MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2024 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Representative White

House Resolution 5

A RESOLUTION AMENDING RULE 60 AND RULE 61 OF THE TEMPORARY RULES OF THE HOUSE TO REVISE PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEMBERSHIP ON THE STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE HOUSE.

     BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That Rule 60 of the Temporary Rules of the House, as adopted in House Resolution No. 1, 2024 Regular Session, 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

     Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency       11

     Agriculture                                     33

     Apportionment and Elections                      17

     Appropriations A                                 33

Appropriations B 9

Appropriations C 9

Appropriations D 9

Appropriations E 9

     Banking and Financial Services                * * *2921

Business and Commerce 17

     Conservation and Water Resources                 17

     Constitution                                     9

     Corrections                                     17

     County Affairs                                   19

     Drug Policy                                     15

     Education                                       27

     Energy                                      * * *2721

     Forestry                                        11

     Gaming                                          19

Housing 7

     Insurance                                    * * *2721

     Interstate Cooperation                           7

     Judiciary A                                     25

     Judiciary B                                     25

     Local and Private Legislation                    7

     Marine Resources                                 11

     Medicaid                                        19

     Military Affairs                                 15

     Municipalities                                   17

     Ports, Harbors and Airports                      11

     Public Health and Human Services                 29

     Public Property                                  15

     Public Utilities                                 23

State Affairs 13

     Technology                                      11

     Tourism                                         21

     Transportation                               * * *2933

     Universities and Colleges                        27

     Ways and Means                                  33

     Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks                * * *1521

     Workforce Development                        * * *1521

     Youth and Family Affairs                         8

          (2)  No member shall serve on both the Committee on Ways and Means and * * *the Committee on any of the Appropriations Committees.  Each member who is not a member of the Committee on Ways and Means or * * *the Committee on any of the Appropriations Committees shall serve on at least four (4) committees listed in this rule.

          (3)  The * * *Committee on Appropriations A Committee 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, 2024, and nine (9) 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 any of the Appropriations Committees 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 any of the Appropriations Committees and the Committee on 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 any of the Appropriations Committees 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, not to include any of the Appropriations Committees and the Committee on Ways and Means.

          (5)  (a)  The chairman of the Appropriations A Committee shall be an ex-officio voting member of the Appropriations B, Appropriations C, Appropriations D and Appropriations E Committees.

(b)  Each member of the Appropriations B, Appropriations C, Appropriations D and Appropriations E Committees shall also be a member of the Appropriations A Committee.  However, except for the chairman of the Appropriations A Committee, no member of the Appropriations B, Appropriations C, Appropriations D or Appropriations E Committees may be a member of any of the other Appropriations Committees other than the Appropriations A Committee.

(6)  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 BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That Rule 61 of the Temporary Rules of the House, as adopted in House Resolution No. 1, 2024 Regular Session, is amended as follows:

     61.  The first member named on a committee shall be its chairman and the second member named shall be its vice chairman, except that the Vice Chairman of the Management Committee shall be elected as provided in Rule 11A and the Appropriations B, Appropriations C, Appropriations D and Appropriations E Committees shall not have a vice chairman.  However, no member who serves as chairman or vice chairman of a standing committee shall serve as chairman or vice chairman of another standing committee, except that the Chairman of the Ethics Committee, the Vice Chairman of the Rules Committee * * *and, the Vice Chairman of the Management Committee and the Vice Chairman of the Committee on State Affairs may be the chairman of another standing committee.  There shall be no further rank on committees, the remaining members being listed thereon in alphabetical order.  Each committee shall, after its organization, immediately determine by a majority vote what shall constitute a sufficient quorum for it to proceed to business, which quorum shall be not less than a majority of the committee, and shall report that action to the Clerk of the House.