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1996 SESSION

964457605
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 2
Offered January 10, 1996
Prefiled December 12, 1995
Providing for a Joint Assembly, establishing a schedule for the conduct of business coming before the 1996 Regular Session of the General Assembly of Virginia, and providing for legislative continuity between the 1996 and 1997 Regular Sessions of the General Assembly.
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Patrons-- Cranwell, Ball, Diamonstein, Dickinson and Moss; Senators: Andrews, Gartlan, Marye, Waddell and Walker
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RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly shall meet in joint session in the Hall of the House of Delegates on January 10, 1996, at such time as specified by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, to receive the Governor of Virginia, and such address as he may desire to make, and that the rules for the government of the House of Delegates and the Senate, when convened in joint session for such purpose, shall be as follows:

1. At the hour fixed for the meeting of the Joint Assembly, the Senators, accompanied by the President and the Clerk of the Senate, shall proceed to the Hall of the House of Delegates and shall be received by the Delegates standing. Appropriate seats shall be assigned to the Senators by the Sergeant at Arms of the House. The Speaker of the House of Delegates shall assign an appropriate seat for the President of the Senate.

2. The Speaker of the House of Delegates shall be President of the Joint Assembly. In case it shall be necessary for the Speaker to vacate the Chair, the President of the Senate shall serve as the presiding officer.

3. The Clerk of the House of Delegates shall be Clerk of the Joint Assembly and shall be assisted by the Clerk of the Senate. The Clerk of the Joint Assembly shall enter the proceedings of the Joint Assembly in the Journal of the House and shall certify a copy of the same to the Clerk of the Senate, who shall enter the same in the Journal of the Senate.

4. The Sergeant at Arms, Doorkeepers, and Pages of the House shall act as such for the Joint Assembly.

5. The Rules of the House of Delegates, as far as applicable, shall be the Rules of the Joint Assembly.

6. In calling the roll of the Joint Assembly, the names of the Senators shall be called in alphabetical order, then the names of the Delegates in like order, except that the name of the Speaker of the House shall be called last.

7. If, when the Joint Assembly meets, it shall be ascertained that a majority of each house is not present, the Joint Assembly may take measures to secure the attendance of absentees, or adjourn to a succeeding day, as a majority of those present may determine.

8. When the Joint Assembly adjourns, the Senators, accompanied by the President and the Clerk of the Senate, shall return to their chamber, and the business of the House shall be continued in the same order as at the time of the entrance of the Senators; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That for purposes of the procedural deadlines established herein for the 1996 Regular Session of the General Assembly, the term:

1. "Budget Bill" shall mean the general appropriation bill introduced in each house which authorizes the biennial expenditure of public revenues for the period from July 1, 1994, through June 30, 1996, or from July 1, 1996, through June 30, 1998.

2. "Revenue bill" shall mean any bill that increases or decreases the total revenues available for appropriation, including any sales tax exemption bill.

3. "Debt bill" shall mean any bill that authorizes the issuance of debt.

4. "Appropriation bill" shall mean any bill, except the general appropriation bill (Budget Bill), that authorizes or directs the expenditure of state funds.

5. "Local fiscal impact bill" shall mean, in accordance with § 30-19.03:1, any bill that mandates a county, city or town to incur an additional net expenditure.

6. "Prison impact bill" shall mean, in accordance with § 30-19.1:4, any bill which would result in a net increase in periods of imprisonment in state correctional facilities.

Each budget, revenue, debt, appropriation, local fiscal impact, and prison impact bill shall have its appropriate designation stamped upon its cover; and, be it

RESOLVED FINALLY, That the 1996 Regular Session of the General Assembly shall be governed by the following procedural rules, which establish time limitations for all legislation introduced for the 1996 Regular Session except House and Senate resolutions; local fiscal or prison impact bills filed after the first day introduction, with the consent of two-thirds of the members elected to the house in which the bill is offered; legislation introduced after the deadline provided in Rule 2, with the consent of two-thirds of the members elected to the house in which the bill or joint resolution was offered; or legislation requested in writing by the Governor:

Rule 1. Neither requests for the preparation, redrafting, or correction of bills, nor requests for the preparation, redrafting, or correction of joint resolutions, except those affecting the rules of procedure or the schedule of business of the General Assembly, either of its houses, or any of its committees, shall be submitted to or received by the Division of Legislative Services later than 5:00 p.m., Monday, January 15, 1996.

Rule 2. Except for bills required to be filed earlier, no bill or joint resolution, other than one affecting the rules of procedure or the schedule of business of the General Assembly, either of its houses, or any of its committees, shall be offered in either house after the adjournment of that house on Monday, January 22, 1996.

Rule 3. No later than Thursday, February 8, 1996, each house shall begin to complete its consideration of (i) any election to fill a seat currently held by a judge serving under a pro tempore appointment of the Governor or a circuit court pursuant to Section 7 of Article VI of the Constitution of Virginia or § 16.1-69.9:2 of the Code of Virginia, (ii) any election to fill a vacancy created by the expiration of a term of a judge, (iii) any election to fill the seat held by any judge or any member of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission whose term shall expire prior to the next regular session of the General Assembly, (iv) any election to fill an existing or pending vacancy on the State Corporation Commission, and (v) the confirmation of any gubernatorial appointment made during the recess pursuant to Section 7 of Article V of the Constitution of Virginia. In the event that the houses cannot agree on any such election or confirmation before Friday, February 9, 1996, such election or confirmation shall become the subject of a special and continuing order in each house at the time such house completes its morning hour, and such special and continuing order shall have precedence over all other business of either house, until such time as both houses reach agreement on such election or confirmation or in the case of such election agree to hold it at another specific time.

Rule 4. The committees responsible for the consideration of revenue, debt, and appropriation bills shall complete their work on such bills that are in the houses of introduction no later than midnight, Tuesday, February 13, 1996.

Rule 5. Except for the Budget Bill(s) and revenue, debt, and appropriation bills, beginning Wednesday, February 14, 1996, the House of Delegates shall consider only Senate bills, Senate joint resolutions, House bills with Senate amendments, and House joint resolutions with Senate amendments; the Senate shall consider only House bills, House joint resolutions, Senate bills with House amendments, and Senate joint resolutions with House amendments; and each house may consider conference reports and other privileged matters to the end that the work of each house may be disposed of by the other.

Rule 6. The houses of introduction shall complete their consideration of all revenue, debt, and appropriation bills, except for conference reports and other privileged matters relating thereto, no later than Friday, February 16, 1996.

Rule 7. The committees responsible for the consideration of the Budget Bill(s) in the houses of introduction shall complete their work on such bill(s), no later than midnight, Sunday, February 18, 1996, and any amendments proposed by such committees shall be made available to their respective houses no later than noon, Tuesday, February 20, 1996.

Rule 8. The houses of introduction shall complete their consideration of the Budget Bill(s), except for conference reports and other privileged matters relating thereto, no later than Thursday, February 22, 1996.

Rule 9. No later than midnight, Tuesday, February 27, 1996, each house shall complete consideration of the Budget Bill(s) and all revenue bills of the other house, except for conference reports and other privileged matters relating thereto, and the appointing authority shall appoint the conferees to such bills.

Rule 10. The conferees of the first conference on any revenue bill shall complete their deliberations no later than midnight, Saturday, March 2, 1996, and the report of such conferees shall be available to all members of the General Assembly no later than noon, Monday, March 4, 1996.

Rule 11. Beginning Tuesday, March 5, 1996, neither house shall receive from any committee any bill, joint resolution, or resolution acted on by any committee later than Monday, March 4, 1996.

Rule 12. The conferees of the first conference on the Budget Bill(s) shall complete their deliberations no later than midnight, Tuesday, March 5, 1996, and the report of such conferees shall be available to all members of the General Assembly no later than noon, Thursday, March 7, 1996; no engrossment of the Budget Bill(s) shall be required in either house, and the conferees on the Budget Bill(s) shall consider, as the basis of their deliberations, the Budget Bill(s) as recommended by the Governor and introduced in the House and the amendments thereto proposed by each house.

Rule 13. Except for joint resolutions affecting the rules of procedure or the schedule of business of the General Assembly, beginning Friday, March 8, 1996, the House shall consider only Senate joint resolutions and House joint resolutions with Senate amendments, the Senate shall consider only House joint resolutions and Senate joint resolutions with House amendments, and each house may consider conference reports or joint resolutions and other privileged matters relating thereto, to the end that the work of each house may be disposed of by the other.

Rule 14. No later than Thursday, March 7, 1996, each house shall begin consideration of any election to fill any newly created judgeship and any existing or pending vacancy on (i) the Supreme Court of Virginia, (ii) the Court of Appeals of Virginia, (iii) the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission, (iv) the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, and (v) any circuit or district court of the Commonwealth. In the event that the houses cannot agree on any such election before Friday, March 8, 1996, such election shall become the subject of a special and continuing order in each house at the time such house completes its morning hour, and such special and continuing order shall have precedence over all other business of either house, until such time as both houses reach agreement.

Rule 15. This session of the General Assembly shall adjourn sine die no later than the legislative day of Saturday, March 9, 1996. (A legislative day begins with a call to order by the presiding officer and ends when declared adjourned by the presiding officer.)

Rule 16. Pursuant to Section 6 of Article IV of the Constitution of Virginia, the General Assembly shall reconvene April 17, 1996, for the purpose of considering bills which may have been returned by the Governor with recommendations for their amendment and bills and items of appropriation bills, including the general appropriation act, which may have been returned by the Governor with his objections.

Rule 17. Pursuant to Section 7 of Article IV of the Constitution of Virginia, legislative continuity is hereby provided for between sessions occurring during the terms for which members of the House of Delegates are elected, in conformity with the Rules of the House of Delegates and the Rules of the Senate.

Rule 18. The conduct of the business of any subcommittee of any House committee, any joint subcommittee of House and Senate committees, and any interim study commission created pursuant to a House measure shall be governed by the Rules of the House of Delegates, and the conduct of the business of any subcommittee of any Senate committee, any joint subcommittee of Senate and House committees, and any interim study commission created pursuant to a Senate measure shall be governed by the Rules of the Senate.

Rule 19. Any staff member assigned to work for, and support the efforts of, any committee of the House or Senate, any subcommittee of any such committee, any joint subcommittee of House and Senate committees, or any interim study commission shall work under the direction of the chairman of such committee, subcommittee, joint subcommittee, or interim study commission.

Rule 20. Standing committees of the General Assembly shall complete their consideration of all legislation continued by them from the 1996 Regular Session of the General Assembly no later than Friday, December 20, 1996.