See other bills
under the
same topic
PRINTER'S NO. 929
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
78
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY KNOWLES AND STURLA, MARCH 16, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, MARCH 16, 2021
A RESOLUTION
Amending House Rule 43, further providing for committees and
standing committees.
RESOLVED, That House Rule 43 be amended to read:
RULE 43
Standing Committees and Subcommittees
The Committee on Committees shall consist of the Speaker and
15 members of the House, ten of whom shall be members of the
majority party and five of whom shall be members of the minority
party, whose duty shall be to recommend to the House the names
of members who are to serve on the standing committees of the
House. Except for the Speaker, the Majority and Minority
Leaders, Whips, Caucus Chairs, Caucus Secretaries, Caucus
Administrators, Policy Chairs and the chairs and minority chairs
of standing committees, each member shall be entitled to serve
on not less than two standing committees.
The Speaker shall appoint the chair and vice-chair of each
standing committee when such standing committee has no standing
subcommittees as prescribed herein, except the Committee on
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Appropriations which shall also have a vice-chair appointed by
the Speaker; when the standing committee has standing
subcommittees, the Speaker shall appoint a subcommittee chair
for each standing subcommittee. The Speaker shall appoint a
secretary for each standing committee. The Minority Leader shall
appoint the minority chair, minority vice-chair and minority
secretary of each standing committee and the minority
subcommittee chair for each standing subcommittee.
Except for members who decline chair status or minority chair
status in writing or who are barred from serving as a chair or
minority chair under this rule, the chair and minority chair of
each standing committee except the Appropriations Committee
shall be limited only to the members of the applicable caucus
with the most seniority as members of their respective caucus.
Whenever there are more caucus members with equal seniority than
available chairs or minority chairs for that caucus, the
selection of a chair or minority chair from among such caucus
members shall be in the discretion of the appointing authority.
The appointing authority may designate the standing committee to
which the appointing authority shall appoint a member as chair
or minority chair without regard to seniority. The Speaker and
the Floor Leader, Whip, Caucus Chair, Caucus Secretary, Caucus
Administrator and Policy Chair of the majority party and
minority party shall not be eligible to serve as chair or
minority chair of any standing committee and no member may serve
as chair or minority chair of more than one standing committee.
Any chair or minority chair held by a member who fails to
meet the requirements of this rule shall become vacant by
automatic operation of this rule. If the appointing authority
fails to make an appointment of a chair or minority chair prior
20210HR0078PN0929 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
to the organizational meeting of a standing committee or fails
to fill a vacancy within seven calendar days after it occurs,
such position shall be deemed to remain vacant in violation of
this rule. Whenever a chair or minority chair becomes vacant or
remains vacant in violation of this rule, the member of the
applicable caucus who meets the requirements of this rule shall
automatically fill the vacancy and, if there are two or more
such eligible caucus members for any such vacancy or vacancies,
they shall be filled from among such eligible members through a
lottery to be conducted under the supervision of the Chief Clerk
after giving notice of the time and place thereof to all
eligible members, to the Speaker, to the Majority Leader and to
the Minority Leader.
Nothing in this rule shall prohibit the appointing authority
from transferring a member from the chair or minority chair of a
standing committee to the chair or minority chair of another
standing committee.
Whenever the appointment of a chair or minority chair will
cause the applicable caucus to exceed its permissible allocation
of members on a standing committee, the appointing authority
shall make a temporary transfer of an eligible committee member
to the standing committee vacated by the member appointed as
chair or minority chair until a regular committee appointment
can be made in accordance with the rules of the House. If the
Speaker or Minority Leader fails to make a temporary transfer
within seven calendar days after such appointment, the committee
member with the least seniority, who is eligible for transfer,
shall be automatically transferred to the committee vacated by
the newly appointed chair or minority chair and, if more than
one committee member is eligible for such transfer, the transfer
20210HR0078PN0929 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
shall be implemented through a lottery conducted under the
supervision of the Chief Clerk.
The Speaker of the House, Floor Leader of the majority party
and the Floor Leader of the minority party shall be ex-officio
members of all standing committees, without the right to vote
and they shall be excluded from any limitation as to the number
of members on the committees or in counting a quorum.
Twenty-four standing committees of the House, each to consist
of 25 members except the Committee on Appropriations, which
shall consist of 37 members, are hereby created. In addition,
there are hereby created 56 standing subcommittees.
All standing committees shall consist of 15 members of the
majority party and 10 members of the minority party, except the
Committee on Appropriations which shall consist of 22 members of
the majority party and 15 members of the minority party. The
quorum for each of the standing committees and subcommittees
shall be no less than the majority of said committees. The
following are the standing committees and subcommittees thereof:
(1) Aging and Older Adult Services
(a) Subcommittee on Care and Services
(b) Subcommittee on Programs and Benefits
(2) Agriculture and Rural Affairs
(3) Appropriations
(a) Subcommittee on Health and Human Services
(b) Subcommittee on Education
(c) Subcommittee on Economic Impact and Infrastructure
(d) Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy
(e) Subcommittee on Criminal Justice
(f) Subcommittee on Government and Financial Oversight
(4) Children and Youth
20210HR0078PN0929 - 4 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
(5) Commerce
(a) Subcommittee on Financial Services and Banking
(b) Subcommittee on Housing
(c) Subcommittee on Economic Development
(d) Subcommittee on Small Business
(e) Subcommittee on Automation and Technology
(6) Consumer Affairs
(a) Subcommittee on Public Utilities
(b) Subcommittee on Consumer Protection
(7) Education
(a) Subcommittee on Basic Education
(b) Subcommittee on Higher Education
(c) Subcommittee on Special Education
(d) Subcommittee on Career and Technical Education
(8) Environmental Resources and Energy
(a) Subcommittee on Energy
(b) Subcommittee on Mining
(c) Subcommittee on Parks and Forests
(9) Finance
(a) Subcommittee on Tax Modernization and Reform
(10) Game and Fisheries
(11) Gaming Oversight
(12) Health
(a) Subcommittee on Health Facilities
(b) Subcommittee on Health Care
(13) Human Services
(a) Subcommittee on Mental Health
(b) Subcommittee on Drugs and Alcohol
(14) Insurance
(15) Judiciary
20210HR0078PN0929 - 5 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
(a) Subcommittee on Crime and Corrections
(b) Subcommittee on Courts
(c) Subcommittee on Family Law
(16) Labor and Industry
(a) Subcommittee on Employment and Unemployment
Compensation
(b) Subcommittee on Workers Compensation and Worker
Protection
(17) Liquor Control
(a) Subcommittee on Licensing
(b) Subcommittee on Marketing
(18) Local Government
(a) Subcommittee on Boroughs
(b) Subcommittee on Counties
(c) Subcommittee on Townships
(19) Professional Licensure
(20) State Government
(a) Subcommittee on Government Operations
(b) Subcommittee on Government Information Technology
and Communication
(c) Subcommittee on Government Integrity and
Transparency
(d) Subcommittee on Public Pensions, Benefits and Risk
Management
(e) Subcommittee on Campaign Finance and Elections
(21) Tourism and Recreational Development
(a) Subcommittee on Arts and Entertainment
(b) Subcommittee on Recreation
(c) Subcommittee on Travel Promotion, History and
Heritage
20210HR0078PN0929 - 6 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
(22) Transportation
(a) Subcommittee on Highways
(b) Subcommittee on Public Transportation
(c) Subcommittee on Transportation Safety
(d) Subcommittee on Aviation
(e) Subcommittee on Railroads
(f) Subcommittee on Ports
(23) Urban Affairs
(a) Subcommittee on [Cities, Counties - First Class]
Subcommittee on Blight Remediation and Prevention
(b) Subcommittee on [Cities, Counties - Second Class]
Affordable Housing
(c) Subcommittee on [Cities, Third Class] Community
Development
(24) Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness
(a) Subcommittee on Military and Veterans Facilities
(b) Subcommittee on Security and Emergency Response
Readiness
20210HR0078PN0929 - 7 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18