PRINTER'S NO. 705
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
18
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY ULLMAN, SOLOMON, McNEILL, FREEMAN, RABB,
DONATUCCI, KENYATTA, KINSEY, ISAACSON, FRANKEL, HILL-EVANS,
D. MILLER, WEBSTER, DeLUCA, SAPPEY, SAMUELSON, DALEY,
SCHWEYER, WARREN, CONKLIN, DAVIDSON, NEILSON, McCARTER,
CIRESI, SHUSTERMAN, SANCHEZ, DeLISSIO, HANBIDGE, MULLINS,
KIRKLAND, STURLA AND OTTEN, MARCH 5, 2019
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, MARCH 5, 2019
A RESOLUTION
Amending House Rule 21, further providing for consideration of
bills.
RESOLVED, That House Rule 21 be amended to read:
RULE 21
Consideration of Bills
(a) Every bill and every joint resolution shall be
considered on three different days. All amendments made thereto
shall be printed for the use of the members before the final
vote is taken thereon, and before the final vote is taken, upon
written request addressed to the presiding officer by at least
25% of the members elected to the House, any bill shall be read
at length. No bill shall become law and no joint resolution
adopted unless, on its final passage, the vote is taken by yeas
and nays, the names of the persons voting for and against it are
entered on the Journal, and a majority of the members elected to
the House is recorded thereon as voting in its favor.
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(Constitution, Article III, Section 4).
(b) Members shall be notified of bills and resolutions
scheduled to be voted no later than prior to the close of
business at 4:30 P.M. of the second legislative day prior to the
date of second consideration for legislation that has no legal
deadline. (The General Appropriation Act and non-preferred bills
are included within the definition of legislation that has no
legal deadline.) Except as provided in subsection (d), all
amendments shall be submitted to the Office of the Chief Clerk
by 1:00 P.M. of the last legislative day preceding the scheduled
date of second consideration. Members shall be notified of bills
scheduled to be voted on third consideration. A change in the
printer's number as a result of third consideration shall not
require an additional notice of final passage. No vote on final
passage can occur before the date of the scheduled vote.
(c) If the amendment cannot be submitted in accordance with
the above subsection because it is still being prepared by the
Legislative Reference Bureau, the member must provide the Office
of the Chief Clerk with a statement, by the above-noted 1:00
P.M. deadline, prepared by the member containing the factual
content of said amendment along with certification from the
Legislative Reference Bureau that the amendment was submitted to
the Legislative Reference Bureau for drafting prior to the
above-noted 1:00 P.M. deadline. The Legislative Reference Bureau
may not issue a certificate for an amendment to a bill as
amended by another amendment unless the requesting member can
identify by number the underlying amendment.
(d) In cases where an amendment alters a bill so as to
effectively rule out of order an amendment which was timely
filed pursuant to the provisions of this rule, a replacement
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amendment may be submitted to the Office of the Chief Clerk
provided that the subject matter of the replacement amendment is
not substantially different from the intent of the original
amendment. The replacement amendment shall be deemed to have met
the timely filed conditions provided for in this rule. The
member shall notify the Speaker of the member's intent to file a
replacement amendment and shall file a certificate with the
Office of the Chief Clerk. The bill in question may continue to
receive consideration but shall not be moved to third
consideration until the replacement amendment is available for a
vote. If consideration of the bill is delayed to a new
legislative day due solely to delay in receipt of replacement
amendments, then only amendments timely filed for the date of
the originally scheduled vote and replacement amendments shall
be considered. This limitation on amendments shall not apply to
the bill in question if consideration of the bill is rescheduled
beyond the new legislative day.
(e) A bill may not receive action on concurrence until at
least six hours have elapsed from the time the bill and its
amendatory language was available to the public, unless the
amendment was a technical amendment as described under the first
paragraph of Rule 24 or an affirmative vote of 2/3 of the
members elected to the House indicates they have had sufficient
time to review the language and thereby approve proceeding with
the bill.
A brief description of every bill on concurrence shall be
given prior to a vote. Additionally, members shall be notified
and conference committee reports shall be available to members
at least 24 hours prior to the adoption of all conference
committee reports. When these reports are considered on the
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first legislative day of the week, said notice shall be provided
no later than the close of business on the last business day
preceding the vote. Notwithstanding notice provided, members
may, by an affirmative vote of 2/3 of the members elected to the
House, indicate that they have had sufficient time to review a
conference committee report and that they approve proceeding
with a vote.
(f) A bill amended in committee after second consideration,
except for a bill on concurrence amended by the Committee on
Rules, shall revert to second consideration upon the bill's
return to the House.
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