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Education committee chair announces new housekeeping rules for the session
Summary
House Education Committee Chair Pat Heinert outlined procedural changes to committee workflow, including an appropriations threshold, a consent calendar process, electronic roll‑call plans and more flexible amendment handling.
At the committee’s organizational meeting, House Education Committee Chair Representative Pat Heinert reviewed several procedural and logistical changes members should expect this session.
Heinert said leadership requested that the committee prioritize bills with appropriations; he told members the informal threshold for an appropriation bill this year is $100,000. “So if you got something, $99 is a good number,” Heinert said, explaining the threshold the committee leadership provided.
He described a new consent calendar process for committee referrals. Under the consent calendar, bills that pass committee unanimously (14–0) or fail unanimously (0–14) can be moved en bloc to the floor unless a single floor member asks for the bill to be pulled for discussion.
The chair briefed members on electronic roll calls: the committee will not start with full electronic roll‑call voting immediately, he said, but staff and members will prepare to transition midterm. Heinert also said committee staff will accept on‑the‑fly amendments processed by the legal assistant and that a Christmas‑tree (annotated) version of redrafted amendments will be returned to committee members.
Heinert covered routine logistics—meeting time preferences, food arrangements and clerk duties—and reminded members that January deadlines set by leadership include moving appropriations bills to House Appropriations by Feb. 10.
Why it matters: These procedural changes affect how quickly bills that carry fiscal impact are heard and how committee business will be handled on the floor and in committee. Members were asked to be prepared to carry bills to the floor when assigned and to familiarize themselves with forthcoming electronic roll‑call procedures.
