a significant event or accomplishment (i.e., which would normally have to be addressed through tributes) may be approved by the Speaker after consultation with the Majority Leader; and
• Up to four resolutions recognizing or commemorating an individual, organization, or group for a significant event or accomplishment (i.e., which normally would have to be addressed through tributes) may be approved by the Speaker after consultation with the Minority Leader.

Senate Resolutions:

• Senators are limited to a total of three resolutions or joint resolutions, unless they receive special permission.
• Resolutions and joint resolutions must be introduced prior to the last thirty legislative days as required in Joint Rule 23 (g).
• Upon introduction, they are printed in the journal by title only and copies are printed.
• At the discretion of the President, they can be acted on immediately, laid over, or referred to a committee of reference.
• Resolutions and joint resolutions determined by the Majority Leader to be noncontroversial can be placed on the consent calendar.

Under Senate Rule 30, a request can be a Senate Joint Resolution if it pertains to:

• Transacting the business of both the House and the Senate;
• Establishing investigating committees comprised of members of both houses; or
• Expressing the will of both houses on a matter not mentioned in Senate Rule 30A (i.e., not a tribute).

Any of the above can be a House Resolution or Senate Resolution if it pertains to similar matters as listed for the joint resolutions, but does not require concurrence of the other chamber or relates solely to the will of one chamber.

All requests for resolutions and memorials must be submitted to the Office of Legislative Legal Services. In 2018, the deadline for requesting resolutions and memorials is Friday, April 6, and the deadline for introducing resolutions is Monday, April 9.

Memorials

Memorials are non-statutory actions but DO require introduction, calendaring, and floor action.

House Memorials:

• At the discretion of the Speaker, a former member of the House may be admitted to the House floor to address House members regarding the person being memorialized.
• The House shall stand in recess to hear an address by a former member.

Under House Rule 26, the request is a House or House Joint Memorial ifit expresses sentiment on the death of a person who served as a member of the General Assembly.

Senate Memorials:

• At the discretion of the President, a former member of the Senate may be admitted to the Senate floor to address Senate members regarding a memorial expressing sentiment on the death of a person who served as a member of the Senate.

Under Senate Rule 30, the request is a Senate or Senate Joint Memorial if:

• It expresses sentiment on the death of a person or persons who served as members of the General Assembly, present or former elected State officials, present or former justices of the Colorado Supreme Court, members of Congress, elected officials of other states or of the United States, or foreign dignitaries; or
• It memorializes the U.S. Congress on any matter.

All requests for resolutions and memorials must be submitted to the Office of Legislative Legal Services. In 2018, the deadline for requesting resolutions and memorials is Friday, April 6, and the deadline for introducing resolutions is Monday, April 9.

The 2016 elections are (finally!) over and the next legislative session convenes on Wednesday, January 11, 2017.  Unfortunately, legislative rules and a 120- day session do not allow new and returning legislators much time for rest and relaxation between the November election and January session.  Bill deadlines actually require legislators to complete the bulk of bill drafting in December before the first day of the legislative session.*

Returning legislators have until Thursday, December 1, 2016, to submit their first three bill requests to the Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS). A legislator is a “returning legislator” if he or she served in either house of the General Assembly in the preceding legislative session.

Legislators who are new to the General Assembly have a little more time — but not much — to get their session legs. They must submit their first three bill requests to the OLLS by Thursday, December 15, 2016.

Legislators who have already submitted bill requests, and those who do so as soon as possible, give drafters a jump-start on crafting bill drafts. An early start on drafting can help a bill sponsor identify and fix any issues that may arise with a bill long before the first day of session.

What all legislators need to know about requesting bills [Joint Rule 24(b)(1)(A)]:

• The Joint Rules allow each legislator five bill requests each legislative session. These five bill requests are in addition to any appropriation, committee-approved, or sunset bill requests that a legislator may carry.†
• To reach the five bill request limit within session deadlines, a legislator must submit at least three bill requests to the OLLS by the appropriate December deadline. In addition, each legislator must submit the last two (of five) requests by Tuesday, January 17, 2017. †
• If a legislator submits fewer than three requests by the December deadline, he or she forfeits the other one or two unrequested bills that were due by that date.†

With the first bill request deadline still a few weeks away, some legislators may feel they have plenty of time to take care of business. But the reality is that when a legislator waits until December to submit his or her first three bill requests, he or she will also need to provide sufficient drafting information so that the drafters can immediately begin working on all three bills; the legislator will need to very quickly decide which of these requests will be filed for introduction on the first day of session. And for newly elected legislators, keep in mind that, although the legislative rules allow you more time than a returning legislator has to request your first three bills, these rules do not give you, as a new legislator, more time to have your bills drafted.

If possible, every legislator — even a new one — should try to submit at least one bill request ASAP. Don’t worry about having all the information or all the answers at this point. Through the bill drafting process, bill drafters will discuss the request with you, ask you questions, and help you find information. Getting an earlier start on bill drafts also enables any potential issues or problems to rise to the surface earlier, making it easier for the legislator to decide whether his or her idea is “workable.” If it becomes apparent that a request isn’t working, the legislator can withdraw it and replace it with a new request, as long as he or she makes that decision on or before the December 1 deadline for returning members or the December 15 deadline for new members.

Legislators should consider submitting more than the minimum three requests by the December deadline. By doing so, a legislator preserves the flexibility to withdraw and replace at least one and possibly two of his or her requests after the December deadline without losing a request. For example, if a legislator submits only three requests by the December deadline and later withdraws one of them, the legislator forfeits the withdrawn bill request because the rules allow a legislator to submit only two bill requests after the December request deadline and before the January request deadline. On the other hand, if a legislator submits four bill requests by the December deadline and later withdraws one of them, the legislator still has his or her three bill requests that meet the early request deadline plus the legislator can submit the two requests that are allowed after the early bill request deadline — for a total of five bill requests.

And a note to any returning legislators who already have more than five bill requests submitted to the Office: By December 1, these legislators must decide which five bills they intend to introduce. The legislators must seek delayed bill status for each of the remaining bill requests for the OLLS to be authorized to continue working on them.

 

* Every legislator’s first bill must be filed by Friday, January 6, 2017, to be ready for introduction on the first day of the legislative session. Every senator’s next two bills must be filed with the Senate on the 3rd legislative day (Friday, January 13), and every representative’s next two bills must be filed with the House on the 7th legislative day (Tuesday, January 17).

† A legislator can ask permission from the House or Senate Committee on Delayed Bills, whichever is appropriate, to submit additional bill requests or to waive a bill request deadline.

by Julie Pelegrin

A recent LegiSource article explained the rules for reconsideration that allow a committee of reference or the House or the Senate to reconsider the vote taken on a motion. But there are other routes a legislator may take to get a committee or the House or the Senate to take a second look at a bill or amendment.

Amendments to the Committee of the Whole Report
The most commonly used process for changing an action is an amendment to the committee of the whole report. Of course, this process only applies to actions taken on second reading in the House or the Senate.

The second reading of bills is a two-step process. First, the House or the Senate passes a motion to sit as the committee of the whole. Considering bills as a committee that includes all of the Representatives or Senators allows the legislators to act under different rules than would apply if they were taking action formally as the House or the Senate. For example, while acting as the committee of the whole, debate cannot be limited, motions cannot be reconsidered, a decision of the chair of the committee of the whole cannot be challenged, and votes are not recorded.

The committee of the whole adopts or rejects committee of reference reports and floor amendments to bills, generally debates the bills, and finally adopts, rejects, or refers each bill on a voice or standing vote. Once the committee of the whole has considered all of the bills on the calendar, or as many as it has time for, the majority leader moves that the committee of the whole “rise and report.”

At this point, the House goes back to doing business as the House and the Senate goes back to doing business as the Senate, because they cannot complete the second reading process without a formal, recorded vote on the bills. This vote occurs when the House or the Senate votes on the committee of the whole report, which includes all of the amendments the committee adopted and all of the bills the committee considered. And, like any other committee report, the report of the committee of the whole can be amended.

A legislator may offer an amendment to the committee of the whole report to change any action that the committee took – for example, to say that an amendment or bill that the committee passed, did not pass; or an amendment or bill that the committee rejected, did pass. All votes on amendments to the committee of the whole report are recorded. Once it has considered all amendments to the report, the House or the Senate finishes second reading by adopting or rejecting the entire committee of the whole report, as amended if any amendments passed.

Under Senate Rule 25(f), a Senator can offer an amendment to the committee of the whole report to show that an amendment that was not offered in the committee of the whole did pass. Under the House rules, the committee must have actually considered an amendment for it to be the subject of an amendment to the committee of the whole report.

Why would the House or the Senate adopt an amendment to the committee of the whole report to change something it just did? Since the votes taken in the committee of the whole are not recorded, a legislator may want an official count of the number of legislators voting for or against an amendment or a bill. Also, in the committee of the whole an amendment or bill passes with the approval of a majority of those present and voting. An amendment to the committee of the whole report and final adoption of the report requires the approval of a majority of those elected to the body: 33 in the House and 18 in the Senate.

Referring bills from 2nd reading back to a committee of reference
Sometimes, while debating a bill in the committee of the whole, a member will argue that a particular amendment under debate is so technical or substantive that it requires consideration by a committee of reference whose members have special expertise in the subject area. Or the committee of the whole may adopt an amendment that changes the fiscal impact of the bill. In this case, a legislator may move to refer the bill back to a committee of reference – usually the committee that originally considered the bill or the appropriations committee.

Usually, a bill will be referred back to a committee before it is amended by the committee of the whole, but sometimes the committee of the whole will have already adopted the committee of reference report or other amendments. It is up to the legislators to decide whether the bill is referred back to the committee of reference unamended or as amended by the committee of the whole. In either case, the committee of reference may adopt a second committee of reference report that further amends the bill or changes the amendments adopted by the first committee of reference.

Referring bills from 3rd reading back to 2nd reading or to a committee of reference in the House
Under House rules, if a member tries to offer a substantive amendment to a bill on third reading, the proper motion is to refer the bill back to second reading for consideration of the substantive amendment. When the committee of the whole considers the bill this time, it will be considering the bill as introduced in the House with any amendments adopted on second reading enrolled into the bill – the engrossed version if it’s a House bill or the revised version if it’s a Senate bill. If the committee of the whole amends the bill on the second consideration, there will be a second engrossed or revised version of the bill.

At the third reading stage, the House or Senate may also vote to refer the bill back to a committee of reference. In this case, the committee of reference will consider the engrossed or revised version and any amendments that the committee of reference adopts will be to the engrossed or revised version. The committee of reference may then move the bill to the committee of the whole for consideration on second reading – again. But the committee of reference cannot move the bill directly to third reading because Senate Rule 22 (f) and House Rule 25 (j) (3) only allow a committee of reference to refer a bill to another committee of reference or to the committee of the whole or to postpone the bill indefinitely.

by Sharon Eubanks

The definition of “reconsider” pretty much sums up what reconsideration is all about – “to consider again, especially with a view to change a decision or action.” In the legislative arena, “reconsideration” is the mechanism in the rules that enables a committee of reference or the House or the Senate to consider changing an action it has already taken.

A legislative body has a right to reconsider a vote on an action previously taken by the body, subject to certain limits. When a body reconsiders its vote, that original vote is canceled completely, as though it had never been taken, and the body immediately votes again upon the question reconsidered.

Closely related to reconsideration is giving notice of intent to reconsider, which provides notice of a member’s intent to reconsider, at some point in the future, a prior vote on an action. The effect of giving notice of intent to reconsider is to suspend all action on the subject of the motion until either the reconsideration is acted on or the time to act on the reconsideration has expired. However, giving notice of intent to reconsider does not necessarily mean that reconsideration will actually occur.

Senate Rule 18 and House Rule 35 govern reconsideration and notice of intent to reconsider in Colorado legislative proceedings on the floor and in committees of reference.

What can be reconsidered? Any action that the House or Senate takes when conducting business as a body and any action that a House or Senate committee of reference takes may be reconsidered by the acting body. But reconsideration is not allowed for an action that the House takes while sitting as the Committee of the Whole (COW).

The Senate does not have a similar rule expressly prohibiting reconsideration of an action of the COW, but there are some practical problems in applying the reconsideration rules when the Senate is sitting as the COW. For example, how would the chair determine if the person moving for reconsideration voted on the “prevailing side” (see explanation of who can request reconsideration, below) when votes in the COW are taken viva voce? However, at least once recently, a Senator made a motion to reconsider an action of the COW and the motion was considered without objection. Nonetheless, generally it has been Senate’s practice to not permit reconsideration during the COW.

Who can request reconsideration? In both the House and the Senate, only a member who voted on the prevailing side of an action, whether taken on the floor or in committee, may make a motion to reconsider that action. Sometimes a member will switch his or her vote at the last moment to the prevailing side to preserve the option of subsequently moving to reconsider the action.

Only a House member who has voted on the prevailing side of an action of the House may give notice of intent to reconsider that action. And, while only a Senator who voted on the prevailing side may give notice of intent to reconsider a committee action, any Senator, regardless of how he or she voted, may give notice of intent to reconsider an action of the Senate.

How does reconsideration occur? Reconsideration occurs after a member makes a motion to reconsider a House or Senate floor or committee action and the motion is approved. In the Senate, a majority of the members elected to the Senate or a majority of the members of a committee of reference, whichever body took the action at issue, must approve the motion to reconsider. In the House, two-thirds of the members elected to the House or two-thirds of the members of a House committee, as applicable, must approve a motion to reconsider unless a member makes the motion during the last two days of session. In that situation, only a majority of members must approve a motion to reconsider.

To prevent the abuse of motions to reconsider, if a motion to reconsider is lost or, upon reconsideration, the original action is affirmed, the same Senate action cannot be reconsidered a second time unless the motion is approved by unanimous consent of the Senate or a Senate committee, as appropriate. If a motion to reconsider is defeated or the original action is affirmed by the House or a House committee, no further motion to reconsider the same action is allowed.

Senate members of committees of reference may give notice of intent to reconsider. In this case, the measure affected by the notice must be held until the next regularly scheduled committee meeting. But giving notice to reconsider is out of order if holding the measure will cause it to miss a deadline for passage out of committee and the deadline isn’t extended. In contrast, members of House committees of reference cannot give notice of intent to reconsider a committee action.

When can reconsideration occur? A member must make a motion to reconsider an action of a House or Senate committee either at the meeting at which the action is taken or at the next meeting of the committee.

A Senator must make a motion to reconsider, or give notice of intent to reconsider, an action of the Senate on the same day that the action is taken or on either of the next two days of actual session. A Representative must make a motion to reconsider, or give notice of intent to reconsider, an action of the House before adjournment of the legislative day on which the action is taken. If notice is timely given, the House member then has until noon on the next day of actual session to make a motion to reconsider the action.

But, it’s important to remember that a body can reconsider an action only if the measure on which the action was taken is still before the body and the action is still capable of being changed. So, a committee member can’t make a motion to reconsider a committee action on a measure if the committee report has already been signed by the chair and delivered to the House or Senate front desk. And a member can’t move to reconsider a third reading vote if the measure has already been introduced in the second house or delivered to and acted upon by the Governor.

A Senator’s motion to reconsider the action taken on a measure already transmitted to the House, but not yet introduced, must be accompanied by a motion asking the House to return the measure to the Senate. If a House member makes a motion to reconsider, the chief clerk of the House is directed to request the return of the relevant measure if it has already been transmitted to the Senate or the Governor. But if the measure’s been introduced in the Senate or acted upon by the Governor, the measure can’t be returned to the House.

Why would someone request reconsideration? In many situations, a motion to reconsider is used when a member, for whatever reason, doesn’t vote the way he or she intended to vote or a member is absent during the recorded vote on a measure. With reconsideration, the original vote is wiped away and replaced with the second vote. When controversial issues and close votes are involved, a motion to immediately reconsider a vote can be used to lock in that vote since unanimous consent is required for a subsequent motion to reconsider after the first motion to reconsider is lost or, upon reconsideration, the original action is affirmed. On the flip side, giving notice of intent to reconsider a vote can be used as a delay tactic to slow a measure’s progress through the legislative process or to allow time to try to convince enough members to change their votes and thereby change the action taken. Once notice is given, all action on a measure is suspended and the Secretary of the Senate or the Chief Clerk of the House, as applicable, holds the measure until the time for reconsideration has expired. In the Senate, giving notice of intent to reconsider can be used to delay a floor action up to three days and a committee action until the conclusion of the next regularly scheduled committee meeting. Giving notice of intent to reconsider can delay an action taken by the House until noon on the next day of actual session after the action is taken.

For more information on reconsideration, check out our post from September 29, 2011, which discusses actual legislative situations that involved reconsideration.

By Julie Pelegrin

One week from today, legislators, legislative staff, lobbyists, and capitol reporters can all hit the snooze button and roll over for another hour of sleep. But between now and then, there are several amendments to read, bills to consider, and differences to resolve. To help ensure that both houses can complete their work by midnight on May 6, the legislative rules automatically speed up or suspend certain procedural requirements in the last few days of the session.

Last 5 Days of Session:

• Joint Rule 7: One day after a bill is assigned to a conference committee, a majority of either house may demand a conference committee report, and the committee must deliver the report before the close of the legislative day during which the demand is made. If a bill has been assigned to a conference committee at any time during the session and the committee hasn’t turned in a report, the committee must report the bill out within these last five days of session.

Last 3 Days of Session:

• House Rule 25 (j) (3); Senate Rule 22 (f): Each House and Senate committee chairperson must submit committee reports to the House or Senate front desk as soon as possible after the committee acts on a bill. No more waiting for two or three or five days to turn in the report.
• House Rule 36 (d); Senate Rule 26 (a): The House and the Senate can consider the amendments made in the second house without waiting for each legislator in the first house to receive a copy of the rerevised bill and for the notice of consideration to be printed in the calendar.
• House Rule 36 (d); Senate Rule 26 (b): Legislators can vote on conference committee reports as soon as the reports are turned in to their respective front desks—even if the report has not been distributed to the members and has not been calendared for consideration. The usual practice, however, is to try to distribute copies of conference committee reports to legislators before the vote.
• Senate Rule 18 (d): Throughout most of the session, a Senator may give notice of reconsideration, and the Secretary of the Senate will hold the bill for which the notice was given for up to two days of actual session. During the last three days of session, however, this rule is suspended, and a Senator cannot hold up a bill by giving notice to reconsider.
• House Rule 33 (b.5): Usually, the House rules only allow technical amendments on third reading; offering a substantial amendment on third reading may result in the bill being referred back to second reading. During the last three days of session, however, a Representative may offer a substantial amendment to a bill on third reading.

Last 2 Days of Session:

• House Rule 35 (b) and (e): A motion to reconsider usually requires a 2/3 vote to pass. In the last two days of session, however, a motion to reconsider – in a House committee or in the full House – requires only a majority vote.

Before the 117th legislative day, the Speaker of the House or the President of the Senate may announce that the House or the Senate, respectively, is in the last three days of the legislative session. This does not mean that either the House or the Senate will adjourn sine die before the 120th legislative day, but it does trigger the rule changes that apply in the last three and last two days of session.

Digest of Bills

With these expedited procedures, bills will probably be moving quickly. If you find yourself wondering which bills passed and what they do, you’ll want to check the digest of bills. The Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS) annually publishes the digest, which contains a summary of each bill enacted during the legislative session, organized by subject matter. The OLLS will publish a preliminary digest by May 6 that will include all of the bills that have passed and been signed by the Governor or allowed to become law by that date. The OLLS will publish the final digest once the 30-day period for Governor action is passed. Copies of the final digest will be available in Room 091 in the Capitol basement and posted on the OLLS website.

By Jery Payne

Imagine you’re sitting down to hear testimony at a committee hearing. People are signing up to testify. The committee chair asks the sponsor to explain the bill. And another member says, “I move the bill to the committee of the whole.” The chair says the motion is in order, and you think, “No, it’s the wrong order. The motion is the last part of the hearing. And isn’t this bill supposed to go to Finance Committee? What’s going on?” Someone says, “It’s a supermotion!”

Nope. Although this situation does not follow normal practice, this motion is not a supermotion.

In 1988, the people approved a group of amendments to the Colorado Constitution. These amendments are known as GAVEL, which stands for “give a vote to every legislator.” One of these amendments is Section 20 of Article V, “A motion that the committee report the measure favorably to the committee of the whole, with or without amendments, shall always be in order within appropriate deadlines.” Of course, moving a bill to the committee of the whole is normal practice. But GAVEL made it possible for a person to make this motion at any time without the possibility of the chair ruling the motion out of order. So if a bill hasn’t missed a deadline, it may be considered and moved to the committee of the whole. In other words, GAVEL was intended to stop a committee chair from refusing to schedule a bill. This is known as a pocket veto.

A supermotion still refers a bill to the committee of the whole, but it’s made under House Rule 25 (j) (1) (G), which reads, “If a motion is made that a committee report a measure favorably to the committee of the whole … when such measure is not in the order of business …, then such measure shall be considered by the committee upon its merits.” So a bill can be moved to the committee of the whole even when it’s not being heard as scheduled. This can mean either when the bill has been scheduled on the committee’s calendar but hasn’t been taken up yet or even when the bill hasn’t been so scheduled.

Because of this overlap, confusion is common. In Grossman v. Dean, the appeals court cited both these sources of authority to define “supermotion”: “[A] motion becomes a supermotion under the GAVEL amendment and the House Rule when it is made out of order of the calendared business of the committee.” Neither GAVEL nor House Rule 25 actually use the word “supermotion,” the word itself is legislative slang. So you can’t look it up.

In the example above, the motion is made when the bill has already been brought up by the chair according to the committee’s calendar. So the bill’s scheduled hearing has begun. It becomes a “supermotion” only when a legislator goes over the chair’s head. A supermotion bucks the calendar. This is what makes it super.

Speaking of GAVEL and Grossman v. Dean, the court held that these types of motions can lead to a constitutional problem. GAVEL also has other requirements that need to be met. I’ll discuss them next week.

With the end of the second full week of the legislative session, committees of reference are looking at calendars full of bills and both houses will soon be spending hours debating bills in committee of the whole and on third reading. While there’s still a little breathing room, we at LegiSource decided it would be helpful to provide a quick refresher on the legislative rules: in general, for committees of reference, for committee of the whole, and for third reading. This collection of articles from the LegiSource archives provides a relatively short primer on the rules and quick references to the rules that are most often invoked. Remember: You can’t play the game if you don’t know the rules!

The Principles of Parliamentary Procedure – a Stepping Stone to Learning the Rules

Obviously, there are many legislative rules, and it’s difficult to learn and remember all of them. You may want to start by learning the basic principles behind legislative procedure. Knowing the principles may help you understand and remember the purposes behind the rules, even if you can’t remember each specific rule. The introduction to Mason’s Manual sets forth these ten principles for group decision making:

• The group must have the authority to take the action it is trying to take.
• The group must meet to take action.
• All members of the group must receive proper notice of the meeting.
• A quorum must be present at the meeting.
• There must be a question before the group that the group is authorized to decide.
• There must be opportunity to debate the question.
• The question must be decided by taking a vote.
• For an action to be taken or a question decided, there must be a majority vote of the group.
• There can be no fraud, trickery, or deception resulting in injury to any member.
• To be valid, an action or decision by the group must not violate any applicable law or constitutional provision.

Making Sense of Committee Rules

As the committees of reference swing into action for the 2014 regular legislative session, some legislators may be struggling to raise their committee rule IQ. This article is a short overview of the more important committee procedural rules to help guide you through the coming hours of committee hearings.

Second Reading and the Committee of the Whole

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines “committee of the whole” as “the whole membership of a legislative house sitting as a committee and operating under informal rules.” But just what are those rules and how informal are they?

Third Reading – Overview of Rules

The legislator’s bill has passed the committee of reference, passed the Committee of the Whole on second reading, and is finally calendared for third reading and final passage. There are fewer third-reading rules to learn, but knowing these rules is crucial if the bill sponsor wants to ensure that the bill safely finishes its journey through the House or the Senate.

by Sharon Eubanks

On January 7, 2015, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 70th Colorado General Assembly convened amid much pomp and circumstance. The day was filled with a multitude of activities in each chamber – reading the election results for the appropriate chamber as certified by the Secretary of State, calling the roll of members, administering the oath of office, electing a presiding officer, and, of course, delivering speeches. The chambers were filled with Representatives and Senators, their families and friends, legislative staff, and members of the media. It was a headline-making day full of anticipation and excitement.

But both houses performed one activity on opening day that received little notice and is probably even less understood. This activity was adopting the legislative rules of the previous General Assembly – in this instance the 69th General Assembly that first convened in January 2013 – as the temporary legislative rules of the 70th General Assembly.

Wait…what?

It is the long-standing custom and practice of both the Senate and the House to adopt a simple resolution on the first day of session that makes the rules of each chamber of the previous General Assembly the temporary rules of that chamber for the newly convened General Assembly. This year, they accomplished this by passing House Resolution 15-1001 and Senate Resolution 15-001. Also, by adopting a joint resolution, the Senate and the House make the joint rules of the Senate and the House of the previous General Assembly the temporary joint rules of the Senate and the House of the newly convened General Assembly. This year, they passed Senate Joint Resolution 15-001.

While you now know how the General Assembly adopts temporary legislative rules on opening day, you are probably still wondering – why did this legislative custom and practice develop? And when do the temporary rules become permanent?

As to why, the answer is simple. Procedural rules adopted by one legislature are not binding on a subsequent legislature. In fact, the legislative rules adopted by the previous General Assembly automatically expire when a new General Assembly convenes. Once the 70th General Assembly convened on opening day in accordance with constitutional procedures, (see Colo. Const. Art. V, Secs. 2 & 7), neither the Senate nor the House had any legislatively adopted rules to govern their proceedings – no rules on the order of business, the preparation of a calendar and a journal, bill introduction deadlines, motions, voting, or committees. On the first day of the first legislative session, both chambers need to adopt rules for their proceedings as authorized by Colo.Const. Art. V, Sec. 12, and the easiest and quickest way to do so is to adopt the legislative rules of the previous General Assembly as the temporary rules of the new General Assembly.

Sometimes a chamber will change the temporary rules it adopts by amending the rules in the same resolution used to adopt the temporary rules or in resolutions introduced later in the session. For example, it has long been the practice of the House to specify in the same resolution that adopts the temporary House rules that the temporary House rules may be amended by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members elected to the House until the House adopts permanent rules. This is a significant deviation from House Rule 47, which requires a 2/3rds vote of all House members to amend, suspend, or repeal any House rule.

Likewise, the Senate resolution that adopts the temporary Senate rules provides that the temporary rules may be amended by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members elected to the Senate. Otherwise, Senate Rule 34 (a) requires a 2/3rds vote of all members elected to the Senate to amend or repeal a rule unless a Senator gives three days’ notice, in which case a vote of only the majority of members elected is required.

So making the temporary legislative rules of a chamber permanent makes it more difficult to amend or repeal the rules of that chamber, which may help explain why the General Assembly rarely makes temporary legislative rules permanent. In fact, during the last fifty years, the General Assembly and its houses have almost always operated under temporary legislative rules for the entirety of each General Assembly. Which leaves us to ponder the true nature of a temporary legislative rule.

By Matt Dawkins and Chuck Brackney

We’re in the last few days of the 2014 regular legislative session. If it seems to you that things are moving faster—well, it’s not just your imagination. Due to automatic suspension of some legislative rules, things can and do move faster toward the end of session. This is so the General Assembly can get its work done before the clock strikes midnight on the one-hundred-twentieth legislative day—May 7. (more…)