GOVERNMENT BILL 78

 

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

An Act to Dissolve the Student Senate Permanent Committee on Rules and to Provide Replacement Procedures for the Core Responsibilities of the Committee

 

 

BE IT ENACTED,     by the North Carolina State University Student Senate that:

 

Section 1.        Student Body Statute §2-1.1(d) shall be struck:

 

(d) Meetings at the call of the Committee on Rules . By an affirmative vote of five (5) members, the Committee on Rules may schedule a meeting of the Student Senate at such time and date prescribed by the committee, provided that notice is given to all senators by electronic mail 72 hours prior to the scheduled Senate meeting. All Senators shall be notified by electronic mail at least 24 hours prior to the consideration of any motion to schedule a meeting of the Senate by the Committee on Rules.

 

Section 2.        Student Body Statutes §2-1.3(b) shall be amended by striking:

 

 (7) Consideration of Special Rules.

 

Section 3.        Student Body Statutes §2-1.3(b) shall be amended by inserting

 

(11) Motions to fast-track.

 

Section 4.        Student Body Statutes §2-1.3(c) Approval of the Journal shall be amended by striking “Committee on Rules” and inserting “Committee on Government Operations”.

 

Section 5.        Student Body Statutes §2-1.3(h) shall be amended by striking

 

Any Senator wishing to raise an issue for informal discussion by the Senate shall submit his or her intent to raise such an issue, and a brief statement of the issue to be raised, to the Committee on Rules via electronic mail by noon of the Monday prior to the meeting at which he or she desires to raise the issue.  The Committee on Rules shall consider the matter at its next meeting and place the matter on the Senate Calendar by an affirmative vote of three (3) members.

 

and inserting:

 

Any Senator wishing to raise an issue for informal discussion by the Senate shall submit his or her intent to raise such an issue, and a brief statement of the issue to be raised, to the Senate via electronic mail by noon the calendar day prior to the meeting at which he or she intends to raise the issue. In the event that more than three such requests are submitted, the President shall, at his or her discretion, select three of them for the Senate’s consideration.

 

Section 6.        Student Body Statutes §2-1.8(d) shall be amending by striking “No roll call vote shall be in order on Senate Resolutions in nature of a special rule, however”.

 

Section 7.        Student Body Statutes §2-1.10(e) shall be amended by inserting after “formulating election procedures” the text “considering amendments to the rules of the Senate, reviewing matters of controversy in Senate procedure”, so that the section reads:

 

(e) Committee on Government Operations . The Committee on Government Operations shall be responsible for reviewing amendments to these Statutes and the Student Body Constitution, formulating election procedures, considering amendments to the rules of the Senate, reviewing matters of controversy in Senate procedure, reviewing policies concerning College Councils, formulating policies, except those under the purview of another committee, regarding bodies of governance, evaluating the nature of Senate absences, and reviewing personnel matters, including conducting investigations regarding the impeachment of Student Government Officials, in accordance with the Senate punitive powers. The Government Operations committee shall affect liaison with student judicial boards, the Board of Elections, and the Department of Student Development. The committee shall be composed of at least five (5) members.

 

Section 8.        Student Body Statutes §2-1.11 shall be struck:

 

Rule 11. Permanent Committee on Rules.

 

(a) Membership of Committee on Rules . The committee on rules shall be composed of the Senate President Pro Tempore, ex-officio, the Chairman of the Committee on Government Operations, ex-officio, and five at-large Senators. The President Pro Tempore shall serve as chair of the committee, and the Chairman of the Committee on Government Operations shall serve as vice-chairman of the committee.

 

(b) At-large members of Committee on Rules . Three class days prior to the second Senate meeting of a session, the at-large members of the Committee on Rules shall be appointed. Two members shall be appointed by the Student Senate President Pro Tempore, and then three members shall be appointed by the Student Senate President. At-large members of the Committee on rules shall be subject to majority confirmation of the Senate. At large members of the Committee on Rules may be removed for cause at any time by the original appointing official.

 

(c) Composition Restrictions of Committee on Rules. All members of the Committee on Rules shall be Senators representing one of the several colleges, schools, or recognized programs. At no time shall the Committee on Rules be comprised of, including the Vice-Chair but excluding the Chair, more than:

(1)     Two (2) members of any given standing committee.

(2)     Two (2) standing committee chairmen.

(3)     Two (2) members of any given college, school, or recognized program Senate delegation.

 

(d) Meetings of the Committee on Rules. The Committee on Rules shall meet at the call of the Chair. The Committee must meet the evening two days prior to any Senate meeting. The Chair shall publish in electronic form the agenda for a given meeting at or before 1:00 PM on the day of a meeting of the Committee on Rules. Quorum of the Committee on Rules shall be four (4) members.

 

Section 9.        Student Body Statutes §2-1.12 shall be struck:

 

Rule 12. Duties of the Committee on Rules.

 

(a) Special Rules for Consideration of Legislation . The Committee on Rules may compose a Special Rule, by majority vote, for consideration of any act of legislation. All such special rules shall be in the form of a Senate Resolution.

 

(b) Placement of Legislation on Expedited agenda . The Committee on Rules may place, by majority vote, any act of Legislation, on the expedited agenda provided that it has received a committee report recommending Senate consideration.

 

(c) Consideration of Ordinary Business . The Committee on Rules shall be empowered to consider ordinary committee matters including referred legislation, referred business and matters of the committee’s own concern in accordance with all rules governing standing committees except those involving membership.

 

(d) General Committee Duties . The Permanent Committee on Rules shall be responsible for reviewing amendments to the rules of the Senate, reviewing matters of controversy in Senate procedure, promulgating special rules, determining the composition of the expedited agenda, overseeing procedural education of the Senate with the assistance of the Parliamentarian, and advising the President and other Senate officers on Senate Rules outside of meetings of the Senate.

 

Section 10.      Student Body Statutes §2-1.14 shall be amended by adding:

 

(f) Recommendation of Legislation for Expedited Agenda. Committees may, on report of legislation for second reading, recommend that the bill or resolution be placed on the expedited agenda. The Senate President and Senate President Pro Tempore shall jointly review the recommendation, and shall place the act of legislation on expedited agenda unless one or both deems it unlikely to receive expedited passage.

 

Section 11.      Student Body Statutes §2-1.16 shall be struck:

 

Rule 16. Special Rules.

 

(a) Calendaring of Special Rules . All duly reported special rules shall be placed on the calendar for consideration at the next Senate meeting.

 

(b) Consideration of Special Rules . At the appointed time, each calendared special rule shall be considered sequentially in numerical order. The question of the adoption of a special rule, and all subsidiary motions thereto, shall be by no means debatable. The special rule shall not be amendable by any means, save general consent, and may only be referred to the Committee on Rules. Such special rules shall be adopted by a simple majority vote, except where otherwise prohibited by law.

 

Section 12.      Student Body Statutes §2-1.17 shall be amended by striking “All special rules shall be presented in the form of a Senate Resolution.”

 

Section 13.      Student Body Statutes §2-1.18(d) shall be struck:

 

(d) Special Rule Legislation . Senate Resolutions in the nature of Special Rules shall be introduced by the Committee on Rules. Such resolutions shall be submitted no later than noon the calendar day prior to the Senate meeting at which the special rule shall be considered. Such legislation shall bear no sponsor. All such legislation shall contain at least a paragraph of plain English describing completely and accurately the purpose and nature of the special rule.

 

Section 14.      Student Body Statutes §2.1.18(e) shall be struck:

 

(e) Fast Track of Legislation . A Senator may notify the Committee on rules of their desire that legislation receive only a second reading at the meeting of introduction.  With the written concurrence of three members of the committee on rules, no later than noon the calendar day prior to the meeting at which the legislation is to be considered, a special rule shall be introduced. In the event there are not three installed members of the Committee on Rules, the concurrence of members-designate shall be considered equivalent to that of members, for the purposes of this rule. Additionally when written agreement of five Senators requesting fast-track has been submitted to the chair of the Committee on Rules no later than noon of the calendar day prior to when legislation is to be considered, a special rule shall be introduced, provided a Senator had previously requested that the Committee on Rules consider introducing a fast track by 5pm on the day of the Committee on Rules meeting prior to the Senate meeting at which legislation is to be considered and that the Committee on Rules did not introduce a Special Rule regarding the expedition of the bill.  All such special rules introduced under part (e) of this rule shall only provide for the suspension of the requirement of the first reading and the point on the calendar at which the legislation shall be considered.

 

and the following inserted:

 

(e) Motion to fast-track legislation. A Senator may move that legislation receive its first and second readings at the same meeting. This procedure shall be known as "fast-tracking" the legislation. Such a motion shall be considered by the Senate at the meeting at which the legislation is on the calendar for first reading, and shall only be in order provided that the Senator has submitted his or her intent to make such a motion to all Senators by electronic mail, in the manner prescribed by the President, no later than noon the calendar day before the day of the meeting.

 

Section 15.      Student Body Statutes §2-1.19 shall be amending by inserting:

 

(c) Motions to fast-track. At the appointed time, the President shall recognize all Senators who properly submitted their intent to move to fast-track legislation as required by Rule 18(e) in turn for the purpose of making such a motion. Such a motion shall be decided without debate, and shall require the consent of a two-thirds majority of the Senate.

 

Section 16.      Student Body Statutes §2-1.19(d) shall be amended by inserting “and not fast-tracked,” so that the section reads:

 

(c) Referral to Committee . At the appointed time, the President shall refer all legislation read for the first time and not fast-tracked to the committee he or she deems appropriate according to these Rules.

 

Section 17.      Student Body Statutes §2-1.20(a) shall be amended by striking “unless provided otherwise by special rule”.

 

Section 18.      Student Body Statutes §2-1.20(b) shall be amended by adding “Any legislation which is successfully fast-tracked shall be considered placed at the end of the calendar for second reading.”

 

Section 19.      Student Body Statutes §2-1 shall be amended by inserting:

 

Rule 16. Five-minute Rule on Amendments

 

(a) Applicability of Five-minute Rule on Amendments. The Five-minute Rule on Amendments shall be a secondary procedure for consideration of amendments to legislation during second reading. This procedure may be invoked by motion or mandated by rule or statute. The motion to invoke the five-minute rule on a given act of legislation shall not be in order once debate has commenced on the act, shall be decided without debate, and shall require a simple majority vote for passage. The five-minute rule shall be automatically invoked on any legislation successfully fast-tracked.

 

(b) Effect of Five-minute Rule on Amendments. When under the five-minute rule on amendments, no amendments to a given act of legislation shall be in order in the Senate, except by general consent, unless recommended by the Committee of the Whole. Such amendments recommended by the Committee of the Whole shall be decided without debate.

 

(c) Entrance to the Committee of the Whole. When under the five-minute rule on amendments, the Senate shall automatically dissolve into the Committee of the Whole upon the seconding of a motion to amend, unless the previous question is ordered on the amendment. Motions to amend shall be deferred until the second round of debate, unless otherwise determined by the chair.

 

(d) Five-minute Rule Consideration. When the Committee of the Whole is sitting per the invocation of the five-minute rule, the chair shall first proceed on amendments introduced in the Senate, and then call for additional amendments before the Committee rises. Each motion to amend shall be reviewed by the Committee of the Whole for a period not to exceed five (5) minutes. The Committee may extend the period on any given amendment by five (5) minutes, provided that eight (8) or more Senators do not thereto object.

 

Section 20.      Student Body Statutes §2-1.22(b) shall be amended by striking “and as Chair of the Permanent Committee on Rules”.

 

Section 21.      Student Body Statutes §2-1.22(d) shall be amended by striking “The parliamentarian shall assist the Committee on Rules in the coordination of Senate procedural education.”

 

Section 22.      Student Body Statutes §2-1.26 shall be amended by striking “No clause of these Rules dealing with consideration of legislation may be suspended, except by special rule.”

 

Section 23.      Student Body Statutes §5-2.17 shall be amended by adding “All amendments to the Appropriations Bill shall reviewed via the five-minute rule on amendments (§2-1.16).”

 

Section 24.      Upon adoption of this bill, all matters pending consideration of the Committee on Rules shall be deemed referred to the Committee on Government Operations.

 

Section 25.      This act shall be effective upon its enrollment.