BILL REQ. #: S-0501.1
_____________________________________________
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 8400
_____________________________________________| State of Washington | 61st Legislature | 2009 Regular Session |
By Senators Murray and Parlette
BE IT RESOLVED, By the Senate of the state of Washington, the House
of Representatives concurring, That the following be adopted as the
Joint Rules of the Sixty-First Legislature:
JOINT RULES
OF THE SENATE AND THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SIXTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE
2009
JOINT RULE NO.
Rule 1 Ethics.
Rule 2 Prohibited political activity.
Rule 3 Employee protection.
Rule 4 Legislative questionnaires.
Rule 5 Sessions of the legislature.
Rule 6 Joint session.
Rule 7 Motions for joint session.
Rule 8 Business limited.
Rule 9 Joint legislative committees.
Rule 10 Joint committee hearings.
Rule 11 Joint and concurrent resolutions: Memorials.
Rule 12 Amendatory bills.
Rule 13 Bills, how drawn.
Rule 14 Amendments to state Constitution: Action by
legislature.
Rule 15 Publicity of proposed amendments to state Constitution.
Rule 16 Initiative petition before the legislature.
Rule 17 Conference committee.
Rule 18 Failure to agree.
Rule 19 Report of conference committee, how made out; whom
returned to.
Rule 20 Adoption of reports.
Rule 21 Messages between the two houses.
Rule 22 Bills to be engrossed.
Rule 23 Final action on bills, how communicated.
Rule 24 Enrolled bills--Presiding officer to sign.
Rule 25 Disposition of enrolled bills
Rule 26 Adjournment.
Rule 27 Adjournment sine die.
Rule 28 Each house judge of its own membership.
Rule 29 Convening special legislative sessions.
Rule 30 Amendments to joint rules.
Rule 31 Joint rules to apply for biennium.
Ethics
Rule 1. Legislators and legislative employees are subject to the
provisions of the Ethics in Public Service Act, chapter 42.52 RCW. The
house of representatives and senate may impose disciplinary action for
violations of the act. Disciplinary actions for violation include: In
the case of a legislator, reprimand, censure, or expulsion, and when
applicable, restitution; and in the case of a legislative employee,
reprimand, suspension, or dismissal, and when applicable, restitution.
Prohibited Political Activity
Rule 2. (1) A legislator shall not knowingly solicit, directly or
indirectly, a political contribution from a legislative employee.
(2) A legislative employee shall not knowingly solicit or accept
contributions for any candidate or political committee during working
hours. At no time shall a legislative employee directly or indirectly
solicit a contribution from another legislative employee for any
legislative candidate, caucus political committee, or leadership
political committee, nor coerce another employee into making a
contribution to any candidate or political committee. No legislative
employee, as a condition of becoming or remaining employed, may
directly or indirectly be required to make any contribution to a
political candidate, committee, or party.
Employee Protection
Rule 3. No retaliation shall be permitted against any legislative
employee for reporting in good faith the violation of any policy or
law.
Legislative Questionnaires
Rule 4. (1) The use of public funds by a legislator for
questionnaires distributed by regular mail or electronic means is
authorized only if the following criteria are met:
(a) The questionnaire is limited to soliciting opinions or facts
relating to legislative issues or studies;
(b) The questionnaire is specifically authorized by the legislator
and the identity of the legislator sponsoring the questionnaire is
disclosed on the questionnaire; and
(c) The questionnaire complies with all other pertinent statutes,
rules, and policies, including the restrictions in subsection (2) of
this rule on when questionnaires can be mailed.
(2)(a) During the twelve-month period beginning on December 1st of
the year before a general election for a legislator's election to
office and continuing through November 30th immediately after, mass
mailing by regular or electronic means of a questionnaire is allowed
only if it is included in the identical newsletter to constituents
permitted at the beginning of a legislative session under RCW
42.52.185.
(b) In any year in which a legislator is a candidate for another
public office, no questionnaire may be sponsored by or authorized on
behalf of such legislator during the period between June 1st and the
general election of that year, or in the event of a special election,
during the period between sixty days before the election or the date of
the legislator's filing for the office, whichever occurs later, and the
special election.
(3) The use of public funds by a legislative committee, for
questionnaires distributed by regular mail or electronic means, is
authorized only if the following criteria are met:
(a) The questionnaire is limited to soliciting opinions or facts
relating to legislative issues or studies;
(b) The questionnaire is authorized by the committee membership and
the identity of the committee sponsoring the questionnaire is disclosed
on the questionnaire;
(c) The questionnaire complies with all other pertinent statutes,
rules, and policies; and
(d) The questionnaire is approved by the secretary of the senate or
the chief clerk of the house of representatives, as appropriate.
Sessions of the Legislature
Rule 5. The sessions of the legislature shall be held annually,
convening at 12:00 o'clock noon on the second Monday of January each
year, as provided by RCW 44.04.010 in accordance with Art. 2, section
12 of the state Constitution.
Joint Session
Rule 6. Whenever there shall be a joint session of the two houses,
the proceedings shall be entered at length upon the journal of each
house. The lieutenant governor or president of the senate shall
preside over such joint session, and the clerk of the house of
representatives shall act as the clerk thereof, except in the case of
the joint session held for the purpose of canvassing the votes of
constitutional elective state officers, when the speaker shall preside
over such joint sessions. The lieutenant governor in no case shall
have the right to give the deciding vote.
Motions for Joint Session
Rule 7. All motions for a joint session shall be made by
concurrent resolution to be introduced by the house in which such joint
session is to be held; and when an agreement has once been made, it
shall not be altered or annulled, except by concurrent resolution.
Business Limited
Rule 8. No business shall be considered in joint session other
than that which may be agreed upon before the joint session is called.
Joint Legislative Committees
Rule 9. Joint legislative committees may be created by concurrent
resolution originating in either house and passed by a majority vote of
both houses.
Joint legislative committees may have the powers of subpoena, the
power to administer oaths, and the power to issue commissions for the
examination of witnesses in accordance with the provisions of chapter
44.16 RCW. Before a joint legislative committee may issue any process,
the committee chairperson shall submit for approval of both the
executive rules committee of the house of representatives and the rules
committee of the senate, a statement of purpose setting forth the name
or names of those subject to process. The process shall not be issued
prior to approval by both the executive rules committee of the house of
representatives and the rules committee of the senate. The process
shall be limited to the named individuals.
Joint Committee Hearings
Rule 10. All public hearings held by joint committees or held
jointly by house of representatives and senate standing committees
shall be scheduled in accordance with the public notice requirements of
both the senate and the house of representatives.
Joint and Concurrent Resolutions; Memorials
Rule 11. All memorials and resolutions from the legislature
addressed to the President of the United States, to the Congress or
either house thereof, to any other branch of the Federal government, to
any other branch of state government, or to any unit of local
government shall be in the form of joint memorials. Proposed
amendments to the state Constitution shall be in the form of joint
resolutions. Business between the two houses such as joint sessions,
amendments to redistricting plans submitted by a redistricting
commission created under chapter 44.05 RCW, adopting or amending joint
rules, creating or empowering joint committees, opening and closing
business of the legislature and all such related matters shall be in
the form of concurrent resolutions. Joint memorials, joint
resolutions, and concurrent resolutions, up to and including the
signing thereof by the presiding officer of each house, shall be
subject to the rules governing the course of bills. Concurrent
resolutions may be adopted without a roll call. Concurrent resolutions
amending a redistricting plan submitted by a redistricting commission,
authorizing investigations or authorizing the expenditure or allocation
of any money must be adopted by roll call, and the yeas and nays
recorded in the journal. Concurrent resolutions amending a
redistricting plan as well as all amendments to those resolutions must
be agreed to by two-thirds of the members elected or appointed to each
house.
Amendatory Bills
Rule 12. All amendatory bills shall refer to the section or
sections of the official codes and statutes of Washington, and
supplements thereto and to the respective Session Laws, to be amended.
Bills, How Drawn
Rule 13. Bills introduced in either house intended to amend
existing statutes shall have the words which are amendatory to such
existing statutes underlined. Any matter to be deleted from the
existing statutes shall be indicated by lining out such matter with a
broken line and enclosing the lined out material within double
parentheses, and no bill shall be printed or acted upon until the
provisions of this rule shall have been complied with.
New sections need not be underlined but shall be designated "NEW
SECTION." in upper case type and such designation shall be underlined.
Sections of a bill that repeal a prior enactment shall include the
section caption accompanying the section in the Revised Code of
Washington.
No bill shall be introduced by title only, and, in the event a bill
is not complete, at least section 1 shall be set forth in full before
the bill may be accepted for introduction.
Amendments to bills will be acted upon in the manner provided in
the Rules of the Senate and in the Rules of the House of
Representatives. No amendment to a bill shall be considered which
strikes the entire subject matter of a bill, and substitutes in lieu
thereof entirely new subject matter not germane to the original or
engrossed bill.
Amendments to State Constitution; Action by Legislature
Rule 14. Amendments to the state Constitution may be proposed in
either branch of the legislature by joint resolution; and if the same
shall be agreed to by two-thirds of the members elected to each of the
two houses, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on
their respective journals with the ayes and nays thereon. (Const.,
art. 23, sec. 1.)
Publicity of Proposed Amendments to State Constitution
Rule 15. The legislature shall provide methods of publicity of all
laws or parts of laws, and amendments to the Constitution referred to
the people with arguments for and against the laws and amendments so
referred, so that each voter of the state shall receive the publication
as soon as possible before the election at which they are to be voted
upon. (Const., art. 2, sec. 1e.)
Initiative Petition Before the Legislature
Rule 16. Initiative petitions filed with the secretary of state
not less than ten days before any regular session of the legislature
shall take precedence over all other measures in the legislature except
appropriation bills and shall be either enacted or rejected without
change or amendment by the legislature before the end of such regular
session. Upon certification from the secretary of state that an
initiative to the legislature has received sufficient valid signatures,
the secretary of state shall submit certified copies of the said
initiative to the state senate and the house of representatives. Upon
receipt of said initiative, each body of the legislature through its
presiding officers shall refer the certified copies of the initiative
to a proper committee.
Upon receipt of a committee report on an initiative to the
legislature, each house shall treat the measure in the same manner as
bills, memorials and resolutions, except that initiatives cannot be
placed on the calendar for amendment. After the action of each body
has been recorded on the final passage or any other action by
resolution or otherwise which may refer the initiative to the people
has been recorded, the president and secretary of the senate and the
speaker and chief clerk of the house of representatives will certify,
each for its own body, to the secretary of state the action taken.
(Const., art. 2, sec. 1a.)
Conference Committee
Rule 17. (1) In every case of difference between the two houses,
upon any subject of legislation, either house may request a conference
and appoint a committee for that purpose, and the other house may grant
the request for a conference and appoint a committee to confer. The
presiding officer of each house shall appoint on each conference
committee three members, selecting them so as to represent, in each
case, the majority and minority positions to the extent possible as
relates to the subject matter, and the majority and minority caucuses.
The committees, at the earliest possible hour, shall confer upon the
differences between the two houses indicated by the amendment or
amendments adopted in one house and rejected in the other.
(2) Conference committee deliberations shall be conducted in a
manner consistent with the provisions of Senate Rule 45(3) and House
Rule 24(D)(8) applicable to deliberations of standing committees.
(3) Public notice of a conference committee meeting shall be given
by the secretary of the senate, for house bills, and the chief clerk of
the house of representatives, for senate bills, prior to the convening
of the meeting as follows:
(a) By posting a written notice in the following locations:
(i) The office of the secretary or clerk, as appropriate;
(ii) Near the doors of the appropriate chamber;
(iii) The legislative bill room; or
(iv) The public legislative message center;
(b) By announcing meetings during sessions of the senate and house
of representatives; or
(c) By posting meeting notices on the legislature's electronic mail
system.
(4) The papers shall be left with the conferees of the house of
representatives if a senate bill, and with the conferees of the senate,
if a house bill, and the holders of the papers shall first present the
report of the committee to their house. Every report of a conference
committee must have the signatures of a majority of the conference
committee members of each house. Conference committee reports must be
signed at a meeting duly convened by the chief clerk of the house of
representatives for senate bills or the secretary of the senate for
house bills.
Failure to Agree
Rule 18. In case of failure of the conferees to agree on matters
directly at issue between the two houses, the committee may in addition
consider new proposed items within the scope and object of the bill in
conference. A report proposing new items shall include all amendments
to the bill or resolution agreed upon by the conference committee. The
proposed report may be in the form of a new bill or resolution and such
report must have the signatures of a majority of the members of the
committee appointed from each house.
Report of Conference Committee, How
Made Out; Whom Returned to
Rule 19. The conference committee shall submit the bill as amended
together with three signed copies of its report to the house of
representatives if a senate bill, and to the senate, if a house bill.
A copy of the report shall be placed upon the desk of each member of
the legislature at the time the report is received by this house. If
this house acts to approve the report and pass the bill as amended, it
shall then transmit its action, the bill, and two copies of the report
to the other house.
Adoption of Reports
Rule 20. No floor vote may be taken on any conference committee
report without a distribution to all members of a summary of additions,
changes, and deletions made by the conference committee with a
reference in each instance to the page and line number or numbers in
the report containing said additions, changes, or deletions. The clerk
and the secretary shall place the reports on the desks of the members
as soon as possible.
Each house shall have twenty-four hours from the time of proper
receipt, by the chief clerk of the house of representatives and the
secretary of the senate, and by distribution to the desks of the
members before considering reports from a conference committee which
has proposed new items within the scope and object of the bill in
conference.
The foregoing provision relating to twenty-four hour intervals may
be suspended by the senate or the house of representatives by two-thirds vote of the members present, and such suspension shall apply
only to the house voting to suspend this provision.
The report must be voted upon in its entirety and cannot be
amended. The report of a conference committee may be adopted by
acclamation.
Passage of a bill as amended by conference report shall be by roll
call and ayes and nays shall be entered on the journals of the
respective house. Passage requires a constitutional majority in both
houses, except in the case of constitutional amendments, which require
a two-thirds vote.
Messages Between the Two Houses
Rule 21. Messages from the senate to the house of representatives
shall be delivered by the secretary or the secretary's designee, and
messages from the house of representatives to the senate shall be
delivered by the chief clerk or the chief clerk's designee.
Bills to be Engrossed
Rule 22. Any bill amended in the house of its origin shall be
engrossed before being transmitted to the other house. The secretary
or clerk of the receiving house, as the case may be, may waive the
right to receive an engrossed bill.
Final Action on Bills, How Communicated
Rule 23. Each house shall communicate its final action on any bill
or resolution, or matter in which the other may be interested, in
writing, signed by the secretary or clerk of the house from which such
notice is sent.
Enrolled Bills - Presiding Officer to Sign
Rule 24. After a bill shall have passed both houses and all
amendments have been engrossed therein, it shall be signed by the
presiding officer of each house in open session, first in the house in
which it originated. The secretary of the senate or the chief clerk of
the house of representatives shall present the original bill to the
governor for signature.
Disposition of Enrolled Bills
Rule 25. Whenever any bill shall have passed both houses, the
house transmitting the bill in its final form to the governor shall
also file with the secretary of state a copy of the bill together with
the history of such bill up to the time of transmission to the
governor.
Adjournment
Rule 26. Neither house shall adjourn for more than three days, nor
to any place other than that in which they may be sitting, without the
consent of the other. (Const., art. 2, sec. 11.)
Adjournment Sine Die
Rule 27. Adjournment sine die shall be made only by concurrent
resolution.
Each House Judge of Its Own Membership
Rule 28. Each house of the legislature is the judge of the
qualifications and election of its members, and shall try all contested
elections of its members in such manner as it may direct. (Const., art.
2, sec. 8.)
Convening Special Legislative Sessions
Rule 29. The legislature may convene a special legislative session
as follows:
(1) A resolution calling for convening a special legislative
session shall set forth the date and time for convening the session,
the duration of the session which shall not exceed thirty days,
together with the purpose or purposes for which such session is called.
Members of the house of representatives or senate may present a
proposed resolution for the convening of a special legislative session
to the committee on rules of their respective houses.
(2) The authority to place a resolution convening a special
legislative session before the legislature is vested in the committee
on rules of the house of representatives and the committee on rules of
the senate.
(3) Upon a majority vote of both the committee on rules of the
house of representatives and the committee on rules of the senate in
favor of a resolution convening a special legislative session, a vote
of the house of representatives and senate shall be taken on such
resolution.
(4) The chief clerk of the house of representatives and the
secretary of the senate shall conduct the vote on the resolution by
written ballot of the members of their respective houses under such
procedures as may be ordered by the committee on rules of their house.
The results of such vote shall be transmitted to the members of the
legislature and shall be a public record and shall be entered upon the
journal of the house of representatives and senate at the convening of
the next legislative session.
(5) If two-thirds of the members elected or appointed to each house
vote in favor of the resolution, then a special legislative session
shall be convened in accordance with the resolution. (Const., art. 2,
sec. 12.)
Amendments to Joint Rules
Rule 30. These joint rules may be amended by concurrent resolution
agreed to by a majority of the members of each house, provided one
day's notice be given of the motion thereof.
Joint Rules to Apply for Biennium
Rule 31. The permanent joint rules adopted by the legislature
shall govern any session called during the same legislative biennium.
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