Division of question
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Assembly Journal of March 20, 1990 .......... Page: 921
Representative Welch asked for the following division of assembly amendment 22 to Senate Bill 300 [relating to disposal and recycling of solid waste, granting rule-making authority, providing a penalty and making appropriations]:
Part 1: Page 9, line 27 thru Page 10, line 7 and Page 16, lines 4 thru 6.
Part 2: Remainder of amendment.
The chair [Rep. Clarenbach, speaker pro tem] ruled the request for division unacceptable.
[Note:] A.Rule 80 (2) appears to give the presiding officer exclusive control over questions of division: "If it is the opinion of the chair that the proposed division of a simple amendment is unduly complex or the purpose of the division can be more clearly or simply accomplished by amendment, or that a call for a division is being used as a substitute for a series of amendments, the question shall not be divided."
In this instance, Div-1 was the same as A.Amdt-5 to SB 300, and successive motions to table or to adopt A.Amdt-5 had failed on tie votes, 48 to 48. Using division as a means to reopen debate on A.Amdt-5 would have been dilatory.
On the other hand, A.Amdt-22 was a 16-page multi-issue amendment. Even though one or more of the issues contained in A.Amdt-22 might have been discussed earlier, their combined effect on the bill distinguished the multi-issue amendment from single-issue A.Amdt-5. Only an amendment "substantially similar to an amendment already acted upon" is by A.Rule 54 (3) (c) declared not germane.
Point of order:
Representative Welch rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 22 to Senate Bill 300 was not germane under Assembly Rule 54 (3) (c).
104 The chair [Rep. Clarenbach, speaker pro tem] ruled the point of order not well taken.
Assembly Journal of March 8, 1990 .......... Page: 814
Representative Prosser moved that a transcript of the assembly floor debate on Assembly Joint Resolution 2 [relating to abolishing, over a 10-year period, the use of the property tax for school operations (2nd consideration)] be published in the Assembly Journal contingent upon adoption by both houses of the Legislature.
Representative Loftus moved that the previous motion be amended to also include a transcript of the assembly floor debate on Assembly Joint Resolution 18 [relating to the right to keep and bear arms (first consideration)] from Tuesday, March 6, also contingent upon adoption by both houses of the Legislature.
Representative Loftus requested a division of the motion as follows:
Part 1: Transcript of debate on Assembly Joint Resolution 2
Part 2: Transcript of debate on Assembly Joint Resolution 18. Granted.
Representative Loftus asked unanimous consent that Part 1 of the motion be placed after Part 2 of the motion. Granted.
Representative Radtke moved that Part 2 of the motion be laid on the table.
Point of order:
Representative Loftus rose to the point of order that the motion to table the motion to publish transcripts of debate was not in order under the Assembly Rules.
[Note:] No transcript of floor debate has ever been published in the Wisconsin legislature. Limited transcripts were published in the constitutional conventions. Based on the congressional model, transcripts of debates should be published in a "record"; not, in a journal of proceedings.
Any motion "involving distinct and independent propositions" may be divided; A.Rule 80 (1).
Procedural motions (motions relating to the immediate conduct of the current business) are usually not debatable (A.Rule 67), but the motion to table may be debated for 10 minutes (limited to 2 min/member); A.Rule 74 (2). Procedural motions usually may not be placed on the table; A.Rule 74 (3).
The chair took the point of order under advisement. [No ruling found.]
Assembly Journal of January 30, 1990 .......... Page: 635
Representative Grobschmidt moved rejection of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 [relating to requiring parental consent for an unemancipated child's abortion, informed consent of a woman to her own abortion, remedies in civil actions and providing a penalty].
Representative Loftus asked unanimous consent for the following division of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38. Granted.
Part 1: the entire amendment except for the words "or incest" on line 8.
Part 2: the entire amendment except for the words "rape or" on line 8.
Point of order:
105 Representative Welch rose to the point of order that the division of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 was not proper under Assembly Rule 80.
[Note:] Although the requested division of A.Amdt-4 was unusual, it was not improper. Every one understood that, by adopting Div-1, that affected phrase would end "pregnancy is the result of rape" or, by adopting Div-2, "pregnancy is the result of incest". If both divisions passed, the phrase would read as shown in the printed amendment: "pregnancy is the result of rape or incest".
A.Rule 80 (1) provides that the request for division of an amendment shall be granted "if each separate proposition or action to be voted on is complete and proper regardless of the action taken on any other portion of the original question".
The chair [Rep. Clarenbach, speaker pro tem] ruled the point of order not well taken.
Representative Loftus moved rejection of Part 1 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38.
Assembly amendment 1 to assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 offered by Representatives Grobschmidt and Welch. [Intervening text omitted.]
Point of order:
Representative Welch rose to the point of order that assembly amendment 1 to assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 should be considered before the division of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38.
[Note:] When division of a proposition is the question before the house, further amendments to the proposition should probably not even be received until all parts of the division have been considered and the surviving content of the proposition is known [see A.Rule 66 (1) (j) and (2)].
Apparently, approval of one of the divisions has been treated as adoption of that part of the amendment so that, if all divisions are approved, it could be argued that the amendment was adopted - making amendments to the amendment (or the surviving part of the amendment) untimely.
A better approach is to treat approval of the divisions and adoption of the amendment (or of the amendment "as shown by division 1") as 2 separate steps. That way, after approval of the divisions, amendments to the amendment (or the surviving part of the amendment) are in order if they are not in the 3rd degree.
The chair [Rep. Clarenbach, speaker pro tem] ruled the point of order not well taken.
Representative Welch asked unanimous consent that assembly amendment 1 to assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be laid on the table. Granted.
Representative Wood moved that Part 1 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be laid on the table.
The question was: Shall Part 1 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be laid on the table? The roll was taken. [Display of roll call vote omitted; ayes-55; noes-42.] Motion carried.
Representative Wood moved that Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be laid on the table.
106 The question was: Shall Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be laid on the table? The roll was taken. [Display of roll call vote omitted; ayes-52; noes-45.] Motion carried.
Representative Loftus moved that Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be taken from the table and taken up at this time. [Intervening text omitted.]
The question was: Shall Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be taken from the table and taken up at this time? The roll was taken. [Display of roll call vote omitted; ayes-94; noes-3.] Motion carried.
Assembly amendment 1 to Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 offered by Representative Welch.
[Note:] Dividing A.Amdt-4, while proper, was unnecessary. A.Amdt-4 to A.Sub.Amdt-3 to AB 38 was only an amendment in the 1st degree [see A.Rule 52 (2) (a)] and "an amendment to a simple amendment to a substitute amendment is in order". Thus, what was Div-1 could have been an amendment to A.Amdt-4 to delete "or incest", and what was Div-2 an amendment to delete "rape or".
Nobody raised a point of order that amendments 1, 2 and 3 to "Part 2 of A.Amdt-4" were "improperly drafted" because the rules do not authorize amending a division. The acquiescence was treated as "unanimous consent". The amendments were debated; amendment 3 was adopted; and it was left to the skill of the drafting department to sort it all out on the next day.
Representative Loftus moved rejection of assembly amendment 1 to Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38. The assembly stood informal.
Representative Loftus asked unanimous consent that assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be placed after assembly amendment 8 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38. Granted. [Intervening text omitted.]
Assembly Journal of January 30, 1990 .......... Page: 637
Representative Welch asked unanimous consent that assembly amendment 1 to Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be placed after assembly amendment 2 to Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38. Granted.
Assembly amendment 2 to Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 offered by Representative Wimmer.
Representative Wimmer asked unanimous consent that assembly amendment 2 to Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be placed after assembly amendment 3 to Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38. Granted.
Assembly amendment 3 to Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 offered by Representatives Panzer and Rosenzweig.
The question was: Shall assembly amendment 3 to Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be adopted? Motion carried.
107 Representative Welch asked unanimous consent that assembly amendment 1 to Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be laid on the table. Granted.
Representative Welch asked unanimous consent that assembly amendment 2 to Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be laid on the table. Granted.
The question was: Shall Part 2 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be adopted? The roll was taken. [Display of roll call vote omitted; ayes-96; noes-0.] Motion carried.
Representative Loftus moved that Part 1 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be taken from the table and taken up at this time.
The question was: Shall Part 1 of assembly amendment 4 to assembly substitute amendment 3 to Assembly Bill 38 be taken from the table and taken up at this time? The roll was taken. [Display of roll call vote omitted; ayes-42; noes-54.] Motion failed.
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Assembly Journal of June 23, 1983 .......... Page: 283
[Division of question: under unanimous consent, division of senate amendment to assembly amendment to senate bill was allowed notwithstanding A.Rules 52 and 80]
[Note:] The prohibition against amendments in the 3rd degree applies only to the amending process within the Assembly, and "simple amendment" means an Assembly amendment:
A.Rule 52 (2) (intro.): "Amendments to amendments may be offered but amendments in the 3rd degree shall not be accepted."
A.Rule 80 (2): "If it is the opinion of the chair that the proposed division of a simple amendment is unduly complex or the purpose of the division can be more clearly or simply accomplished by amendment, or that a call for a division is being used as a substitute for a series of amendments, the question shall not be divided."
Because senate amendments to assembly proposals or amendments are to be treated like proposals for the purpose of further amending, division is inappropriate:
A.Rule 52 (2) (b): "Solely for the purpose of amending, senate amendments presented to the assembly for concurrence are treated like proposals; therefore, an amendment to a simple amendment to a senate amendment is in order."
A.Rule 80 (4): "Bills, joint resolutions, resolutions and substitute amendments may not be divided."
Representative T. Thompson asked unanimous consent for the following division of senate amendment 1 to assembly amendment 4 to Senate Bill 83 [relating to state finances and appropriations, constituting the executive budget bill of the 1983 legislature, and making appropriations]. Granted.
108 Part 1: Campaign Financing
page 4, lines 6 through 29.
Part 2: Shared Revenue
page 11, lines 6 through 22.
Part 3: WISPTR
page 11, lines 23 through 37.
page 12, lines 1 through 31.
Part 4: Reapportionment
page 1, line 2.
page 4, line 5.
page 9, lines 36 and 37.
Part 5: Judicial Commission/Ethics Board
page 4, line 30.
Part 6: Balance of the amendment.
Representative Goodrich moved nonconcurrence in part 1 of senate amendment 1 to assembly amendment 4 to Senate Bill 83.
The question was: Shall part 1 of senate amendment 1 to assembly amendment 4 to Senate Bill 83 be nonconcurred in? [Display of roll call vote omitted; ayes-44, noes-51.] Motion failed.
The question was: Shall part 1 of senate amendment 1 to assembly amendment 4 to Senate Bill 83 be concurred in? [Display of roll call vote omitted; ayes-52, noes-44.] Motion carried.
Representative T. Thompson moved nonconcurrence in part 2 of senate amendment 1 to assembly amendment 4 to Senate Bill 83.
Point of order:
Representative Hauke rose to the point of order that a division of senate amendment 1 to assembly amendment 4 to Senate Bill 83 was not proper under Assembly Rule 80.
The speaker [Loftus] ruled the point of order not well taken.
Assembly Journal of June 17, 1983 .......... Page: 270
[Division of question is authorized interruption]
Representative Johnson asked unanimous consent for a division of assembly amendment 6 to assembly amendment 4 to Senate Bill 83 [relating to state finances and appropriations, constituting the executive budget bill of the 1983 legislature, and making appropriations]. Granted.
