SENATE RESOLUTION amending Rule II of the Senate rules, in relation to
the appointment and duties of the Temporary President of the Senate;
amending Rule VI of the Senate rules, in relation to disallowing the
introduction of bill on the report of a committee; amending Rule VII of
the Senate rules, in relation to the composition of committees, the
report of bills out of a committee, public hearings and reports of votes
on bills; amending Rule VIII of the Senate rules, in relation to bill
placement on the Third Reading Calendar and final passage of bills;
amending Rule IX of the Senate rules, in relation to staffing and
resources available to senators and equal allocation for member-driven
initiatives; and amending Rule X of the Senate rules, in relation to the
number of signatures necessary on a petition to move a bill to the
calendar for consideration

RESOLVED, That Rule II of the Senate rules is amended to read as
follows:

RULE II

THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT

Section 1. The Senate shall choose a Temporary President who shall BE
THE MAJORITY LEADER AND WHO SHALL preside, or designate some other
member to preside, in case of the absence from the Chamber or impeach-
ment of the Lieutenant Governor, or when he or she shall refuse to act
as President, or shall act as Governor. The temporary president may not
serve in such capacity longer than eight years.
º 2. He or she shall appoint [the Majority Leader of the Senate, who
shall not serve in such capacity longer than eight years,] the Deputy
Majority Leader for Legislative Operations, the chair, vice-chair and
members of all committees and sub-committees, except when the Senate
shall otherwise order.
º 3. [He or she shall appoint a member to serve as the Vice President
for the Senate for Urban Policy and Planning. Such member shall be
responsible for the development of legislation and policy initiatives on
issues of concern to the State's urban communities, including issues of
housing, health and human services. Such member shall be authorized to
conduct hearings, call for testimony, issue an annual report and develop
a statewide agenda on policy and legislation that affect areas of hous-
ing and human services in urban areas. He or she shall be provided with
the adequate resources, staff and budget, along with sufficient office
space, to meet those responsibilities.
º 4.] He or she shall be the Chair of the Committee on Rules.
[º 5.] º 4. He or she shall appoint such officers and employees of the
Senate as may be necessary for the work of the Senate.
[º 6.] º 5. He or she shall designate the persons entitled to admis-
sion to the floor as reporters for the news media.
[º 7.] º 6. He or she shall have general control, except as otherwise
provided by law or in these rules, of the Senate Chamber and the lobbies
and galleries thereof, and of the rooms, corridors and passages in that
part of the Capitol and Legislative Office Building assigned to the use
of the Senate, and any other property leased or utilized by the Senate.
[º 8.] º 7. He or she shall appoint, in conjunction with the Speaker
of the Assembly and the Legislative Librarian, an Assistant Legislative
Librarian, to have charge and custody of all legislative documents, as
defined in this section, who shall be responsible for collecting,

numbering, indexing and retaining the same in the legislative library in
an area designated for such use by the Legislative Librarian. At least
two copies of all such documents shall be kept in such library at all
times and made available to Members of the Legislature and legislative
employees for public inspection and duplication during library hours.
The function of the Legislative Library is to serve the information
and research needs of Members of the Legislature and legislative staff
as defined by the Legislative Law. The services provided shall include
professional reference, access to standard commercial online databases
and the availability of records of the Library's holding on the Legisla-
tive Retrieval System (LRS). The Library is charged with the collection
and custody of all Legislative and State documents as defined by this
section. Access to the collection shall be provided by the Legislative
Library State Documents (LLSD) database on LRS. Documents may be
retained in paper, microform, laser disk or any other medium approved
for archiving documents.
To effectuate the purposes of this section, the Assistant Legislative
Librarian in charge of legislative documents may request from any
committee, commission, task force or office of the Legislature, and the
same are authorized to provide, such assistance, services and data as
will enable such librarian to carry out his or her duties as prescribed
in this section.
For purposes of this section, the term legislative document shall mean
and include the Rules of the Senate, the Rules of the Assembly, reports
of the Legislature and reports of every legislative committee, subcom-
mittee, task force or other adjunct of the Legislature and all reports
and documents required by law or regulation to be submitted to the
Legislature by any department, board, bureau, commission or other agency
of the State.
The provisions of this section and paragraph ten of subdivision c of
section one of Rule I of the Assembly are intended to result in the
appointment of a single Assistant Legislative Librarian to serve both
Houses of the Legislature.
[º 9.] º 8. He or she shall represent the Senate, or engage legal
representation on behalf of the Senate, in any legal action or proceed-
ing involving the interpretation or effect of any law of the federal,
state or local government or the constitutionality thereof or with
regard to the enforcement or defense of any right, privilege or preroga-
tive of the Senate.
[º 10.] º 9. He or she shall, to the extent practicable, use the
Internet and other electronic media to provide access to the public
policy debates, decision-making process and legislative records of the
Senate.
RESOLVED, That section 1 of Rule VI of the Senate rules is amended to
read as follows:
Section 1. Introduction. Bills and resolutions shall be introduced by
a Senator, [or on the report of a committee,] or by message from the
Assembly, or by order of the Senate, or by the Governor pursuant to
Article VII of the Constitution. Every bill introduced shall be in
duplicate and shall have endorsed thereon a title and the name of the
bill's sponsor and shall be accompanied by the introducer's memorandum
in quadruplicate. Such memorandum shall contain a statement of the
purposes and intent of the bill and, if the member deems it appropriate,
may set forth such other statements that the member feels necessary
including, but not limited to, statements relating to economic impact,
environmental impact or the impact on the judicial system of the bill. A
Committee, where it deems necessary, may require that the introducer's
memorandum be amended to include such appropriate statements.

Bills introduced by Senators shall be deposited with the Revision
Clerk for the purpose of having such clerk examine and correct bills to
avoid repetition of introduction and ensure accuracy in the text and
references. Upon introduction, each bill shall be deemed to have had its
first and second reading, unless otherwise ordered and shall be given a
number and immediately referred to the appropriate standing committee by
the Temporary President or an officer designated by the Temporary Presi-
dent in accordance with a set of guidelines to be published annually by
the Temporary President setting forth the respective statutes over which
each of the standing committees shall have subject matter jurisdiction
for purposes of referral. Such referrals shall reflect the subject
matter having predominance in the bill as determined by the Temporary
President.
RESOLVED, That sections 1 and 2, subdivision a of section 4 and subdi-
vision a of section 5 of Rule VII of the Senate rules are amended to
read as follows:
Section 1. There shall be the following standing committees which
shall serve and shall continue throughout the year:

To consist of [thirty-three] TWENTY-NINE Senators:
Finance

To consist of [twenty-four] TWENTY-THREE Senators:
Rules

To consist of [twenty-three] TWENTY-ONE Senators:
Judiciary

To consist of nineteen Senators:
[Banks] BANKING AND INSURANCE
Transportation

To consist of eighteen Senators:
Education AND Higher Education
[Insurance]

To consist of seventeen Senators:
Health, MENTAL HEALTH AND AGING
LABOR
CIVIL SERVICE AND PENSIONS
TRANSPORTATION

To consist of [sixteen] FIFTEEN Senators:
Codes, CRIME AND CORRECTIONS
[Labor]

To consist of [fourteen] THIRTEEN Senators:
[Crime Victims, Crime and Correction]
Environmental Conservation AND PARKS
COMMERCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND
[Cultural Affairs,] Tourism[, Parks and Recreation]
Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs
ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

[To consist of twelve Senators:
Aging
Civil Service and Pensions

Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business
Energy and Telecommunications]

To consist of [ten] NINE Senators:
Agriculture
Consumer Protection
[Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities]
Racing, Gaming and Wagering

To consist of [eight] SEVEN Senators:
Elections
Housing, Construction and Community Development, ETHICS
Investigations and Government Operations
Local Government

[To consist of six Senators:]
Children, [and]
Families AND SOCIAL SERVICES
Cities AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
[Ethics
Social Services]

a. The Temporary President, the Vice President Pro Tempore, the Depu-
ty Majority Leader for Legislative Operations and the Minority Leader
and Deputy Minority Leader shall be nonvoting ex-officio members of all
standing committees of the Senate of which they are not actual members.
As far as practicable, Senators shall be appointed to no more than
[seven] FIVE standing committees.
b. Term limits for chairs and ranking members. No chair or ranking
member of a committee shall serve in such capacity longer than eight
years.
c. Conference membership of committees. The membership of all commit-
tees, unless otherwise provided by the act or resolution creating them,
shall be composed, as nearly as may be, of majority and minority party
members in the same proportion as the number of majority and minority
party members in the Senate bears to the total membership of the Senate.
For purposes of committee composition, in the event that the proportion
of majority members would result in a fractional amount, the number of
majority members shall be rounded up to the next whole number.
º 2. Committee on Rules. The Committee on Rules may sit at any time
and shall report bills out of committee ONLY IF THEY HAVE BEEN ON A
PUBLISHED AGENDA FOR AT LEAST TWENTY-FOUR HOURS, EXCEPT IN A CASE WHERE
A MESSAGE OF NECESSITY HAS BEEN RECEIVED BY THE GOVERNOR; AND only if
they shall have been duly reported to the Committee on Rules from a
standing committee of origin, or from a committee of secondary refer-
ence, or if the chair of such standing committee consents, or if the
bill was referred to the Committee on Rules upon introduction. Other
than a motion to hold, a motion to discharge, or a motion to report, no
other motion shall be in order in the Committee on Rules without the
consent of the Committee Chair. The reception and consideration of its
report shall always be in order; debate on its adoption shall not exceed
one hour, one-half hour for and one-half hour against, such time to be
allotted by the Temporary President and Minority Leader; and no other
motion, except a motion by the Temporary President for a call of the
Senate, to adjourn or to recess, shall be in order until the vote of the
Senate is had thereon. If the report be adopted, all inconsistent rules

of the Senate shall automatically be suspended until the subject of such
report has been disposed of, including final action thereon.
a. Committee hearings. Chairs AND RANKING MINORITY MEMBERS of standing
committees may call public hearings to permit interested persons, groups
or organizations the opportunity to testify orally or in writing on
legislation or issues pending before such standing committee. THE CHAIR
SHALL ALSO CONDUCT A PUBLIC HEARING AT THE REQUEST OF A MAJORITY OF THE
MEMBERS OF A COMMITTEE. Chairs are encouraged to hold public hearings on
legislation of important public interest, where, outside of the budget,
significant public money is allocated, broad conduct is regulated or
where the proposal has a broad public impact. Chairs may request that
the Official Stenographer make a stenographic record of a public hear-
ing. Official hearings may be conducted in accordance with procedure
established by law. No committee may take testimony at a hearing unless
at least two of its members are present at such hearing. Prior notice
of all public hearings shall be filed by the chair or his or her desig-
nee with The Legislative Bill Drafting Commission and the Temporary
President and such notice shall contain information as to subject
matter, date and place.
a. No committee shall vote to report a bill or other matter unless a
majority of all the members thereof vote in favor of such report.
MEMBERS MUST BE PRESENT AT THE COMMITTEE MEETING TO CAST VOTES. Each
report of a committee upon a bill shall have the [vote of each Senator
attached thereto] PURPOSE OF THE BILL, THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO EXISTING
LAW, SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS, FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT, THE BILL'S
PROCEDURAL HISTORY, COMMITTEE OR SUBCOMMITTEE VOTES, ANY INDIVIDUAL
MEMBERS' COMMENTS ON THE BILL, AND ORGANIZATIONS WHICH SUPPORT AND
OPPOSE THE BILL; and such report and vote shall be available for public
inspection. A member's vote on any matter before the committee shall be
entered by the member on a signed official voting sheet delivered to the
Committee Chair.
Any standing committee having secondary subject matter jurisdiction
over a bill may request the chair of the committee having primary
subject matter jurisdiction over said bill (which is the committee to
which the said bill has been referred by the Temporary President pursu-
ant to Rule VI) to commit the bill to the committee with secondary
subject matter jurisdiction either when the bill is still in the primary
committee or after it has been reported to the calendar. If the chair of
the primary committee refuses said request, then the committee having
secondary jurisdiction, through its chair, may request the Temporary
President to consider such secondary referencing. If a secondary refer-
ence is so made, the secondary committee shall consider the bill forth-
with and return said bill to the primary committee or the calendar, as
the case may be, along with the secondary committee's recommendations.
Any bill which is referred to a standing committee other than the
Committee on Codes and which imposes or changes any fine, term of impri-
sonment, forfeiture of rights or other penal sanction, or relates to the
procedure by which such fine, term of imprisonment, forfeiture of rights
or other penal sanction is imposed or changed, shall, if favorably
reported by the committee having original jurisdiction, be referred to
the Committee on Codes for the purpose of reviewing and considering the
penalty or procedural provisions of such bill. In the event that such a
bill is not referred to the Committee on Codes, the chairperson of such
Committee may require such referral, subject to the approval of the
Temporary President.
All committee reports, after the second Friday in June, shall be made
directly to the Committee on Rules. Notwithstanding any provision of
Rule VI, the Committee on Rules shall have the authority to introduce

and refer bills to itself and shall also have the authority to refer to
itself any bill from any standing committee.
Every report of a committee upon a bill which shall not be considered
at the time of making the same, or laid on the table by a vote of the
Senate, shall stand upon the calendar in the order of first report with
the bill and be entered upon the journal.
RESOLVED, That subdivision a of section 4 and subdivision a of section
6 of Rule VIII of the Senate rules are amended to read as follows:
a. A non-sponsor may move to amend a bill at any time prior to the
completion of its third reading provided that at least two hours before
the time for the Senate to convene, a copy of the proposed amendment or
amendments to any bill on the list of bills compiled under subdivision a
of section six of this Rule has been served upon the sponsor of the
bill, and filed with the Journal Clerk. If a sponsor does not accept
such amendment, the question shall be put to the house whether a majori-
ty of members elected vote in favor of the non-sponsor motion to amend,
and such motion shall pass only if a majority of members elected vote
aye, AND SUCH BILL SHALL RETAIN ITS PLACE ON THE THIRD READING CALENDAR.
If the sponsor accepts the amendment, such amended bill shall be ordered
printed without a vote, debate or explanation, and such bill shall
retain its place on the Third Reading Calendar.
a. Prior to the reading of the third reading calendar of any given
day, the Temporary President may file with the Journal Clerk an active
list of bills on the third reading calendar which may be acted upon on
that date and he or she may lay aside any bill upon which no final
action may be taken, provided however, that no bill shall be so laid
aside for a period exceeding five calendar legislative days. Such active
list shall be published [by 8 p.m. the previous evening or within two
hours following the end of the previous days' session, whichever is
later] AT LEAST TWENTY-FOUR HOURS PRIOR TO THE SCHEDULED START OF
SESSION. NO BILLS SHALL BE CONSIDERED FOR FINAL PASSAGE THAT DO NOT
APPEAR ON THE ACTIVE LIST EXCEPT WITH UNANIMOUS CONSENT OF THE SENATE.
RESOLVED, That sections 8, 9 and 11 of Rule IX of the Senate rules are
amended to read as follows:
º 8. Staffing. [All Senators shall receive the same base allocation of
funds for staffing their offices. Additional funding for responsibil-
ities associated with committees and leadership positions shall be allo-
cated within amounts available for committee and leadership staff; such
amounts shall include, at a minimum, a budget sufficient to appoint a
staff member with expertise in the committee's subject matter. The fund-
ing for the minority conference central staff shall not be less than
thirty-three percent of the funds allocated for all central staff.] A.
EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION, EVERY MEMBER OF THE SENATE SHALL
HAVE THE SAME STAFF ALLOCATION AS EVERY OTHER MEMBER OF THE SENATE.
B. EVERY SENATOR WHO IS ASSIGNED TO SERVE AS CHAIRPERSON OF A STANDING
COMMITTEE SHALL ALSO RECEIVE AN ADDITIONAL ALLOCATION DESIGNED TO
REASONABLY ALLOW SUCH CHAIRPERSON TO HIRE A COMMITTEE DIRECTOR AND
COMMITTEE CLERK DEDICATED TO COMMITTEE RELATED WORK. SUCH ALLOCATION
SHALL BE NINETY THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR ALL COMMITTEES EXCEPT THE CODES,
EDUCATION, HEALTH, AND HIGHER EDUCATION COMMITTEES, IN WHICH CASE SUCH
ALLOCATION SHALL BE ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS; AND TWO
HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE.
C. EVERY SENATOR WHO SERVES IN THE CAPACITY AS RANKING MEMBER OF A
STANDING COMMITTEE SHALL ALSO RECEIVE AN ADDITIONAL ALLOCATION DESIGNED
TO REASONABLY ALLOW SUCH RANKING MEMBER TO HIRE STAFF DEDICATED TO
COMMITTEE RELATED WORK. ALLOCATIONS FOR RANKING MEMBERS OF EACH COMMIT-
TEE SHALL BE EQUAL TO FIFTY PERCENT OF THE ALLOCATION FOR THE CHAIR.

D. THERE SHALL BE A NONPARTISAN SENATE ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF CONSISTING
OF A CENTRALIZED RESEARCH SERVICE; MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS; MEDIA
SERVICES, PRINTING SERVICES; PAYROLL AND PERSONNEL OFFICE; ACCOUNTING,
TECHNOLOGY, AND OTHER OFFICES NECESSARY TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE
SENATE. INDIVIDUALS EMPLOYED BY THIS STAFF SHALL BE HIRED ON A NONPARTI-
SAN, MERIT BASIS, UPON THE UNANIMOUS RECOMMENDATION OF THE TEMPORARY
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE MINORITY LEADER OF THE SENATE.
E. ALL EMPLOYEES WHOSE SALARY IS NOT CHARGED AGAINST THE STAFF ALLO-
CATION OF AN INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OR IS NOT PART OF THE NONPARTISAN ADMIN-
ISTRATIVE STAFF OF THE SENATE SHALL BE DEEMED EMPLOYEES OF THE CENTRAL
STAFF OF THE SENATE. THERE SHALL BE A CENTRAL STAFF ALLOCATION WHICH
SHALL ALLOW FOR THE HIRING OF INDIVIDUALS PURSUANT TO THE RECOMMENDATION
OF THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE OR THE MINORITY LEADER OF THE
SENATE. THE PERCENTAGE OF DOLLARS TO BE ALLOCATED TO THE TEMPORARY PRES-
IDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE MINORITY LEADER OF THE SENATE RESPECTIVELY
SHALL BE BASED UPON THE NUMBER OF MEMBERS IN THE MAJORITY AND MINORITY
POLITICAL PARTY. IN THE EVENT A MEMBER OF THE SENATE IS NOT ENROLLED IN
EITHER THE MAJORITY POLITICAL PARTY OR THE SECOND MOST POPULATED POLI-
TICAL PARTY IN THE SENATE, SUCH MEMBER MAY DECLARE THAT HE OR SHE WISHES
TO HAVE HIS OR HER MEMBERSHIP COUNTED IN ONE OF THE TWO POLITICAL
PARTIES SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF STAFF ALLOCATION RATIOS. SUCH DECLA-
RATION SHALL BE GIVEN IN WRITING TO THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE WITHIN
SEVENTY DAYS OF HIS OR HER ELECTION. THE ALLOCATION FOR CENTRAL STAFF
SHALL NOT CHANGE DURING THE TWO YEAR TERM OF OFFICE WHICH COMMENCES
EVERY JANUARY FIRST OF ODD NUMBERED YEARS AND ENDS AT THE END OF DECEM-
BER THE FOLLOWING YEAR. IN ANY EVENT, THE MINORITY LEADER OF THE SENATE
SHALL HAVE A MINIMUM OF THIRTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THE CENTRAL STAFF ALLO-
CATION AUTHORITY.
º 9. Resources. All Senators shall have equitable access to the
resources of the Senate, including, but not limited to, office supplies,
communications and audio visual resources, mail privileges subject to
published guidelines, technology, including both hardware and software,
and equal access to the Legislative Bill Drafting Commission's Legisla-
tive Retrieval System, MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS, PAYROLL AND PERSONNEL
OFFICE, ACCOUNTING, AND THE CENTRALIZED RESEARCH SERVICE.
º 11. Allocation for Community Projects. Each [conference] MEMBER OF
THE SENATE shall receive an EQUAL allocation from any amounts to be
awarded by the Senate for community projects, capital spending, local
assistance or other similar allocations for member driven initiatives.
NO MEMBER INITIATIVE FUNDS SHALL BE DISTRIBUTED TO ORGANIZATIONS FOR
WHOM THE SENATOR OR FAMILY MEMBER SERVES AS A BOARD MEMBER OR OFFICER.
The Majority shall receive two-thirds of such funds and the Minority
shall receive one-third of the such funds; provided however that such
proportions shall increase or decrease to reflect any changes in the
membership of each conference.
RESOLVED, That subdivision a of section 3 of Rule XI of the Senate
rules is amended to read as follows:
a. The sponsor of any bill may file with the Journal Clerk, no less
than forty-five days after a bill has been referred to a committee, a
petition requesting that such bill be moved to the calendar for consid-
eration. Such petition shall be filed with the Journal Clerk. Once the
petition is signed by at least [three-fifths] THIRTY-TWO of the members
elected, the petition shall be read during the order of presentation of
petitions and the bill reported to the third reading calendar. Such bill
shall be considered by the full Senate on the first calendar legislative
day after four days shall have passed.