PRINTER'S NO. 2503
No. 289 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY SURRA, OCTOBER 25, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, OCTOBER 25, 1999
A RESOLUTION
1 Amending House Rule 43.
2 RESOLVED, That House Rule 43 be amended to read:
3 RULE 43
4 Standing Committees and Subcommittees
5 The Committee on Committees shall consist of the Speaker and
6 15 members of the House, ten of whom shall be members of the
7 majority party and five of whom shall be members of the minority
8 party, whose duty shall be to recommend to the House the names
9 of members who are to serve on the standing committees of the
10 House. Except for the Speaker, the Majority and Minority
11 Leaders, Whips, Caucus Chairmen, Caucus Secretaries, Caucus
12 Administrators, Policy Chairmen and the chairmen and minority
13 chairmen of standing committees, each member shall be entitled
14 to serve on not less than two standing committees.
15 The Speaker shall appoint the chairman and vice-chairman of
16 each standing committee when such standing committee has no
17 standing subcommittees as prescribed herein, except the
1 Committee on Appropriations which shall also have a vice-
2 chairman appointed by the Speaker; when the standing committee
3 has standing subcommittees, the Speaker shall appoint a
4 subcommittee chairman for each standing subcommittee. The
5 Speaker shall appoint a secretary for each standing committee.
6 The Minority Leader shall appoint the minority chairman,
7 minority vice-chairman and minority secretary of each standing
8 committee and the minority subcommittee chairman for each
9 standing subcommittee.
10 Except for members who decline a chairmanship or minority
11 chairmanship in writing or who are barred from serving as a
12 chairman or minority chairman under this rule, the chairmanship
13 and minority chairmanship of each standing committee except the
14 Appropriations Committee shall be limited only to the members of
15 the applicable caucus with the most seniority as members of
16 their respective caucus. Whenever there are more caucus members
17 with equal seniority than available chairmanships or minority
18 chairmanships for that caucus, the selection of a chairman or
19 minority chairman from among such caucus members shall be in the
20 discretion of the appointing authority. The appointing authority
21 may designate the standing committee to which he shall appoint a
22 member as chairman or minority chairman without regard to
23 seniority. The Speaker and the Floor Leader, Whip, Caucus
24 Chairman, Caucus Secretary, Caucus Administrator and Policy
25 Chairman of the majority party and minority party shall not be
26 eligible to serve as chairman or minority chairman of any
27 standing committee and no member may serve as chairman or
28 minority chairman of more than one standing committee.
29 Any chairmanship or minority chairmanship held by a member
30 who fails to meet the requirements of this rule shall become
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1 vacant by automatic operation of this rule. If the appointing
2 authority fails to make an appointment of a chairman or minority
3 chairman prior to the organizational meeting of a standing
4 committee or fails to fill a vacancy within seven calendar days
5 after it occurs, such position shall be deemed to remain vacant
6 in violation of this rule. Whenever a chairmanship or minority
7 chairmanship becomes vacant or remains vacant in violation of
8 this rule, the member of the applicable caucus who meets the
9 requirements of this rule shall automatically fill the vacancy
10 and, if there are two or more such eligible caucus members for
11 any such vacancy or vacancies, they shall be filled from among
12 such eligible members through a lottery to be conducted under
13 the supervision of the Chief Clerk after giving notice of the
14 time and place thereof to all eligible members, to the Speaker,
15 to the Majority Leader and to the Minority Leader.
16 Nothing in this rule shall prohibit the appointing authority
17 from transferring a member from the chairmanship or minority
18 chairmanship of a standing committee to the chairmanship or
19 minority chairmanship of another standing committee.
20 Whenever the appointment of a chairman or minority chairman
21 will cause the applicable caucus to exceed its permissible
22 allocation of members on a standing committee, the appointing
23 authority shall make a temporary transfer of an eligible
24 committee member to the standing committee vacated by the member
25 appointed as chairman or minority chairman until a regular
26 committee appointment can be made in accordance with the rules
27 of the House. If the Speaker or Minority Leader fails to make a
28 temporary transfer within seven calendar days after such
29 appointment, the committee member with the least seniority, who
30 is eligible for transfer, shall be automatically transferred to
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1 the committee vacated by the newly appointed chairman or
2 minority chairman and, if more than one committee member is
3 eligible for such transfer, the transfer shall be implemented
4 through a lottery conducted under the supervision of the Chief
5 Clerk.
6 The Speaker of the House, Floor Leader of the majority party
7 and the Floor Leader of the minority party shall be ex-officio
8 members of all standing committees, without the right to vote
9 and they shall be excluded from any limitation as to the number
10 of members on the committees or in counting a quorum.
11 Twenty-two standing committees of the House, each to consist
12 of [26] 27 members except the Committee on Appropriations, which
13 shall consist of [32] 33 members, are hereby created. In
14 addition, there [is] are hereby created 34 standing
15 subcommittees.
16 All standing committees shall consist of 15 members of the
17 majority party and [11] 12 members of the minority party, except
18 the Committee on Appropriations which shall consist of 20
19 members of the majority party and [12] 13 members of the
20 minority party. The quorum for each of the standing committees
21 and subcommittees shall be no less than the majority of said
22 committees. The following are the standing committees and
23 subcommittees thereof:
24 (1) Aging and Youth
25 (a) Subcommittee on Aging
26 (b) Subcommittee on Youth
27 (2) Agriculture and Rural Affairs
28 (3) Appropriations
29 (a) Subcommittee on Health and Human Services
30 (b) Subcommittee on Education
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1 (c) Subcommittee on Capital Budget
2 (4) Commerce and Economic Development
3 (a) Subcommittee on Financial Services and Banking
4 (b) Subcommittee on Housing
5 (c) Subcommittee on Economic Development
6 (5) Consumer Affairs
7 (a) Subcommittee on Public Utilities
8 (b) Subcommittee on Telecommunications
9 (6) Education
10 (a) Subcommittee on Basic Education
11 (b) Subcommittee on Higher Education
12 (7) Environmental Resources and Energy
13 (a) Subcommittee on Mining
14 (8) Finance
15 (9) Game and Fisheries
16 (10) Health and Human Services
17 (a) Subcommittee on Health
18 (b) Subcommittee on Human Services
19 (c) Subcommittee on Drugs and Alcohol
20 (11) Insurance
21 (12) Judiciary
22 (a) Subcommittee on Crime and Corrections
23 (b) Subcommittee on Courts
24 (13) Intergovernmental Affairs
25 (14) Labor Relations
26 (15) Liquor Control
27 (a) Subcommittee on Licensing
28 (b) Subcommittee on Marketing
29 (16) Local Government
30 (a) Subcommittee on Boroughs
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1 (b) Subcommittee on Counties
2 (c) Subcommittee on Townships
3 (17) Professional Licensure
4 (18) State Government
5 (19) Tourism and Recreational Development
6 (a) Subcommittee on Arts and Entertainment
7 (b) Subcommittee on Recreation
8 (c) Subcommittee on Travel Promotion
9 (20) Transportation
10 (a) Subcommittee on Highways
11 (b) Subcommittee on Public Transportation
12 (c) Subcommittee on Transportation Safety
13 (d) Subcommittee on Aviation
14 (e) Subcommittee on Railroads
15 (21) Urban Affairs
16 (a) Subcommittee on Cities, Counties - First Class
17 (b) Subcommittee on Cities, Counties - Second Class
18 (c) Subcommittee on Cities, Third Class
19 (22) Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness
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