House Concurrent Resolution 26

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE JOINT RULES OF THE MISSISSIPPI SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BY CREATING NEW JOINT RULE 41 TO REQUIRE THE HOUSE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE AND THE SENATE RULES COMMITTEE TO JOINTLY TAKE ALL NECESSARY ACTIONS TO ALLOW ALL COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND FLOOR SESSIONS OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE BEGINNING WITH THE 2022 REGULAR SESSION TO BE CONDUCTED BY ELECTRONIC OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICAL MEANS WHERE THE MEMBERS MAY PARTICIPATE REMOTELY IN DEBATE AND VOTING WITHOUT THE MEMBERS HAVING TO BE PHYSICALLY PRESENT; TO PROVIDE THAT WHENEVER THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR JOINTLY DETERMINE THAT HOLDING IN-PERSON COMMITTEE MEETINGS OR FLOOR SESSIONS WOULD POSE AN INCREASED HEALTH RISK TO THE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE OR TO THE PUBLIC, THEN THE COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND THE FLOOR SESSIONS MAY BE CONDUCTED REMOTELY BY ELECTRONIC MEANS AS PROVIDED IN THIS RULE, FOR SUCH PERIOD OF TIME AS JOINTLY DETERMINED BY THE SPEAKER AND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That the Joint Rules of the Mississippi Senate and House of Representatives are amended by inserting the following new Joint Rule No. 41 to read as follows:

"41. (1) The House Management Committee and the Senate Rules shall jointly take all actions that are necessary, including entering into contracts with third parties for that purpose, to allow all committee meetings and sessions on the floor of the House and Senate beginning with the 2022 Regular Session to be conducted by electronic or other technological means where the members may participate remotely in debate and voting without the members having to be physically present in a committee meeting or in a floor session and where members of the public may view such meetings and sessions as they are being conducted.

(2) A member participating remotely in a committee meeting or in a floor session shall be considered to be present and in attendance at the committee meeting or at the floor session as if physically present, including for the purposes of determining if a quorum is present. Any action taken by a member who is participating remotely in a committee meeting or in a floor session shall have the same legal effect as if the member were physically present in the committee meeting or in the floor session when the action was taken, and any recorded vote cast by a member who was participating remotely shall be included in the journal of the respective house of the member.

(3) Whenever the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor jointly determine that holding in-person committee meetings or floor sessions of the House and Senate would pose an increased health risk to the members of the Legislature or to the public, then the committee meetings and the floor sessions may be conducted remotely by electronic means as provided in this rule, for such period of time as jointly determined by the Speaker and Lieutenant Governor.

(4) The provisions of this rule shall supersede any House or Senate rule that may be interpreted as prohibiting a member from participating remotely in a committee meeting or in a floor session or otherwise conflicting with a member's ability to participate remotely in a committee meeting or in a floor session."