Enrolled Copy S.R. 4
1 SENATE RULES RESOLUTION - AMENDMENTS TO
2 SENATE RULES
3 2023 GENERAL SESSION
4 STATE OF UTAH
5 Chief Sponsor: Lincoln Fillmore
6
7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This resolution modifies legislative rules governing the Senate.
10 Highlighted Provisions:
11 This resolution:
12 < modifies references to members of Senate staff;
13 < prohibits a chair from taking public comment from an individual witness unless the
14 individual provides certain information;
15 < if an individual witness is participating via video conference, prohibits a chair from
16 taking the individual's comment unless:
17 C the individual provides the individual's place of residence; and
18 C the individual's video is enabled;
19 < allows a standing committee member to make a motion to recess without a quorum
20 present; and
21 < makes corrections to Senate rules, including eliminating obsolete language and
22 clarifying existing requirements.
23 Other Special Clauses:
24 This bill provides a coordination clause.
25 Legislative Rules Affected:
26 AMENDS:
27 SR1-1-101
28 SR1-4-201
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29 SR1-4-202
30 SR2-4-106
31 SR3-1-101
32 SR3-1-102
33 SR3-2-306
34 SR3-2-308
35 SR3-2-310
36 SR3-2-318
37 SR3-2-319
38 SR3-2-401
39 SR3-2-405
40 SR3-2-406
41 SR3-2-509
42 SR4-2-201
43 SR4-3-101
44 SR4-3-104
45 SR4-4-101
46 SR4-4-301
47 SR4-7-102
48 SR4-7-104
49 ENACTS:
50 SR1-4-301
51 SR1-4-302
52 REPEALS AND REENACTS:
53 SR1-4-101
54 SR1-4-102
55 Legislative Rules Affected by Coordination Clause:
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56 SR3-4-101
57
58 Be it resolved by the Senate of the state of Utah:
59 Section 1. SR1-1-101 is amended to read:
60 SR1-1-101. Adoption, amendment, or suspension of Senate rules.
61 (1) (a) The Senate shall adopt Senate rules, by a constitutional two-thirds vote, at the
62 beginning of each new Legislature convening in an odd-numbered year.
63 (b) If a motion to adopt the rules under Subsection (1)(a) meets or exceeds a majority
64 vote but fails to reach a constitutional two-thirds vote:
65 (i) rules adopted by the Senate during the immediately preceding annual general
66 session, as amended during that general session and any intervening session, apply to the
67 conduct of the Senate; and
68 (ii) the [secretary of the Senate] presiding officer shall announce to the Senate that the
69 previously adopted rules apply to the newly convened Legislature.
70 (2) (a) Except as provided in this rule:
71 (i) during an annual general session held in an even-numbered year, rules adopted by
72 the Senate during the immediately preceding general session, as amended during that general
73 session and any intervening session, apply to the conduct of the Senate; and
74 (ii) during any special session, Senate rules apply as provided in JR2-1-101.
75 (b) For a session described in Subsection (2)(a), the [secretary of the Senate] presiding
76 officer shall announce to the Senate that the previously adopted rules apply to the newly
77 convened session.
78 (3) Except as provided in Subsection (4), additional rules may be adopted and existing
79 rules may be suspended, amended, or repealed by a majority vote, except for those rules that
80 require a two-thirds vote to adopt, suspend, amend, or repeal, including:
81 (a) rules governing motions for lifting tabled legislation from committee under
82 SR4-3-104; and
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83 (b) rules governing consideration of legislation during the last three days of a session.
84 (4) (a) A rule that includes a voting requirement of more than a constitutional majority
85 must be adopted and may only be amended, suspended, or repealed by a constitutional
86 two-thirds vote.
87 (b) If the suspension of any Senate Rule is governed by the Utah Constitution or Utah
88 statutes, the Senate may suspend that rule only as provided by that constitutional or statutory
89 provision.
90 Section 2. SR1-4-101 is repealed and reenacted to read:
91 Part 1. Senate Chief of Staff
92 SR1-4-101. Appointment of the Senate chief of staff.
93 The president or president-elect of the Senate shall appoint an individual to serve as chief of
94 staff of the Senate.
95 Section 3. SR1-4-102 is repealed and reenacted to read:
96 SR1-4-102. Duties of the Senate chief of staff.
97 The chief of staff shall:
98 (1) appoint the Senate sergeant-at-arms and the secretary of the Senate; and
99 (2) perform other duties as assigned by the president or president-elect.
100 Section 4. SR1-4-201 is amended to read:
101 SR1-4-201. Appointment of sergeant-at-arms.
102 [Before the annual general session of the Legislature is convened, the president or
103 president-elect of the Senate shall appoint a person] The chief of staff shall appoint an
104 individual to serve as sergeant-at-arms of the Senate.
105 Section 5. SR1-4-202 is amended to read:
106 SR1-4-202. Duties of the sergeant-at-arms.
107 [The] Subject to the chief of staff's direction, the sergeant-at-arms and the employees
108 under the sergeant's direction shall:
109 (1) maintain security;
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110 (2) enforce the Senate Rules and other legislative rules [at the direction of the presiding
111 officer or the Senate]; and
112 (3) provide other service as requested by the [secretary of the Senate] chief of staff or
113 the president.
114 Section 6. SR1-4-301 is enacted to read:
115 Part 3. Secretary of the Senate
116 SR1-4-301. Appointment of the secretary of the Senate.
117 The chief of staff shall appoint an individual to serve as secretary of the Senate.
118 Section 7. SR1-4-302 is enacted to read:
119 SR1-4-302. Duties of the secretary of the Senate.
120 Subject to the chief of staff's direction, the secretary of the Senate shall perform the following
121 duties:
122 (1) certify and transmit legislation to the Senate and inform the Senate of all House
123 action;
124 (2) assist in the preparation of the Senate journal and certify it as an accurate reflection
125 of Senate action;
126 (3) make the following technical corrections to legislation either before or following
127 final passage:
128 (a) correct the spelling of words;
129 (b) correct the erroneous division and hyphenation of words;
130 (c) correct mistakes in numbering sections and their references;
131 (d) capitalize words or change capitalized words to lower case;
132 (e) change numbers from words to figures or from figures to words;
133 (f) underscore or remove underscoring in legislation without a motion to amend; or
134 (g) any combination of Subsections (3)(a) through (f);
135 (4) modify the long title of a piece of legislation to ensure that the long title accurately
136 reflects any changes to the legislation made by amendment or substitute;
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137 (5) act as custodian of all official documents related to legislation;
138 (6) receive all numbered legislation from the Office of Legislative Research and
139 General Counsel;
140 (7) record the number, title, sponsor, each action, and final disposition of each piece of
141 legislation on the back of the legislation;
142 (8) prepare and distribute the daily order of business each day;
143 (9) advise the president on parliamentary procedure, Joint Rules, and Senate Rules;
144 (10) read, or cause to be read, the title of all bills and other materials as requested by
145 the president;
146 (11) receive committee reports and present them to the Senate;
147 (12) assist with amendments to legislation;
148 (13) record votes and present the results to the president;
149 (14) transmit all enrolled Senate bills and Senate concurrent resolutions to the
150 governor;
151 (15) maintain all calendars for the Senate floor; and
152 (16) other duties as assigned by the chief of staff.
153 Section 8. SR2-4-106 is amended to read:
154 SR2-4-106. Executive sessions.
155 (1) A senator may make a motion to convene the Senate in executive session.
156 (2) When a motion for executive session is adopted, the presiding officer shall direct
157 the sergeant-at-arms to close the Senate chamber doors.
158 (3) The president may require all [persons, except the senators, secretary, reading clerk,
159 docket clerk, and sergeant-at-arms] individuals, except the senators and specified staff, to leave
160 the Senate chamber.
161 (4) During the discussion, every person present shall remain within the Senate
162 chamber.
163 (5) During and after conclusion of the executive session, each person who was present
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164 in the executive session shall keep all matters discussed in executive session confidential.
165 Section 9. SR3-1-101 is amended to read:
166 SR3-1-101. Senate Rules Committee -- Appointment -- General responsibilities.
167 (1) The president shall appoint members of the Senate to serve on the Senate Rules
168 Committee.
169 (2) The Senate Rules Committee shall perform the following functions as further
170 elaborated in this part:
171 (a) when assigned by the president, receive introduced legislation from the Senate and
172 recommend that they be assigned to a Senate standing committee or to the Senate second or
173 third reading calendar;
174 (b) after the Senate has sifted -- sent legislation on the second and third reading
175 calendars back to the Senate Rules Committee -- make recommendations to the Senate about
176 which legislation should be assigned to the third reading calendar and the order in which it
177 should be heard; and
178 (c) function as a standing committee or interim committee when reviewing Joint
179 Rules[, Interim Rules,] or Senate Rules.
180 Section 10. SR3-1-102 is amended to read:
181 SR3-1-102. Senate Rules Committee -- Assignment duties.
182 (1) (a) Subject to Subsection (1)(b), the presiding officer shall submit all legislation
183 introduced in the Senate to the Senate Rules Committee.
184 (b) The president may direct legislation to be sent directly to a standing committee or
185 to one of the Senate floor calendars.
186 (2) The Senate Rules Committee shall:
187 (a) examine the legislation referred to it for proper form, including fiscal note and
188 committee note, if any; and
189 (b) (i) refer the legislation to the Senate with a recommendation that the legislation be:
190 (A) referred to a standing committee for consideration;
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191 (B) subject to Subsection (3), placed directly onto the second reading calendar;
192 (C) subject to Subsection (3), read the second time and placed onto the consent
193 calendar; or
194 (D) if during the last week of the legislative session, read the second time and placed
195 on the third reading calendar; or
196 (ii) hold the legislation.
197 (3) During an annual general session, the Senate Rules Committee may not refer
198 legislation to the Senate with a recommendation under Subsection (2)(b)(i)(B) or (2)(b)(i)(C)
199 unless:
200 (a) [(i)] a Senate standing committee has given the legislation a favorable
201 recommendation; or
202 [(ii)] (b) the legislation is described in [SR3-2-401(2);and] SR3-2-401(2).
203 [(b) as applicable, the legislation satisfies the posting requirements of JR7-1-602.5.]
204 [(4) If the chair of the Senate Rules Committee receives a summary report from the
205 Occupational and Professional Licensure Review Committee related to newly regulating an
206 occupation or profession within the two calendar years immediately preceding the session in
207 which a piece of legislation is introduced related to the regulation by the Division of
208 Occupational and Professional Licensing of that occupation or profession:]
209 [(a) the chair of the Senate Rules Committee shall ensure that the Senate Rules
210 Committee is informed of the summary report before the Senate Rules Committee takes action
211 on the legislation; and]
212 [(b) if the Senate Rules Committee refers the legislation to the Senate as provided in
213 Subsection (2)(b)(i):]
214 [(i) the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel shall make the summary
215 report reasonably available to the public and to legislators; and]
216 [(ii) if the legislation is referred to a standing committee, the Senate Rules Committee
217 shall forward the summary report to the standing committee.]
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218 [(5)] (4) In carrying out its functions and responsibilities under this rule, the Senate
219 Rules Committee may not amend, substitute, or table legislation without the written consent of
220 the sponsor.
221 Section 11. SR3-2-306 is amended to read:
222 SR3-2-306. Sponsor presentation.
223 (1) Except as provided in Subsection (2), during the presentation phase, a committee
224 member may not amend legislation, substitute legislation, or dispose of legislation. All other
225 motions are in order during the presentation phase.
226 (2) During the presentation phase of a committee meeting, the chair may accept a
227 [simple] motion to amend or substitute legislation if the chair permits:
228 (a) committee questions and debate;
229 (b) public comment as provided in SR3-2-308;
230 (c) the sponsor of the legislation affected by the amendment to respond to the motion
231 to amend; and
232 (d) the committee member who made the motion to amend to have the final word on
233 the motion as required under SR3-2-313.
234 (3) During the presentation phase of a standing committee meeting, the chair shall:
235 (a) permit the chief sponsor or another legislator designated by the chief sponsor to
236 present the chief sponsor's legislation; and
237 (b) except as provided in Subsection (4), and at the election of the chief sponsor or the
238 chief sponsor's designee, permit persons who have expertise on the legislation to assist with the
239 presentation as provided in SR3-2-304.
240 (4) The chair may not permit:
241 (a) legislation to be presented if the chief sponsor or another legislator designated by
242 the chief sponsor is not present; or
243 (b) legislative interns or legislative aides to present legislation.
244 Section 12. SR3-2-308 is amended to read:
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245 SR3-2-308. Public comment.
246 (1) During the public comment phase, a committee member may not amend legislation,
247 substitute legislation, or dispose of legislation. All other motions are in order during the public
248 comment phase.
249 (2) During the public comment phase of a committee meeting:
250 (a) the chair, or a committee by majority vote, may limit the time an individual witness
251 or presenter speaks to a committee as authorized under SR3-2-304; [and]
252 (b) the chair, or the committee by majority vote, may terminate the public comment
253 phase at any time[.]; and
254 (c) the chair may not take comment from an individual witness unless:
255 (i) the individual provides the individual's legal name and the entity that the individual
256 represents, if any; and
257 (ii) if the individual is participating via video conference:
258 (A) the individual provides the individual's place of residence; and
259 (B) the individual's video is enabled.
260 (3) Unless