MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2004 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Representative Warren
A RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE 2004-2008 RULES OF THE HOUSE; TO AMEND RULE 11A PERTAINING TO THE HOUSE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE TO MAKE CERTAIN CLARIFYING AND TECHNICAL CHANGES; TO AMEND RULE 15 TO PROVIDE THAT THE MINIMUM AGE OF A HOUSE PAGE IS 13 YEARS OF AGE; TO AMEND RULES 16 AND 17 TO CLARIFY THE DUTIES OF THE SERGEANT AT ARMS; TO AMEND RULE 60 TO INCREASE THE MEMBERSHIP OF CERTAIN STANDING COMMITTEES; TO AMEND RULE 95 TO REVISE THE VOTE REQUIREMENTS PERTAINING TO THE WITHDRAWAL OF A BILL FROM COMMITTEE; TO CREATE NEW RULE 104B TO INCORPORATE INTO THE RULES THE EXISTING PRECEDENTS AND PROCEDURES TO BE FOLLOWED IN AN ELECTION CONTEST INVOLVING A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That Rule 11A of the Rules of the House is amended as follows:
11A. (1) There is * * * created the House of Representatives Management Committee (hereinafter Management Committee) to be composed of the Speaker Pro Tempore, who shall serve as ex officio chairman, having full powers of discussion and voting, the Speaker, who shall be ex officio a voting member thereof, and ten (10) other representatives, two (2) from each congressional district of Mississippi as constituted on January 1, 1996, to be elected by caucus of the representatives from each such district. The place of residence of a representative shall determine the congressional district caucus in which the representative shall participate and from which the representative may hold membership on the Management Committee. The members of the Management Committee shall select, from among its members, a vice chairman and secretary.
The members of the Management Committee elected in the year 1987 shall be elected within ten (10) calendar days following the adoption of this rule. The members of the Management Committee thereafter shall be elected during the first calendar week of each regular session having one hundred twenty-five (125) calendar days. Members shall serve a term of four (4) years, and each member's term shall end on the date on which the member's term in the House of Representatives expires.
(2) No member of the Management Committee shall serve concurrently as a member of the House Rules Committee, except that the Speaker and the Speaker Pro Tempore shall serve on the Rules Committee as provided in Rule 11.
(3) Any vacancy of a congressional district position occurring during a regular annual legislative session shall be filled by election by the appropriate caucus within ten (10) calendar days after the vacancy occurs. Any vacancy occurring between regular annual legislative sessions shall be filled by election by the appropriate caucus during the first five (5) calendar days of the next succeeding regular or special session of the Legislature.
(4) The Management Committee shall meet at such times as are necessary for the proper exercise of its functions, and shall have the authority to adopt policies, rules and regulations, not inconsistent with these rules, as it deems necessary for the efficient operation of the committee.
(5) Action by a majority vote of the Management Committee shall control and be conclusive on any matter properly concerning the House of Representatives.
(6) The committee shall function on a year-round basis and when the Legislature is not in session, members of the committee shall be compensated as provided in Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, for each day spent in actual discharge of their duties and shall be reimbursed for mileage and actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. No committee member may incur per diem, travel or other expenses unless authorized by vote at a meeting of the committee, which action shall be recorded in the official minutes of the committee.
(7) The Management Committee * * *, in addition to its other responsibilities, shall perform the following duties:
(a) Conduct the business affairs of the House of Representatives;
(b) Investigate the feasibility of new and additional staff agencies and make recommendations to the House of Representatives;
(c) Assign such space in the Capitol or in such other buildings or parts thereof as may be reserved for the House of Representatives and have complete control, authority and jurisdiction over such rooms, chambers, offices and other areas. Any assignment of space shall be subject to change by the Management Committee. No other branch of the government, or a department or agency thereof, shall use any room, chamber, office or other area without specific written authorization from the Management Committee. The Management Committee is hereby authorized to delegate its powers with regard to any such room, chamber, office or other area in connection with the maintenance, repairing, construction, reconstruction and refurbishing thereof in such a manner as it deems advisable;
(d) Staff interim committees;
(e) Staff standing committees; and
(f) Continually assess ways and means to improve the organization, procedures, facilities and working conditions of the House of Representatives.
(8) The Management Committee shall have the authority to designate a director, who may also serve as the Clerk or as the Director of the House Legislative Services Office, and who shall carry out the directives of the Management Committee and shall perform any and all duties of the Management Committee delegated to him. The Management Committee may employ other personnel as may be necessary to discharge its duties and responsibilities. All such personnel shall serve at the pleasure of the Management Committee.
The Management Committee shall also have the authority to fix the salaries of all personnel employed by the House of Representatives.
All employees of the House of Representatives required to travel in the performance of official duties shall be reimbursed for actual subsistence and travel expenses incurred by them while on official business as provided by law, provided such travel has prior approval of the Management Committee or the director under such authority as may be granted to him by the Management Committee.
(9) In providing for the staffing of the Speaker's staff and of committees, the Management Committee shall have the responsibility for determining the necessity of any staff positions requested by the Speaker or the chairman of any committee, as the case may be. The persons to be employed for the positions that are approved by the Management Committee shall be hired by the committee with approval of the Speaker * * *. The Speaker * * * shall recommend the compensation to be paid to the Speaker's staff * * * and the * * * committee shall consider these recommendations when fixing those salaries.
(10) The Management Committee, upon request of the chairman of any standing committee of the House of Representatives, may authorize expenses, to include per diem, mileage, meals and lodging, to be paid for members attending the meeting of any standing committee or subcommittees thereof during the period in which the Legislature is not in session, which shall not exceed the compensation provided for members of the Management Committee provided for in subsection (6) of this rule. The Management Committee shall adopt rules and regulations concerning time, places and number of meetings that may be held for which members will be compensated, such rules and regulations to require prior approval of meetings in order for members to be compensated.
(11) The Management Committee shall have general administrative powers and the responsibility for the proper operation of the House Legislative Services Office.
(a) The director, subject to approval of the Management Committee, shall employ full-time professional, technical, clerical and stenographic assistance as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this subsection.
* * *
(b) The House Legislative Services Office shall assist the House of Representatives, its committees, commissions and individual members of the House of Representatives as follows in:
(i) Bill research;
(ii) Bill drafting;
(iii) Bill analysis;
(iv) Preparation and writing of standing and interim committee reports; and
(v) Such other duties as prescribed by the Management Committee.
(c) The House Legislative Services Office must be authorized, in writing, by a House member to prepare a draft before it undertakes the preparation thereof.
(d) No employee of the House Legislative Services Office shall:
(i) Reveal to any person outside his office the contents or nature of any request for services made by any member of the House except with the written consent of the person making such request;
(ii) Urge, oppose or attempt to influence any legislation;
(iii) Give legal advice on any subject to any person, firm or corporation, except members of the House; nor
(iv) During his employment be associated or interested in the private practice of law in any matter without prior approval of the Management Committee.
A violation of any provision of this section by an employee shall be sufficient cause for his or her immediate dismissal. However, this paragraph shall not be a limitation on the authority of the Management Committee to dismiss or change its employees.
(12) The Department of Finance and Administration shall cooperate with the Management Committee in making space available either in the Capitol or in any other buildings easily accessible to members of the Legislature.
(13) The funds necessary to carry out the provisions of this rule shall be paid from the funds appropriated to the House of Representatives Contingent Fund made by the Legislature for the purposes herein set out.
(14) At such time as there may be designated or created in the Senate of the State of Mississippi a * * * committee with like duties and responsibilities of the House Management Committee, the House Management Committee is authorized to meet jointly with such corresponding Senate * * * committee in order to more effectively carry out the provisions of this rule.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That Rule 15 of the Rules of the House is amended as follows:
15. Pages shall be appointed to serve for one (1) week at a time each, under the control and direction of the Clerk of the House. Only persons over the age of thirteen (13) years shall be eligible to serve as pages.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That Rules 16 and 17 of the Rules of the House are amended as follows:
16. The Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives shall have general supervision, under the direction of the Speaker of the House, in maintaining the decorum and security of the House. He shall attend the sittings of the House, preserve order, execute its commands and all processes issued by its authority or by a House committee's authority, and * * * have control of the assistants to the Sergeant at Arms. He shall clear the House of all visitors one (1) hour before each session convenes and not allow visitors on the Floor of the House for ten (10) minutes after a session has recessed or adjourned. He shall see that the Hall of the House and the Committee Rooms and the Room of the Speaker of the House, the anterooms, lobbies and galleries thereof are secure during the sitting of the House, and that all necessary conveniences are supplied to the members, officers and committees. * * *
17. Each assistant to the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives shall be known as an Assistant Sergeant at Arms, and shall perform such * * * duties as may be required of him by the Sergeant at Arms.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That Rule 60 of the Rules of the House is amended as follows:
60. (1) The following shall be the standing committees of the House:
(a) Rules Committee, as provided for in Rule 11 of these rules;
(b) Management Committee, as provided for in Rule 11A of these rules;
(c) Ethics Committee, as provided for in Rule 63A of these rules;
(d) Committee Number of Members
Agriculture 33
Apportionment and Elections 17
Appropriations 33
Banking and Financial Services 15
Conservation and Water Resources 29
Constitution 15
Corrections 17
County Affairs 19
Education 31
Fees and Salaries of Public Officers 15
Forestry 11
Gaming 15
Insurance 17
Interstate Cooperation 7
Judiciary 50
Juvenile Justice 25
Labor 11
Local and Private Legislation 7
Marine Resources 11
Medicaid 19
Military Affairs 11
Municipalities 17
Oil, Gas and Other Minerals 17
Ports, Harbors and Airports 11
Public Health and Human Services 29
Public Property 19
Public Utilities 17
Tourism 17
Transportation 29
Universities and Colleges 27
Ways and Means 33
Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks 15
(2) No member shall serve on both the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Appropriations. Each member may serve on at least four (4) committees listed in this rule.
(3) The Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Ways and Means each shall consist of thirty-three (33) members appointed by the Speaker, six (6) members from each congressional district as constituted on January 1, 1996, and three (3) members from the state at large. Appointments from the congressional districts shall be made on the basis of seniority. For the purposes of this rule, "seniority" shall mean length of service, continuous or interrupted, in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. However, seniority among members having the same length of service shall be determined as follows: first, continuous, uninterrupted service in the House; second, continuous, uninterrupted service in the House and Senate; third, interrupted service in the House; and fourth, interrupted service in the House and Senate.
(4) In order for a member to be eligible for the rights accorded by this subsection (4), a member shall submit a list of his or her committee preferences, setting forth at least ten (10) committees in order of preference with the most preferred being first on the list, to the Clerk of the House by 5:00 p.m. on the third calendar day of the first legislative session immediately following the year in which the members of the Legislature are elected. With regard to committee appointments, the following shall be followed by the Speaker of the House in making such appointments:
(a) Each member of the House who has served in the House for less than four (4) years, whether such service be continuous or interrupted, and who is not appointed to be a member of the Committee on Appropriations or the Committee on Ways and Means shall, as a matter of right, be appointed to serve on at least two (2) of the first seven (7) committees on such list, not to include Appropriations and Ways and Means; and
(b) Each member of the House who has served in the House for four (4) years or more, whether such service be continuous or interrupted, and who is not appointed to be a member of the Committee on Appropriations or the Committee on Ways and Means shall, as a matter of right, be appointed to serve on at least three (3) of the first seven (7) committees on such list.
(5) In making committee appointments, the Speaker shall give consideration to the preferences as expressed by the members on their lists as provided in subsection (4) of this rule, and to the seniority, abilities, and geographic location of the members.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That Rule 95 of the Rules of the House is amended as follows:
95. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (2), (3) and (4) of this rule, every House bill, resolution or measure referred to any committee, and not reported therefrom with a recommendation by the twenty-seventh day of a ninety-day session and by the sixty-second day of a one-hundred-twenty-five-day session, and every Senate bill, resolution or measure referred to any committee, and not reported therefrom by the fifty-fifth day of a ninety-day session and by the ninetieth day of a one-hundred-twenty-five-day session, may be withdrawn from the committee on a motion made in writing, which * * * motion must be read by the clerk immediately upon its introduction, setting forth the reasons why the bill should be withdrawn from the committee, by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members present and voting. It may then be taken up and considered by the Committee of the Whole House in accordance with the procedure set forth in House Rule 56, or, by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of those present and voting it may be recommitted to a standing committee. * * * During extraordinary or special sessions of the Legislature, any bill, including an appropriation or revenue bill, may be withdrawn from committee after three (3) days from the date of reference. A motion to withdraw a bill from a committee shall not be voted upon by the House on the day which the motion is made, except upon suspension of the rules by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of those present and voting.
(2) Any House appropriation bill or revenue bill referred to the House Appropriations Committee or the House Ways and Means Committee and not reported therefrom with a recommendation within ten (10) legislative days after referral may be withdrawn from the committee in accordance with the procedure set forth in subsection (1) of this rule if the motion for withdrawal is made by the fiftieth day of a ninety-day session and by the eighty-fifth day of a one-hundred-twenty-five-day session.
(3) Any Senate appropriation bill or revenue bill referred to the House Appropriations Committee or the House Ways and Means Committee and not reported therefrom with a recommendation within ten (10) legislative days after referral may be withdrawn from the committee in accordance with the procedure set forth in subsection (1) of this rule if the motion for withdrawal is made by the seventieth day of a ninety-day session and by the one-hundred-fifth day of a one-hundred-twenty-five-day session.
(4) For the purposes of this rule, the term 'revenue bill' shall include only those bills whose primary purpose is to increase or decrease taxes or to authorize the issuance of bonds or the borrowing of money. Bills which are primarily for regulatory purposes which have revenue provisions included shall not be considered as revenue bills for the purposes of this rule.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Rules of the House are amended by creating a new Rule 104B to read as follows:
104B. The procedure for handling the contest of the election, other than a primary election, of a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives shall be as follows:
(1) Anyone desiring to contest the election, other than a primary election, of a member returned as elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives shall file with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, within thirty (30) days after a regular general election or ten (10) days after a special election to fill a vacancy, a sworn petition stating particularly the grounds upon which the election is contested. A copy of the petition shall be served on the member whose election is being contested. Any allegations concerning the election, or any grounds for the contest contained in the petition, shall be stated and averred in the same manner in which circumstances constituting fraud are required to be stated with particularity when pleading special matters under the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.
(2) Upon the timely filing of the petition, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint a special committee to resolve the election contest. Any special committee appointed by the Speaker under this subsection (2) shall be composed of one (1) member of the House of Representatives from each congressional district as constituted on January 1, 1996. In making the committee appointments, the Speaker shall give consideration to the seniority, abilities and geographic location of the members. Within fifteen (15) days after the Speaker's appointment of the special committee, the committee shall meet to organize and review the petition.
(3) (a) Either party to such an election contest may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the particular grounds stated in the petition or any response thereto, and he may use any method of discovery that is authorized under the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.
(b) Either party shall have the right of full examination of ballot boxes in accordance with Section 23-15-911, Mississippi Code of 1972.
(c) All forms of discovery shall be completed within twenty (20) days before the convening of a regular session on the Tuesday after the first Monday in January, except that in the case of a special election to fill a vacancy, discovery shall be completed within thirty (30) days after the special election.
(d) The special committee shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the determination of whether the filing of the petition and discovery related thereto have been timely made. If the filing of the petition or the discovery related thereto is not made timely, the election contest shall be void, and the contest and any rights related thereto shall expire by operation of law.
(4) On the first day of the regular session next occurring after the election being contested, the person who was certified by the appropriate election officials as the duly elected member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from the district in question shall be administered the oath of office by the Secretary of State as required by the Constitution, along with all other members present, and he shall not be requested to stand aside if he has been so certified. In the case of a special election contest, the oath shall be administered by the Speaker as in the case of administering the oath after any special election in which no contest has been filed. The seating and swearing in of a member who has been certified by the appropriate election officials before the special committee has concluded its deliberations shall be conditional and not permanent. The conditional seating and swearing in of the member shall vest in the member all the rights, privileges, and emoluments of the office, but without prejudice to the contest filed by the petitioner.
(5) The special committee appointed by the Speaker
shall meet on the first day of the regular session next occurring after the election being contested, except that in the case of a special election to fill a vacancy, the special committee shall meet within five (5) days of the completion of discovery. The work of the special committee shall be a matter of the highest priority for the House, and any conflicts in scheduling meetings of the committee shall be resolved in favor of expediting the committee's work. The special committee shall have the power to investigate all facts concerning the election or qualifications of any member or petitioner, but shall not place itself in the position of investigating matters not alleged in the petition or any response thereto. It also shall have the power to issue subpoenas and compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of such documents or papers as may be required. The special committee shall have the authority to enforce any subpoena issued by the committee and to enforce compliance with the time limitations set forth in this rule, with the assistance of the State Attorney General or his designee.
(6) After the committee concludes its deliberations, it shall report a resolution recommending one (1) of the following courses of action to the House: (a) to seat permanently the House member who was certified and sworn in under subsection (4) of this rule, failure of which shall vacate the seat for the House district in question held by that person; (b) to seat permanently the petitioner in the election contest, passage of which will vacate the seat for that House district and the petitioner shall be sworn in for that seat; or (c) to declare the office of representative for that House district as vacant. The House shall consider the recommendation of the committee, and it shall adopt one (1) of the courses of action specified in this subsection (6), which must be adopted by a majority vote of House members present and voting.
(7) For purposes of this rule, "day" means a calendar day and includes any legal holiday.
(8) Section 55, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, which requires a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members present to expel a seated member, shall not apply to any votes taken with regard to an election contest of a member of the House of Representatives.
(9) If the House determines that the person conditionally sworn in under subsection (4) of this rule is not qualified as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, any vote cast in the interim shall stand and any compensation and expenses paid shall be retained by that person. If the petitioner prevails on the merits of his contest, he shall receive the regular compensation and expenses of a member of the House, retroactive to the beginning of the session, or in the case of a special election, retroactive to the date upon which the House member conditionally sworn in was seated.
(10) Under the inherent authority of the House to create procedures and rules for the governing of its internal affairs, if any provision of this rule conflicts with any provision of Sections 23-15-955 and 23-15-957, Mississippi Code of 1972, the provisions of this rule shall prevail.