sr20(6)(6) If senate seats are vacant, assignments to standing committees may be reserved for the senators who are to fill the vacancies, or current members may be designated to fill the vacant assignments temporarily in addition to their regular standing committee assignments until the new senators have been elected and qualified.

sr20(7)(7) If a senate member of a senate committee or a joint committee is unable to serve, the senate majority leader may select a temporary replacement for a member of the majority party who is unable to serve from among those senators of the same party and may select a temporary replacement for a member of the minority party, upon recommendation of the minority leader, who is unable to serve from among those senators of the same party. The replacement takes effect when the member who is a temporary replacement answers the roll call of the senate committee or joint committee and terminates upon the adjournment of the senate committee or joint committee meeting or the return of the member who was unable to serve, whichever occurs first.

[(1)(a) am., (1)(c) cr. 1993 S.Res. 2]
[(1)(a), (c) and (d) am., (1)(b) cr., (1)(e) r.cr. 1993 S.Res. 3]
[(2) am. 1979 S.Res. 3, 4; 1981 S.Res. 2, 19, 27;
1983 S.Res. 4, 9, 11, 13; 1985 S.Res. 2, 6; 1987
S.Res. 2, 6; 1989, 1991, 1993 S.Res. 2; 1993 S.Res. 3]
[(3)(a) and (4)(a) am. 1993 S.Res. 3]
[(7) cr. 1979 S.Res. 4; am. 1987 S.Res. 2, 1993 S.Res. 3]
[(1) and (2) r.cr. 1995 S.Res. 2]
[(1)(b)1., (3) to (7) am. 2001 S.Res. 2]
[(1)(c) and (2)(a) am. 2003 S.Res. 3]
[(7) am. 2005 S.Res. 2]
[(7) am. 2007 S.Res. 2]
[(1)(b)2. am. 2013 S.Res. 3]
[(2)(d) cr. 2015 S.Res. 2]

sr20mSenate Rule 20m. Committees of conference. The president shall appoint the senate members of committees of conference.

sr21Senate Rule 21. Special committees. All special committees shall be created by the committee on senate organization, designating the number and object, and be appointed by the chairperson of the committee on senate organization. The member first named is the chairperson of the special committee.

sr22Senate Rule 22. Advice and consent of the senate.

sr22(1)(1) Whenever a nomination for an appointment is submitted to the senate, 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 may be considered, and the persons so nominated may with the advice and consent of the senate be appointed during any session of the senate.

sr22(2)(2) On the question of the confirmation of appointments, the vote shall be taken by ayes and noes, which shall be entered upon the journal. The question of confirmation of the appointments is not subject to a motion for reconsideration under rule 67. The chief clerk shall record the cumulative status of all appointments in the bulletin of proceedings. The senate shall inform the governor or other appointing authority of the senate’s final action on confirmation of all nominations for appointment and the assembly of the senate’s final action on confirmation of a nomination for appointment that requires assembly confirmation.

sr22(3)(3) All nominations for appointments, if they have not otherwise been submitted to the senate, shall be considered to have been submitted to the senate on the 5th day after the individual is nominated for appointment.

sr23Senate Rule 23. Committee not to be absent. Members of a committee, except a conference committee, may not be absent by reason of their appointment during the sitting of the senate, without special leave.

sr24Senate Rule 24. Committee quorum; subcommittees. A majority of any committee constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business. For the purpose of determining a quorum of a committee necessary to transact business, and with the consent of the committee chairperson, a member who participates in a meeting of the committee by telephone or by other means of telecommunication or electronic communication 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.

sr25Senate Rule 25. Business in committees; notice of meeting.

sr25(1)(b)(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. A public notice may be amended at any time to delay the commencement of the meeting or to delete items from the agenda of the meeting.

sr25(1)(c)(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 the meeting and the number, author, and relating clause of each proposal to be considered. If an unintroduced proposal will be considered at the meeting, the notice shall indicate the draft number assigned to the proposal by the legislative reference bureau and the relating clause of the proposal, and shall indicate that copies of the draft proposal are available at the chief clerk’s office. The chairperson shall provide a copy of the draft proposal to the chief clerk before publishing the notice. The chief clerk shall make available copies of the draft proposal to any person who requests such copies. Whenever a scheduled meeting is canceled, the chairperson shall immediately notify the chief clerk and post cancellation notices on the bulletin boards of each house.

sr25(1)(d)(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.

sr25(2)(2) Except as provided under rules 41 (1) (e) and 46 (2) (c), a proposal or other matter that has been referred to committee 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.

sr25(4)(a)(a) 1. A committee member who was recorded as present at an executive session may vote by polling on a proposal, amendment, appointment, or proposed administrative rule considered at that executive session. The committee member may vote by polling on all applicable motions.

2. If a committee member was not recorded as present at an executive session, the committee member may not vote by polling on a proposal, amendment, appointment, or proposed administrative rule considered at that executive session unless the chairperson of the committee determines that voting by polling is necessary in an emergency for the preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or welfare. If the chairperson determines that a committee member may vote by polling, the committee member may vote on all applicable motions.

sr25(4)(am)(am) A committee may not conduct an executive session on a proposal, amendment, appointment, or proposed administrative rule by ballot unless the proposal, amendment, appointment, or proposed administrative rule has lain over for at least 24 hours. The committee on senate organization may determine that for good cause such a layover is impossible or impractical. In no case, however, may a proposal, amendment, appointment, or proposed administrative rule be made available to the public less than 2 hours before a ballot is circulated. The ballots shall be in a form prescribed by the chief clerk. A member may change his or her vote if the change will not affect the outcome of the vote and if the proposal, amendment, appointment, or proposed administrative rule has not been reported out of committee. In no case, however, may a member change his or her vote later than 24 hours after the ballot is due as provided in the executive session notice.

sr25(4)(b)(b) If a chairperson of a committee elects to vote by ballot under par. (am), public notice shall be posted on the bulletin board of each house prior to the circulation of the ballot as provided under sub. (1) (b) and (d). The notice shall indicate the day and hour when the ballot will be circulated and the number, author, and relating clause of each proposal to be considered. If an unintroduced proposal will be considered, the notice shall indicate the draft number assigned to the proposal by the legislative reference bureau and the relating clause of the proposal, and shall indicate that copies of the draft proposal are available at the chief clerk’s office. The chairperson shall provide a copy of the draft proposal to the chief clerk before posting the notice. The chief clerk shall make available a copy of the draft proposal to any person who requests a copy.