ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION amending Rule V of the Assembly rules, in relation
to attendance

RESOLVED, That Rule V of the Assembly rules is amended to read as
follows:
RULE V

MEMBERS

Section 1. Attendance. a. Attendance of members in the bar of the
House during sessions of the House shall be continuously recorded elec-
tronically unless otherwise ordered by the Speaker.
b. The bar of the House shall be deemed to include the entire Assembly
Chamber and lobbies contiguous thereto as designated by the Speaker.
c. In all cases of the absence of members during the session of the
House, the members present may take such measures as they shall deem
necessary to secure their presence, and in addition to suspending them
from the service of the House for a given period, may inflict such
censure or pecuniary penalty as they may deem just on those who, on
being called on for that purpose, shall not render a sufficient excuse
for their absence. For the purpose of securing the attendance of
members, a call of the House may be made, but such call shall not be in
order after voting on the question has commenced, unless the roll call
has been withdrawn by the introducer. While a call of the House is in
progress no other business shall be transacted except by order of the
House.
º 2. Voting. a. Every member who shall be within the bar of the House
when a question is stated from the Chair shall vote thereon, provided,
however, no vote shall be recorded for any member who is not present
within the bar of the House at the time of such vote. The roll of absen-
tees shall not be called more than once. Unless otherwise directed by
the Speaker, all votes shall be recorded electronically. A member may
abstain from a vote only on the grounds that such vote will constitute a
conflict of interest.
b. The yeas and nays shall be taken individually of each member on the
final passage of a bill and on any other question whenever required by
any fifteen members (unless a division by yeas and nays be pending), and
when so taken each member's affirmative or negative vote shall be
entered through the electronic voting system or in such other manner as
may be prescribed by the Speaker and entered on the Journal. Such roll
call shall remain open for a period of not less than one minute, and
shall be designated a slow roll call. During such roll call, no vote
shall be recorded unless the member voting is at his or her regularly
assigned seat or is serving or acting as Speaker, Majority or Minority
Leader.
c. In the event a slow roll call is not required pursuant to subdivi-
sion b, the yeas and nays shall be taken by a fast roll call and a
member desiring to vote in the negative on such a roll call shall do so
by entering a negative vote through the electronic voting system or in
such other manner as may be prescribed by the Speaker. All other
members shall be recorded in the affirmative. On such a roll call the
Clerk of the Assembly shall call the names of the members who are
recorded in the negative.
d. The Speaker may allow a member to record his or her vote within
fifteen minutes after the results of the roll call have been announced
when such vote does not change the final result of the vote of the House

and such member has been previously recorded on a roll call on a bill
during the legislative session day.
e. Copies of all roll calls shall be made available to the Majority
and Minority Leaders and representatives of the news media within thirty
minutes after completion thereof and, as soon as practicable thereafter,
shall be made available for public inspection at a place designated by
the Speaker.
f. When less than a quorum vote on any subject under the consider-
ation of the House, it shall be in order, for any member to move for a
call of the House. Whereupon the roll of members shall be called by the
Clerk of the Assembly. After completion of the call only the Majority
Leader, or acting Majority Leader, may move that the call be made a
closed call of the House. Immediately following a closed call of the
House, the Clerk of the Assembly, upon request, shall read the names of
the members who are not present in the House. Copies of each closed
call shall be available in the Office of Journal Operations at the end
of each daily session. If it is ascertained that a quorum is present,
either by answering to their names, or by their presence in the House,
the yeas and nays shall again be ordered by the Speaker, and if any
member present refuses to vote, such refusal shall be deemed a contempt,
and unless purged, the House may order the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove
said member or members without the bar of the House, and all privileges
of membership shall be refused the person or persons so offending until
the contempt be duly purged.
g. A member who was absent at the time a prior vote was taken upon
any matter may, within thirty days following the date of his or her
first recorded vote subsequent to such prior vote, file a statement of
how such member would have voted had he or she been present at the time
of such prior vote. Such statement shall be in writing and filed with
the Clerk of the Assembly and the contents thereof shall be duly noted
on the roll call by such Clerk.
H. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION TO THE CONTRARY, DURING EACH
TWO-YEAR TERM OF THE ASSEMBLY, EACH MEMBER SHALL BE ENTITLED TO HAVE AT
LEAST ONE SUBSTANTIVE PIECE OF LEGISLATION, OF HIS OR HER CHOOSING,
EXCLUSIVE OF ANY BILL ACCOMPANIED BY A HOME RULE MESSAGE, DISCHARGED
FROM COMMITTEE AND BROUGHT TO THE FLOOR FOR A VOTE. A MEMBER MAY BRING
SUCH BILL TO THE FLOOR FOR A VOTE BY FILING A WRITTEN NOTICE WITH THE
INDEX CLERK OF THE ASSEMBLY ON A FORM PROVIDED BY SUCH CLERK.

I. ON THE FINAL PASSAGE OF ANY BILL WHICH IMPOSES, CONTINUES OR
REVIVES A TAX, OR CREATES A DEBT OR CHARGE OR MAKES, CONTINUES OR
REVIVES ANY APPROPRIATION OF PUBLIC TRUST MONEY OR PROPERTY, OR
RELEASES, DISCHARGES OR COMMUTES ANY CLAIM OR DEMAND OF THE STATE, TWO-
THIRDS OF ALL MEMBERS ELECTED TO THE ASSEMBLY MUST VOTE IN THE AFFIRMA-
TIVE FOR THE BILL TO PASS.
º 3. Name on Journal. Except for the advancement of a Senate bill
which has been substituted for an Assembly bill, where a bill, order,
motion or resolution shall be entered on the Journal, the name of the
member introducing or moving the same shall also be entered on the Jour-
nal.
º 4. Communications respecting bills. All written communications from
public officers and agencies of the State or local governments furnished
to a committee, respecting a bill which has been referred to such
committee, for consideration, shall be available to the introducer of
the bill for examination. In lieu of such examination, the chairperson
of the committee may elect to furnish the introducer with copies of such
communications.

º 5. Making a Statement. Immediately after the completion of the
orders of the day, and with the unanimous consent of the House, a member
may make a statement, not exceeding fifteen minutes in length, concern-
ing a subject or matter not pending before the House for consideration.
º 6. Debate. a. No member rising to debate, to give notice, make a
motion or report, or to present a petition or other paper, shall proceed
until such member shall have addressed the Speaker from his or her place
and has been recognized by the Speaker. While a member is speaking, no
member shall entertain any private discourse or pass between the member
speaking and the Chair.
b. Unless otherwise provided by these Rules, no member shall speak,
except in his or her place, nor more than twice on any question, without
leave of the House and no member shall speak for more than fifteen
minutes at a time except by consent of two-thirds of the members pres-
ent; provided, however that a member desiring to explain his or her vote
upon the final passage of a bill or upon the passage of a resolution
requiring the expenditure of money may make a brief statement, not to
exceed two minutes, in explanation of such vote; and further provided
that in addition to the foregoing, the sponsor of a bill or resolution
may make a statement not to exceed five minutes for the purpose of open-
ing debate on such bill or resolution.
c. If any member, in speaking, transgresses the Rules of the House,
the Speaker may call such member to order, in which case the member so
called to order shall immediately sit down, and shall not rise unless to
explain or proceed in order.
d. While the Speaker is putting a question, or a roll call is in
progress or a count is being had, no member shall speak or leave his or
her place. When the House shall be equally divided on any question,
including the Speaker's vote, the question shall be deemed to be lost.
All questions relating to the priority of one question or subject matter
over another, under the same order of business, shall be decided without
debate. If any question contains several distinct propositions, it shall
be divided by the Chair at the request of any member, but a motion to
strike out and insert shall be indivisible. All questions of order, as
they shall occur, with the decisions thereon, shall be entered in the
Journal, and, at the close of the session, a statement of all such ques-
tions and decisions shall be printed at the close of and as an appendix
to the Journal.
º 7. Adjournment. a. When a motion to adjourn is carried, the members
and officers shall keep their seats and places until the Speaker
declares the House adjourned.
b. No motion to adjourn sine die shall be in order until all bills
transmitted to the Governor shall have been acted upon by him or her,
and in the case of vetoed bills, until such bills have been returned to
each House for at least three legislative calendar days.
º 8. Contest of election. A contest of the election of any member
shall be referred to the Judiciary Committee for investigation and
report.
º 9. Staff, materials and other perquisites. Each member of the House
shall be entitled to an equal allocation of printed newsletters and
other printed materials and postage therefor, and stationery and other
similar perquisites, and each member shall receive an equal allowance
for staff personnel, except that the allocation of stationery and other
similar perquisites and the allowance for staff personnel may be greater
for members in majority and minority leadership positions, committee,
subcommittee and task force chairpersons and ranking minority members of
committees, subcommittees and task forces. Such greater allotment or
staff shall be commensurate with the additional duties assigned to such

member AND AMOUNT OF SUCH ALLOTMENT AFFORDED MINORITY MEMBERS SHALL BE
AN AMOUNT REPRESENTING THE PERCENTAGE DIFFERENCE IN ALLOWANCES SET FORTH
IN SECTION FIVE-A OF THE LEGISLATIVE LAW.
º 10. Use of legislative printing, mail and mass communication facili-
ties. a. The use of legislative printing and mail facilities for news-
letters and other forms of mass mailings which bear the name or likeness
of a candidate in a local, special, primary or general election shall be
prohibited within thirty days of such local, special, or primary
election and be prohibited within sixty days of such general election.
Members may not utilize other forms of Assembly-funded mass communi-
cation media during such thirty day and sixty day periods, respectively.
b. The Assembly shall maintain a file containing a copy of each news-
letter provided by Assembly facilities which file shall be available to
the public.
c. The provisions of this section shall be applicable to all communi-
cations addressed to the geographic area in which the member is running
for election.
º 11. Employee candidates for Senator or member of Assembly. No
Assembly employee shall remain on the Assembly payroll while a candidate
for Senator or member of Assembly. For the purposes herein, an employee
shall be deemed a candidate for Senator or member of the Assembly upon
the filing of designating petitions for such office or, where nomi-
nations for such office are made other than by petition, upon nomi-
nation. Such employee shall remain off the Assembly payroll until such
time as his or her candidacy shall cease or upon the day following
election day for such office, whichever comes first.