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House Rules Committee adopts special-session procedures; 24-hour amendment deadline set, 15-minute debate bid fails
Summary
The House Rules Committee approved special-session rules that incorporate a flow motion and set a 24-hour amendment filing deadline. A separate proposal to lengthen individual debate times from five to 15 minutes failed on a 3-8 vote.
The Rules Committee of the 114th General Assembly voted to adopt procedural rules for the ongoing special session, approving a package that formalizes a "flow motion" process and sets an amendment filing deadline of 24 hours, committee members said during the meeting.
The rules package, moved by Chairman Williams and adopted by roll call, alters certain committee assignments for the special session and shortens the amendment filing window. "I move adoption of the current rules spread before the members," Chairman Williams said before the vote. The motion passed 9 ayes to 2 noes.
The action matters because it changes how quickly bills and amendments can move through committees during the special session. Representative Camper asked for clarification about the shortened timeline; Camper explained that "it's my understanding... that's actually 24 hours for the amendment filing deadline," and that bills previously filed by the usual filing deadline would proceed through first and second reading according to the special-session schedule.
Representative Camper also moved a separate amendment to Rule 21 to extend the individual debate limit from five minutes to 15 minutes. "I would move adoption of my recommended rule change to Rule 21," Camper said. That motion was seconded and brought to a roll-call vote. The proposal failed, 3 ayes to 8 noes.
Vote tallies recorded by the clerk for the initial rules adoption were: Camper — no; Crawford — yes; Darby — yes; Faison — yes; Farmer — yes; Grills — yes; Hakeem — no; Hicks — yes; Shaw — yes; Williams — yes; Lambert — yes (9 ayes, 2 noes). For the Rule 21 change to extend debate time, the clerk recorded: Camper — aye; Crawford — no; Darby — no; Faison — no; Farmer — no; Grills — no; Hakeem — aye; Hicks — no; Shaw — aye; Williams — no; Lambert — no (3 ayes, 8 noes).
After the votes, Representative Farmer moved that the changes adopted by the committee be submitted to the House via the Ad Hoc Committee on Rules for the first extraordinary session; the committee approved that submission by voice vote. The committee then adjourned.
Details recorded in the meeting: the rules package includes the flow-motion procedure that permits bills to move between committees more quickly than during regular session; the amendment filing deadline for this special session is 24 hours; and an attempt to expand individual debate time from five minutes to 15 minutes failed.
