Kansas Senate adopts rules resolution, expands committee that selects committee leaders and tightens voting procedures

The Kansas Senate on Jan. 22 adopted Senate Resolution 1704, a package of permanent rules that expands a committee that handles committee leadership changes, sets a seven-legislative-day limit before a motion to withdraw a bill from committee may be made, clarifies that recorded votes should be clear and audible, and updates language in the Senate dress code. The final vote on SR 1704 was 39-0.

Senator Schallenbarger of Cherokee, who carried the resolution on the floor, told colleagues that "Senate resolution 1704 will be the permanent rules of the senate for the next 4 years" and outlined four changes being proposed: creation of a committee on committees (under the organization, calendar and rules — OCR) limited to chair or vice chair changes; a rule making a motion to withdraw a bill from committee an order only after it has been in committee for seven legislative days; guidance that members be "clear and audible" when casting recorded…