Update on Rules
- hannanur3
- May 9
- 3 min read
Dear friends,
I’m happy to share the rules changes that the House passed last week. These two sets of rules will govern the House and the operation of the joint committees that exist between the House and the Senate.
Major provisions of the House Rules approved this week include:
Requiring bill summaries be posted on the Legislature’s website before a bill is voted upon by the House.
Publicly sharing the results of committee votes on the Legislature’s website, as well as the hearing attendance of committee members
My committee votes have always been available to anyone who sought them. Over the past 6 years as committee chair, my votes have only become more transparent, as reporting decisions on bills often reflect the recommendations of the chair.
Requiring 72-hour public notice for hearings.
My committees — all three that I have chaired— have always given the public two weeks' notice before hearings, with the exception of hearings on bills that were filed late.
Requiring the physical presence of House members to vote, with the exception of health conditions and pregnancy-related limitations.
These exceptions offer remote voting options for up to 20 weeks of parental leave.
Major provisions of the Joint Rules approved by the House include:
Requiring committees to write and publicly share bill summaries on the Legislature’s website before a bill is heard.
Requiring testimony be made publicly available. The rules give committee chairs discretion over how this will be done, which includes the opportunity to redact any private or sensitive information shared by an individual.
Requiring that committees make decisions on bills no later than 60 days after they are heard. As a reminder, such decisions include reporting a bill out favorably, sending a bill to study, or reporting the bill adversely.
One 30-day extension may be requested and approved.
The Senate’s proposed rules would require all bills to be reported out on the first Wednesday in December of the first year of the session.
Publicly sharing committee votes on the Legislature’s website, as well as the attendance of committee members at hearings.
Although the House voted to make polls public last session, this session, we voted to make sure all polls are accessible and clear, not just those that report a bill out favorably.
Requiring the physical presence of each committee member at hearings and barring their virtual appearance.
Virtual appearances are currently allowed by the Senate. The House has always required members to be present, and this would be applied to the Senate. (It’s still to be determined how the Senate will respond to this rule.)
The House also adopted rules allowing for committee members on medical or parental leave to inform the Clerk’s Office and participate virtually.
Requiring that all conference committee reports that are filed include a summary.
Extending the time allowed for formal sessions.
In the first year of session, extending formal sessions until the third Wednesday in December.
In the second year of session, allowing for a return to formal session after July 31 for conference committee reports filed after that date.
While we have, in previous years (including this one), allowed this, it is now codified as a practice that does not require suspension of the rules.
While serving as a House Chair for the past three sessions, I have always adopted a rule in my committees that informs the public that all testimony received from lobbyists, institutions, nonprofits, or similar groups is accessible. The one caveat to this public testimony sharing has been if an individual shares a personal story that they do not want to be widely available. The new rules allow chairs discretion to redact private information before sharing or not share it at all. I will continue to uphold this rule that nothing will be redacted from the previously listed groups.
While the House rules will go into effect immediately, the House version of the Joint Rules have been sent to the Senate — who voted on their own version last week — for their consideration. I will keep you updated on what the final agreed-upon rules will look like.
As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions at marjorie.decker@mahouse.gov.
Sincerely,
Marjorie
