SR2: Resolution Text

Currently, the rules provide that if a member of the Committee on Senate Organization is "disabled" and unable to serve on the committee, the senate may select a temporary replacement from among the senators of the same party affiliation. The resolution modifies the rule so that if a member of the Committee on Senate Organization is unable to serve on the committee for any reason, regardless of whether the member is "disabled," the senate may select a temporary replacement from among the senators of the same party affiliation.

Meeting notice; considering unintroduced legislation

The resolution provides that, generally, public notice of every committee meeting must be posted to the legislature's bulletin board at least 24 hours before the meeting begins, unless the Committee on Senate Organization determines that for good cause such a notice is impossible or impractical, but in no case may notice be provided less than two hours in advance of a meeting. If the meeting is cancelled on the date of the meeting, the chairperson must also post a cancellation notice in a conspicuous location near the entrance to the meeting room.

The resolution also provides that if unintroduced legislation will be considered at the meeting, the notice must indicate the draft number assigned to the legislation by the Legislative Reference Bureau and the relating clause of the legislation. In addition, the chairperson must provide a copy of the draft legislation to the chief clerk before publishing the notice. The notice must also indicate that copies of the draft legislation are available at the chief clerk's office. The chief clerk must distribute copies of the draft legislation to any person who requests such copies.

The resolution specifies, however, that no notice is required for any meeting of the Committee on Senate Organization that is called solely for the purpose of scheduling business before the senate or adopting resolutions of which the sole purpose is scheduling business before the senate or assembly.

Committee action

Currently, the rules provide that any amendment or substitute amendment that is recommended by a committee for rejection may not be reported to the senate and that such amendment may, by motion, be revived by the vote of the majority of the current membership while the proposal is still in the amendable stage. The resolution modifies the rules so that, generally, any amendment or substitute amendment submitted to a standing committee for the committee's consideration may be reported out of committee only if the committee recommends adoption. An amendment or substitute amendment that is not reported out of committee may, by motion, be revived by the vote of the majority of the members present while the proposal is still in the amendable stage.

The resolution provides that the Committee on Senate Organization may, with the consent of the senate cochairperson of the Joint Committee on Finance, withdraw a bill from the Joint Committee on Finance and place the bill on the calendar. In addition, the resolution authorizes the president, with the consent of the chairperson of a standing committee, to withdraw a proposal or appointment from the standing committee to which the proposal or appointment is referred and refer it to another standing committee.

Dividing a question; vetoes

Under the assembly and senate rules, certain questions before either house may be divided for separate consideration by the members of that house. The assembly rules allow certain questions related to a bill that the governor has partially vetoed to be divided. The senate rules do not have a similar provision. The resolution allows certain questions related to a bill that the governor has partially vetoed to be divided for separate consideration by the senate.

Missed roll call votes

The resolution allows a senator who does not vote during a roll call on a proposal to request unanimous consent to have his or her vote included in the roll call after the roll is closed, if the request does not interrupt another roll call, the request is made no later than immediately following the close of the next roll call, and the senator's vote, if included, does not change the result of the roll call. If a senator may not make such a request under the rules, or if another senator objects to the request, the senator may request unanimous consent to have the journal reflect how the senator would have voted.

Special session business

Currently the rules prohibit resolutions offering commendations, congratulations, or condolences, memorializing Congress or an individual, or affecting senate or legislative rules or proceedings from being considered during a special session. The resolution allows the senate to consider such matters during an extraordinary session.

Final disposition of proposals and amendments

The resolution provides that, unless reconsidered or included in an action authorizing an extraordinary session, a proposal or an amendment to a proposal, is adversely and finally disposed of for the legislature's biennial session by any of the following: 1) indefinite postponement; 2) rejection; 3) nonconcurrence; 4) failure to be ordered to a third reading; 5) failure of passage; 6) failure of concurrence; and 7) failure to pass notwithstanding the objections of the governor.

Germaneness

The senate rules currently specify that the following substitute amendments and amendments are not germane: 1) a substitute amendment or amendment that is identical in effect to one previously offered and disposed of as another substitute amendment or amendment to the same proposal; 2) a substitute amendment or amendment to a proposal that relates to a subject that is different from the subject of that proposal; 3) a substitute amendment or amendment to a proposal that is intended to accomplish a purpose that is different from the purpose of that proposal; 4) a substitute amendment or amendment to a proposal that negates that proposal entirely; and 5) a substitute amendment or amendment to a proposal that substitutes another proposal pending before the senate.

The resolution modifies the rules so that the following substitute amendments and amendments are not germane: 1) a substitute amendment or amendment that is identical in effect to one previously offered to the same proposal and disposed of; 2) a substitute amendment or amendment to a proposal that is irrelevant to the subject matter of the proposal, inappropriate to the subject matter of the proposal, or not in a natural and logical sequence to the subject matter of the proposal; 3) a substitute amendment or amendment to a proposal that negates that proposal entirely; 4) a substitute amendment or amendment to a proposal that substitutes another proposal pending before the senate; and 5) a substitute amendment or amendment to a proposal that substantially expands the scope of the proposal.

SR2,5,1 Resolved by the senate, That:

SR2, s. 1 Section 1. Senate rule 1m (title) is amended to read:

SR2,5,4 Senate Rule 1m (title) Presiding officer ; officers subordinate to and committee on senate organization.

SR2, s. 2 Section 2. Senate rule 1m (3) is created to read:

SR2,5,8 Senate Rule 1m (3) For staffing and budget purposes related to the operation of all senate offices, all senators are subordinate to the committee on senate organization.

SR2, s. 3 Section 3. Senate rule 2 (3) is amended to read:

SR2,5,12 Senate Rule 2 (3) The presiding officer may call any member to the chair to temporarily perform all of the duties enumerated under rule 4, but the substitution does not extend beyond an adjournment or the return of the president.

SR2, s. 4 Section 4. Senate rule 4 (1) (intro.) is renumbered senate rule 4 (intro.).

SR2, s. 5 Section 5. Senate rule 4 (2) is repealed.

SR2, s. 6 Section 6. Senate rule 5 (title) is amended to read:

SR2,6,1 Senate Rule 5 (title) Election and duties of chief Chief clerk.

SR2, s. 7 Section 7. Senate rule 5 (3) is amended to read:

SR2,6,10 Senate Rule 5 (3) The chief clerk is responsible for all official acts of the employees assigned to that office, and may designate one of those employees as assistant chief clerk, who has general supervision under the direction of the chief clerk and in the temporary absence of the chief clerk has all of the powers and duties of the chief clerk. The assistant chief clerk shall take the oath of office as provided under joint rule 81 (1) (a). If the chief clerk is separated by death, resignation, or removal from office, the assistant chief clerk may exercise all of the powers and shall carry out all of the duties of the chief clerk until a chief clerk is elected.

SR2, s. 8 Section 8. Senate rule 5 (4) is renumbered senate rule 5 (4) (a) and amended to read:

SR2,6,18 Senate Rule 5 (4) (a) On the day of convening of the next legislature as established under section 13.02 (1) of the statutes, when When the president, president pro tempore, majority leader, and assistant majority leader are absent or unable to preside over the senate sitting in session and the senate does not elect a substitute president under rule 2 (2), the chief clerk shall perform all of the duties enumerated under rule 4.

SR2, s. 9 Section 9. Senate rule 5 (4) (b) is created to read:

SR2,6,24 Senate Rule 5 (4) (b) In order to comply with joint rule 13 and section 10 of article IV of the constitution, the chief clerk may perform all of the duties enumerated under rule 4, except that no business may be transacted in any session convened under this paragraph without the consent of the senate majority leader and the senate minority leader.

SR2, s. 10 Section 10. Senate rule 6 (title) is amended to read:

SR2,7,1 Senate Rule 6 (title) Election and duties of sergeant Sergeant at arms.

SR2, s. 11 Section 11. Senate rule 6 (3) is created to read:

SR2,7,5 Senate Rule 6 (3) The sergeant at arms is under the supervision of the chief clerk and the compensation of the sergeant at arms shall be determined by the chief clerk.

SR2, s. 12 Section 12. Senate rule 7 (4) is amended to read:

SR2,7,10 Senate Rule 7 (4) On appeal being taken, the question is "Shall the decision of the presiding officer stand as the judgment of the senate?", which question, and the action thereon, shall be entered on the journal. The vote is taken by ayes and noes roll call vote. A tie vote sustains the ruling of the presiding officer.

SR2, s. 13 Section 13. Senate rule 8 (4) is amended to read:

SR2,7,15 Senate Rule 8 (4) A member or other person may not, within the bar of the senate chamber, read newspapers, periodicals, magazines, books, or similar materials, unless the publication is relevant to the debate on the senate floor, or consume food, beverages, or tobacco products.

SR2, s. 14 Section 14. Senate rule 8 (5) is repealed.

SR2, s. 15 Section 15. Senate rule 11 (title) is amended to read:

SR2,7,19 Senate Rule 11 (title) Who may be admitted to the floor; recording proceedings.

SR2, s. 16 Section 16. Senate rule 11 (7) is created to read:

SR2,7,25 Senate Rule 11 (7) No persons other than members of the chief clerk's staff, members of the staff of the sergeant at arms, members of a senator's staff, and accredited correspondents of the news media may engage in any audio or video recording of the proceedings of the senate or any committee without permission of the committee on senate organization.

SR2, s. 17 Section 17. Senate rule 17 (5) is created to read:

SR2,8,8 Senate Rule 17 (5) Any member wishing to have his or her name added or removed as a coauthor or cosponsor of a proposal or amendment shall provide the chief clerk with a written request to do so prior to the proposal being messaged. The chief clerk shall promptly record the request in the journal and include the request in the official history of the proposal. An oral request during the proceedings of the senate to be made, or to be removed as, a coauthor or cosponsor of a proposal or amendment is not in order.

SR2, s. 18 Section 18. Senate rule 18 (1) is amended to read:

SR2,8,24 Senate Rule 18 (1) All proposals, appointments, or other business, referred to a committee and reported by it to the senate or withdrawn from it by the senate, all proposals or amendments received from the assembly for senate concurrence, and all reports from conference committees and veto messages received by the senate, shall be placed in the committee on senate organization. Any such business deposited with the chief clerk on a day when the senate does not meet may be placed in the committee on senate organization immediately, but shall be formally received by the senate on its next meeting day. The committee on senate organization shall establish a calendar, grouping together proposals, appointments, or other business according to similar subjects and in an appropriate order, and in such numbers as to constitute a workable and up-to-date calendar schedule at least 18 hours prior to the commence of the session to which the calendar applies, but the distributed calendar, as provided under sub. (2), may not be changed within such 18-hour period. The committee on senate organization shall place a proposal, appointment, or other business on the calendar when directed to do so by a majority vote of the senate.

SR2, s. 19 Section 19. Senate rule 18 (2) is amended to read:

SR2,9,5 Senate Rule 18 (2) The sergeant at arms shall distribute a copy of the calendar to all members before the calendar is acted upon. The chairperson of the committee on senate organization shall provide at least 18 hours' notice of other matters to be taken up on the next session day, but the distributed calendar may not be changed within such 18-hour period.

SR2, s. 20 Section 20. Senate rule 18 (3) is amended to read:

SR2,9,10 Senate Rule 18 (3) Except as provided in sub. (2), the The distributed calendar shall show the business scheduled to be taken up on the current day, organized according to the orders of business established by rule 17 (1). For proposals on 2nd reading, the calendar shall show all pending committee reports.

SR2, s. 21 Section 21. Senate rule 20 (7) is amended to read:

SR2,9,16 Senate Rule 20 (7) Whenever If a member of the committee on senate organization is disabled and unable to serve, the senate may select a temporary replacement from among those senators of the same party affiliation. The replacement terminates upon the return of the disabled member who was unable to serve.

SR2, s. 22 Section 22. Senate rule 22 (1) is amended to read:

SR2,9,24 Senate Rule 22 (1) Whenever the governor or the state superintendent of public instruction submits to the senate a nomination for an appointment as required by law, the president shall refer the nomination to the standing committee that the president deems to be the most appropriate committee to pass upon the qualifications of the candidate. The committee shall report its findings and recommendations to the senate in writing. Nominations by the governor and the state superintendent of public instruction may be considered, and the persons so nominated may with the advice and consent of the senate be appointed, in special as well as in regular sessions during any session of the senate.

SR2, s. 23 Section 23. Senate rule 24 is amended to read:

SR2,10,13 Senate Rule 24. Committee quorum; subcommittees. A majority of any committee constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business. Solely for For the purpose of determining a quorum of a committee necessary to hold a public hearing transact business, and with the consent of the committee chairperson, a member who is connected to the hearing by means of a 2-way, audiovisual transmission a meeting of the committee via teleconference is considered present. Subcommittees may be appointed to take charge of any part of the committee's business and to report to the committee. Motions to reconsider may be made in committee, before the papers are reported to the senate. Rereference gives the committee full power to act without reconsidering its former action.

SR2, s. 24 Section 24. Senate rule 25 (1) is renumbered senate rule 25 (1) (a) amended to read:

SR2,10,17 Senate Rule 25 (1) (a) A chairperson who determines to hold a hearing shall schedule the hearing as early in the session as practicable. The

SR2,11,5 (c) The public notice under par. (b) shall be posted on the bulletin board of each house. The notice shall indicate the day, hour, and place of hearing before any committee shall be posted on the bulletin board of each house, the meeting and such notice shall state the number, author, and relating clause of the each proposal to be considered. If unintroduced legislation will be considered at the meeting, the notice shall indicate the draft number assigned to the legislation by the legislative reference bureau and the relating clause of the legislation, and shall indicate that copies of the draft legislation are available at the chief clerk's office. The chairperson shall provide a copy of the draft legislation to the chief clerk before publishing the notice. The chief clerk shall distribute copies of the draft legislation to any person who requests such copies. Whenever a scheduled hearing meeting is canceled, the chairperson shall immediately notify the chief clerk and post cancellation notices on the bulletin boards of each house.

SR2, s. 25 Section 25. Senate rule 25 (1) (b) is created to read:

SR2,11,11 Senate Rule 25 (1) (b) Except as provided in par. (d), public notice of every meeting of a committee shall be given at least 24 hours before the commencement of the meeting, unless the committee on senate organization determines that for good cause such notice is impossible or impractical. In no case may notice be provided less than 2 hours in advance of a meeting.

SR2, s. 26 Section 26. Senate rule 25 (1) (d) is created to read:

SR2,11,16 Senate Rule 25 (1) (d) Paragraph (b) does not apply to any meeting of the committee on senate organization that is called solely for the purpose of scheduling business before the senate or adopting resolutions of which the sole purpose is scheduling business before the senate or assembly.

SR2, s. 27 Section 27. Senate rule 25 (2) is amended to read:

SR2,11,22 Senate Rule 25 (2) Whenever Except as provided under rules 41 (1) (e) and 46 (2) (c), a proposal or other matter that has been referred to committee, the proposal or other matter is within the sole jurisdiction of the majority of the committee. A directive with respect to the committee's action thereon, other than a motion to withdraw from the committee, is not in order.

SR2, s. 28 Section 28. Senate rule 26 (1) is renumbered senate rule 26 and amended to read:

SR2,12,7 Senate Rule 26. Schedule of committee activities. On or before Monday noon of each week the chairperson of each senate committee shall file with the chief clerk a list of the public hearings before that committee which will be held during the following week. The list shall be reproduced in full in the weekly schedule of committee activities. The chairperson of any senate committee may file notice of hearing on or before Monday noon of the 2nd week before the week in which the public hearing is scheduled so as to post advance notice of the hearing.

SR2, s. 29 Section 29. Senate rule 26 (2) is repealed.

SR2, s. 30 Section 30. Senate rule 27 (1) is amended to read:

SR2,12,13 Senate Rule 27 (1) The chairperson of the committee to which any proposal is referred shall report, in concise form the format specified by the chief clerk, the action of the committee and the date thereof, and shall authenticate the same by personal signature, for example:

SR2,12,14 The committee on ..................... reports and recommends:

SR2,12,15 Senate Bill 24

SR2,12,16 An Act (relating clause)

SR2,12,18 Passage: Ayes (3), Senators ............ , ............ , ............ ; Noes (1), Senator ............ ; Absent or not voting (1), Senator ............ .

SR2,12,19 Senate Bill 26

SR2,12,20 An Act (relating clause)

SR2,12,22 Adoption of Senate Amendment 1: Ayes (5), Senators ............ , ............ , ............ , ............ , ............ ; Noes (0); Absent or not voting (0).

SR2,12,24 Passage as amended: Ayes (4), Senators ............ , ............ , ............ , ............ ; Noes (1), Senator ............ ; Absent or not voting (0).

SR2,12,25 Senate Bill 28

SR2,13,1 An Act (relating clause)

SR2,13,3 Adoption of Senate Substitute Amendment 1: Ayes (3), Senators ............ , ............ , ............ ; Noes (2), Senators ............ , ............ ; Absent or not voting (0).