USA > Michigan > Michigan official directory and legislative manual for the years 1903-1904 > Part 12
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RULE 47. Every bill or joint resolution reported upon by a committee with the recommendation that the same "do pass," shall be printed, referred to the committee of the whole, and placed on the general order.
RULE 48. No bill or joint resolution shall be committed or amended until it has passed its first and second reading.
RULE 49. On the final passage of every bill and joint resolution, the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays and entered upon the journal; and no bill or joint resolution shall be declared passed unless a majority of all the members elected to the house shall have voted in favor of the passage of the same.
RULE 50. No bill or joint resolution appropriating the public money or property for local or private purposes, or altering or amending any act of incorporation granted prior to 1850, shall be declared passed unless two- thirds of all the members elected to the house shall have voted in favor of the passage of the same.
RULE 51. Every bill or joint resolution transmitted from the senate shall receive the several· readings, be committed, and treated in all respects as though the same originated in the house.
RULE 52. A motion to strike out the enacting words of a bill shall have precedence of a motion to amend; and if carried shall be considered equivalent to its rejection.
RULE 53. When notice of the intention to move the reconsideration of any bill or joint resolution shall be given by a member, the clerk of the house shall retain the said bill or joint resolution, until after the time expires during which the motion can be made.
RULE 54. The title of every bill shall express the subject to which the same relates, and if the bill proposes any amendment to existing laws, enacted prior to the last general compilation, the title shall contain also the compiler's section and the chapter of the compiled laws which the bill pro- poses to amend.
RULE 55. Bills or joint resolutions which have been considered in commit- tee of the whole, may be amended by the house by a two-thirds vote of all
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the members present and voting thereon. When any bill or joint resolution, considered in committee of the whole, shall have been recommitted, any amendments made thereto by the committee may be concurred in by a majority vote .- H. J., April 1, 1891.
RULE 56. Bills or joint resolutions placed on the order of third reading, or their final passage, without having been considered in committee of the whole, may be amended prior to their passage by a majority vote.
RULE 57. For the purpose of amendment, the preamble of a bill or joint resolution shall be considered as a part of the bill or joint resolution to which it is attached, but on the final passage of any bill or joint resolution, the preamble shall be considered with the title.
CHAPTER IX.
MISCELLANEOUS.
RULE 58. No person unless introduced by a member shall be admitted within the bar of the house, except the executive, members of the senate, the heads of the departments of the state government, judges, members of congress, those who have been members of congress, of the constitutional conventions of the state, of the state legislature, and such persons as the speaker shall assign places as reporters. (All persons provided for as above shall be known to the sergeant-at-arms, and such persons introduced shall be admitted within the bar only upon the personal request of a member each time such courtesy is granted.)-H. J., Feb. 2, 1897.
RULE 59. Every order or resolution to which the concurrence of the senate shall be necessary, shall be read to the house, and shall lie upon the table one day preceding its adoption. No concurrent resolution appropriating money shall be declared adopted unless a majority of all the members elected to the house shall have voted in favor of the adoption of the same. -H. J., May 25, 1897.
RULE 60. Upon the passage of any question, the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays, and entered upon the journal of the house, when demanded by any ten members.
RULE 61. No newspaper or other matter foreign to the business of the house, shall be read within its bar during the sessions thereof.
RULE 62. The rules of parliamentary practice comprised in "Cushing's Law and Practice of Legislative Assemblies," shall govern in all cases in which they are not inconsistent with the standing rules and orders of the house.
RULE 63. Any rule of the house may be altered or amended by a vote of two-thirds of the members elect, or may be suspended by a two-thirds vote of the members present.
RULE 64. Any question which requires, under the rule, a two-thirds majority to adopt, being lost, may be reconsidered by a majority vote.
RULE 65. When the reading of a paper is called for, and the same is objected to by any member, it shall be determined by a vote of the house.
RULE 66. No memorial, remonstrance, or petition shall be printed in full in . the daily journal without having been first read to the house.
RULE 67., On all appeals from the decisions of the chair, the question shall be, "Shall the judgment of the chair stand as the judgment of the house ?"
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which shall be decided by a rising vote unless otherwise ordered by the house.
RULE 68. An appeal may be laid on the table, but shall not carry with it the subject matter before the house at the time such appeal is taken.
RULE 69. Any subject matter having been made the special order for a particular day, and not having been reached on that day, the same shall come up on the order of "Unfinished business" on the next succeeding legis- lative day.
RULE 70. All standing committees, before reporting adversely to any reso- lution or bill, shall notify the member presenting such resolution or bill when and where he may meet such committee to explain the same; such notice to be given by mail in the house postoffice, twenty-four hours, or in person at any time, before so reporting.
RULE 71. All bills appropriating money from the public treasury shall be referred to the committee on ways and means for their approval or cor- rection before final action is taken on the same .- H. J., Jan. 16, 1891.
RULE 72. The words "within the bar of the house," when used in these rules, shall mean the space on the main floor of representative hall, together with the cloak and toilet rooms .- H. J., April 20, 1899.
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JOINT RULES
OF THE
SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
RULE 1. Each house shall transmit to the other all papers on which any bill or resolution shall be founded.
. RULE 2. When a bill or resolution which shall have passed one house is rejected in the other, notice thereof shall be given to the house in which the same may have passed.
RULE 3. Messages from one house to the other shall be communicated by the secretary of the senate and clerk of the house of representatives, unless the house transmitting the message shall especially direct otherwise.
RULE 4. It shall be in the power of either house to amend any amendment made by the other to any bill or resolution.
RULE 5. In every case of a difference between the two houses upon any subject of legislation, if either house shall request a conference, and appoint a committee for that purpose, and the other house shall also appoint a com- mittee, such committee shall meet at such hour and place as shall be agreed on by the chairmen, and state to each other verbally or in writing, as either may choose. the reasons of their respective houses, and confer freely thereon, and they shall be authorized to report to their respective houses such modifi- cations as they shall think advisable.
RULE 6. It shall be in order for either house to recede from any subject matter of difference existing between the two houses at any time previous to a conference, whether the papers on which such difference has arisen are before the house receding, formally or informally, and that a majority shall govern, except in cases where two-thirds are required by the constitution : and the question having been put and lost, shall not be again put the same day, and the consideration thereof. in other respects, be regulated by the rules of the respective houses.
RULE 7. After each house has adhered to its disagreement, the bill which is the subject of difference shall be deemed lost, and shall not be again revived during the same session, in either house, unless by consent of three- fourths of the members present of the house reviving it.
RULE 8. The same bill shall not create, renew, or continue more than one incorporation, nor contain any provision in relation to the altering of more than one act of incorporation; nor shall the same bill appropriate public money or property to more than one local or private purpose. Any bills appro- priating moneys for the payment of the officers of the government shall be confined to that purpose exclusively.
RULE 9. Whenever there shall be an election of any officer in joint con- vention, or whenever said convention shall advise or consent to a nomination
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made to them by the governor, the result shall be certified by the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives, and shall be announced by the presiding officer of each house to their respective houses, and shall be entered on the journal of each, and shall be communicated to the governor by the secretary of the senate and clerk of the house of representatives.
RULE 10. No bill that shall have passed one house shall be sent for concur- rence to the other on either of the last two days of the session, whenever a time shall have previously been fixed for the adjournment of the legislature.
RULE 11. The committee on enrolled bills in each of the two houses shall act jointly in the examination of all bills and resolutions before their pre- sentation to the governor, either as a body or by such respective sub-com- mittees as such committees may appoint for that purpose.
RULE 12. Whenever both houses by the constitutional vote, direct that any act or resolution shall take effect immediately, or at any time less than ninety days, a proviso shall be added thereto at the enrollment of the same in words to this effect: "This act (or resolution) shall take effect immediately (or in - days)."
RULE 13. Every resolution by which any money or other property of the state shall be donated or appropriated, or by which any expense to the state shall be incurred, or which shall have any operation or effect outside of the two houses of the legislature, except such appropriations and expenses as shall be for the exclusive use, necessity or convenience of the legislature. shall be either a joint or concurrent resolution; and shall take the same course as a bill, and shall be enrolled and presented to the governor for his signature before the same shall take effect.
RULE 14. Whenever a bill shall have been passed by both houses of the legislature, the objections of the governor to the contrary notwithstanding, or whenever a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the constitution shall have been passed by both houses in the manner prescribed by the con- stitution, such bill or such joint resolution shall be duly enrolled and signed by the presiding officers of both houses. The secretary of the senate and the clerk of the house shall then each attach a certificate to such enrolled copy, to the effect that the same has been passed by the senate and house respectively, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, and shall forthwith file the same in the office of the secretary of state .- H. J., May 15, 1895; S. J., May 16, 1895.
JOINT CONVENTION RULES.
RULE 1. Joint conventions shall be held in the hall of the house of repre- sentatives, and the president of the senate shall preside.
RULE 2. The secretary of the senate and clerk of the house of represen- tatives shall be secretaries of the joint convention, and the proceedings of the convention shall be published with the journals of the house, and the final result as announced by the president on return of the senate to their chamber, shall be entered on the journal of the senate.
RULE 3. The rules of the house of representatives, so far as the same may be applicable, shall govern the proceedings in joint convention.
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RULE 4. Whenever a president pro tempore presides he shall be entitled to vote on all occasions and in case of a tie the question shall be declared lost. RULE 5. Joint conventions shall have the power to compel the attendance of absent members, in the mode and under the penalties prescribed by the rules of the house to which such members respectively belong; and for that purpose the sergeant-at-arms of each house shall attend.
RULE 6. Joint convention may adjourn from time to time, as may be found necessary, and it shall be the duty of the house of representatives, to prepare to receive the senate, and of the senate to proceed to the hall of the house of representatives, at the time fixed by law or resolution, or to which the joint convention may have adjourned.
PRACTICE AND PROCEEDINGS.
The legislature having convened, been called to order, the list of members elect read and the oath administered [see Act No. 67, Public Acts of 1877, p. 53], it is customary to immediately adopt the rules of the preceding house, they having no force until so adopted. The joint rules are adopted after- wards by concurrent resolution. The election of officers is then proceeded with viva voce, each member rising as his name is called and naming the candidate of his choice; a majority of all the votes cast elects. The house having chosen a speaker, a committee is appointed to conduct him to the chair; he then assumes the duties of the office. The officers usually elected are by the
SENATE.
HOUSE. 4
President, pro tempore.
Secretary.
First Assistant Secretary. (a)
Second Assistant Secretary. (a) Proof Reader. (a) .
Sergeant-at-Arms.
1st Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms.
2d Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms.
Speaker. Clerk. Journal Clerk. Bill Clerk.
Proof reader. (a)
Reading Clerk. (a) Financial Clerk. (a)
Sergeant-at-Arms.
1st Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms.
2d Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms. 3d Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms.
By concurrent resolution, the postmaster and assistant postmaster.
The oath of office is administered to all the above by the presiding officers respectively.
The janitors, keepers of the cloak-rooms, and messengers (except the mes- sengers of the secretary and the clerk), are appointed by the lieutenant governor and the speaker.
Each house, having completed its organization, appoints a committee to wait upon the other and inform them that it is ready for business; after which a joint committee is appointed to wait upon the governor and inform
(a) These officers are appointed by the secretary and clerk.
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THE LEGISLATURE
him that the legislature is duly organized and ready to receive any com- munication that he may be pleased to make. At the time fixed by the governor the senate and house meet in joint convention and receive his message. The standing committees of the senate and house are appointed by the lieutenant governor and the speaker respectively, as soon as possible after the organization.
COMPENSATION.
Section 15, Art. IV, of the constitution, fixes the compensation, mileage and allowance for stationery to members. The compensation of officers is fixed by act No. 3, laws of 1873, p. 2. The per diem allowance may be drawn as fast as earned, usually in multiples of ten days for convenience in book-keep- ing ; the allowance forstationery, at any time ; mileage as soon as ascertained by . the proper committees. Pay is drawn upon certificates signed by the presiding officer and secretary, or clerk, and countersigned by the auditor general. The provision of the constitution as to postage is a dead letter, as prepay- ment of postage is now required. Such stationery as is needed by the com- mittees is furnished by the state. Act 3, 1873 Am. Act 175, 1901.
DUTIES OF OFFICERS.
President and speaker. - Senate rules 1, 2, 3, 4, and house rules 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, prescribe the duties of presiding officers.
Secretary and assistants .- Senate rules 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, set forth the duties of the officers. The assistant keeps the journal of the senate, and performs such other clerical duties as are assigned to him by the secretary.
Clerk .- House rules 9, 10 a-f, prescribe the general duties of the clerk and he assigns such duties to his assistants as he deems proper. The assignment of duties to them has heretofore been as follows:
Journal clerk .- It is his duty to keep a record of each day's proceedings; to enter in the journal all joint documents ordered printed therein; to correct the daily journal for the publication of the official journal; and in case of the absence of the clerk to perform his duties generally.
Bill clerk .- It is his duty to keep the bill history, showing the number, file number, and all action on bills and joint resolutions, with the date thereof, to furnish the journal clerk, for entry on the journal, a copy of the titles of all petitions, etc., presented, and bills and joint resolutions introduced, in numerical order, together with the name of the member presenting the same, and the reference to committees; to distribute to the proper com- mittees, or officers, all bills, petitions and documents referred: to prepare and transmit the messages to be delivered to the senate.
Proof reader .- It is his duty to attend to the enrollment printing of all bills and resolutions passed by the house and present the enrolled copy to the committee on enrollment for comparison, and present the same to the governor, taking a receipt therefor, showing the day and hour at which each bill was deposited in the executive office.
Reading clerk .- It is his duty to attend to all reading from the clerk's desk and perform such other duties as may be assigned to him.
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Financial clerk .- It is his duty to make out pay certificates ready for the signatures of the proper officers, and keep the account of the same; and such other duties as the clerk may assign him.
Sergeant-at-arms .- They are the executive officers of their respective houses. They have charge of the keepers of cloak-rooms, janitors and messengers; control of the police regulations. They also attend to the warm- ing and ventilation of the halls, provide rooms for committees, and supply them with furniture and conveniences, and serve subpoenas and warrants. The assistants perform such duties as are assigned them.
Postmaster .- He attends to the receipt and delivery of all mail matter coming to members and officers, and the proper delivery and mailing, at the general postoffice, of all matters sent by them.
Janitors .- They, under the supervision of the sergeant-at-arms, attend to the warming, ventilation, sweeping, and dusting of the halls and committee rooms; have charge of the document rooms, and, when required by the sergeant-at-arms, act as door-keepers.
Messengers .- Each messenger, at the opening of the session, has assigned to him by the sergeant-at-arms a pro rata number of desks in his house for his special attention. He is expected to keep the journals, bills and joint resolu- tions thereon carefully and correctly filed-adding each morning, before the opening of the session, all such as have been delivered from the printing office. He is also to arrange and keep in order on his desk all other books, papers and documents belonging thereto. He attends to the folding, pasting and mail- ing of all documents and papers sent by the members whose desks he attends. During the daily sessions he is expected to occupy the position assigned to him on the floor and hold himself in readiness to carry messages and papers to and from the members, the presiding officer and the secretary or clerk. All these and such other duties as may be assigned him by the presiding officer or sergeant-at-arms, under whose special direction and control he is placed, he is expected to perform in a quiet, gentlemanly manner, avoiding at all times in the house, all rude, boisterous conduct, and all laughing, talk- ing, whispering. and the like during session. The officers' messengers per- form such duties as are required of them by the officers to whom they are respectively assigned.
QUORUM AND MAJORITIES.
A majority of the members elect constitute a quorum in each house. A majority of all the members elect is necessary to pass a bill or joint resolu- tion. The assent of two-thirds of all the members elect is necessary to pass a bill or joint resolution in the following cases: 1. Over the governor's veto : 2. Appropriating public money or property for local or private purposes: 3. Altering or amending any act of incorporation heretofore granted, except of municipal corporations; 4. Proposing amendments to the constitution.
The assent of two-thirds of all the members elect is also necessary to expel a member; to order an act to take effect at any other time than ninety days from the end of the session; to request the governor to remove a judge; and to amend a bill or joint resolution in the house, after its consideration in com- mittee of the whole.
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ORDER OF BUSINESS.
The order of business is essentially the same in both houses, the only differ- ence being one of arrangement. It is as follows:
Presentation of petitions .- Under this head are presented all petitions, remonstrances, memorials and resolutions adopted by boards of supervisors, or other bodies. Before presentation they should be indorsed as follows: "Petition of A. B. and others for -; " "Remonstrance of A. B. and others against -; " "Memorial of relative to -," or "Resolutions adopted by - relative to -; " following each one, as the case may be, with a brief statement of the subject matter, and the name of the member presenting it.
Reports of standing committees .- Here are received all reports from stand- ing committees relative to bills, etc., referred to them. If the report is favor- able the bill is ordered printed, referred to the committee of the whole and placed on the general order, after concurrence or non-concurrence in amend- ments recommended. Amendments made in one house to a bill which origin- ated in the other, whether by committee or otherwise, are written on slips of paper and attached to the bill. They do not become a part of the bill until concurred in by the house in which the bill originated. If the report is adverse the bill is subject to the order of the house, and is usually tabled. Blanks for making reports are furnished by the secretary or clerk.
Reports of select committees .- Under this head all committees appointed for a special purpose make their reports, and action is taken thereon.
Messages from the governor .- Here are announced and read all messages from the executive, whether of approval or veto, ret irning bills or relative to other matters.
Communications from state officers .- State officers frequently have occasion to send communications to the legislature, and are often called upon for information on certain matters connected with their departments. Their communications and replies are announced under this head.
Messages from the other house .- In the course- of business many messages are received by one house from the other and are announced here. If they transmit bills the latter are read a first and second time and referred to the proper committees. If bills are returned without amendment they are referred to the committee on engrossment and enrollment for enrollment. If amended they are subject to the action of the house by concurrence or otherwise. If the message contains concurrent resolutions, they are usually acted upon at once.
Notices .- This is the proper time for giving the requisite notice of the future introduction of bills or joint resolutions. Forms are furnished by the secretary or clerk for the use of members. As this previous notice is required by rule only (except in the case of bills to amend a charter of a corpora- tion), it is frequently omitted by unanimous consent, or suspension of the rules.
Introduction of bills .- Members having prepared their bills with due regard to constitutional requirements (Const. Art. IV., Secs. 20, 48; see also third paragraph under " Miscellaneous"), are now permitted to introduce them. If
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previous notice has been given, the members should so state and ask leave to introduce the bill. Leave having been granted, the bill is sent to the secretary or clerk, who reads the title, and the president or speaker announces "First reading of the bill;" the title is again read, and the presid- ing officer announces "Second reading of the bill." The first and second readings are usually by the titles only. The bill is then referred to the proper committee. If previous notice has not been given, the member must ask for unanimous consent to introduce the bill. If any member should object, the introducer may move to suspend the rule (except in the case mentioned under "Notices"). Joint resolutions are also introduced under this head. Before they are offered for introduction they should be indorsed as follows: "A bill [or joint resolution] to -," giving the title in full and also the name of the introducer.
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