Clerk flags limits on rules: congratulatory items, unlawful bill filings noted in extraordinary session

During opening proceedings, Clerk Clark raised a parliamentary inquiry about the scope of business the House may conduct in an extraordinary session and clarified two procedural points.

On the first point, Clerk Clark said congratulatory items are not matters of policy or substance and therefore may be acted on during an extraordinary session; by contrast, substantive resolutions must be referred to committee and, if substantive, must fit the governor’s call. As Clerk Clark put it: "Congratulatory items are not a matter of policy or substance, so the house is able to act on those congratulatory items." The Clerk added that the Clerk determines what qualifies as congratulatory versus substantive.

On a second procedural question, Clerk Clark asked whether the House rules address members filing bills that are illegal or knowingly unlawful. Clerk Clark answered that the rules do not address that situation, indicating a gap in the standing rules as recorded in the transcript.

Both clarifications were framed as parliamentary procedure rather than policy determinations. The transcript records the Clerk making these inquiries and providing the stated clarifications; no formal motion or committee action followed from these points in the captured segments.

What changed: the Clerk’s clarifications set the floor’s immediate interpretation of what may be handled in extraordinary session and flagged an absence of a rule covering knowingly unlawful bill filings.