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Rules committee backs changes to joint rules including automatic companion bills, cross-house cosponsorship
Summary
The Rules Standing Committee recommended favorably on the second substitute of HJR 1, which renames the daily journal a 'draft journal,' defines 'minority party' for three-party chambers, allows automatic opening of companion statute bills for constitutional proposals, permits cross-house cosponsorship, and clarifies pay for nonmember attendance. The recommendation passed by unanimous voice vote.
The Utah Legislature Rules Standing Committee on Jan. 30 recommended favorably the second substitute of HJR 1, a joint-rules package of procedural changes that sponsors said will streamline legislative processing and adapt rules to a changing chamber composition.
Representative Dunnegan, the sponsor, told the committee the resolution makes several targeted changes to joint rules, including replacing references to a "final journal" with a "draft journal" to reflect the practice of keeping a daily journal that is later edited. "We're calling that the draft journal instead of the final journal," Dunnegan said.
Dunnegan outlined other key changes: the bill defines "minority party" and "minority leader" to account for a chamber with three parties (the minority party is defined as the party with the second-most members); it requires staff to automatically open companion statute bills when a bill affecting the constitution is filed; it removes a prior restriction so members may cosponsor legislation that originated in the other house; and it clarifies that legislators who attend committee hearings of committees they are not members of will not be compensated for those appearances.
On automatic companion bills, Dunnegan said the rule removes the current extra step in which staff contact the sponsor to ask whether to open an implementing statute, making the opening of the companion bill a requirement when appropriate. On cross-house cosponsorship, he said technological improvements make the prior restriction obsolete: "That means you will be allowed to cosponsor legislation that originates in the other house."
Senator Wyler asked about pay implications and noted lawmakers receive a per diem for official meetings. "We get a per diem... $301 per diem," Wyler said, summing up how per-diem rules operate regardless of hours worked. Dunnegan and other members clarified that per diem applies only to official, approved legislative meetings and not to informal constituent events or ribbon cuttings.
Senator McKay raised a process concern about the workload committee's infrequent meetings and the timing for placing bills on calendars, warning that delays can "feel like an unnecessary prejudice against that workload bill that passed." Dunnegan and the chair acknowledged the point and invited McKay to draft language for a third substitute; the chair also said internal scheduling changes would be made to try to reduce late-session pressure.
After discussion the committee voted by voice to favorably recommend the second substitute of HJR 1; the chair recorded the motion as passing unanimously. The recommendation advances the resolution to the next stage of the legislative process.
The committee did not receive public comment on the measure during the hearing. The next procedural steps will be determined by the receiving body's rules and calendars.
