Change Committee Agenda Rules

Assembly Resolution No. 31 BY: M. of A. Kolb AMENDING section 2 of Rule IV of the Assembly rules, in relation to committee agendas RESOLVED, That section 2 of Rule IV of the Assembly rules is amended to read as follows: § 2. Meetings of standing committees. a. Meetings of standing committees. Standing committees shall hold meetings at a regular weekly time and day as scheduled by the committee chairperson in consultation with the committee coordinators, as designated by the Speaker, and such set time shall be posted on the Assembly committee board and Assembly Internet site. The weekly committee schedule shall be available the preceding Thursday, as provided for in subdivision b of this section. If on the first Tuesday of any month of the regular legislative session, excluding January, a standing committee shall have 50 or more bills pending committee action, such committee shall be required to meet at least once during such month to consider legislation. b. Each chairperson of a standing committee shall, by the Thursday of the week preceding, furnish to the Speaker, the Majority and Minority Leaders, and make available in written or electronic format to each member of such committee, a copy of the agenda of all meetings scheduled for the following week, together with a copy of the introducer's memorandum for each bill listed on such agenda. Further, each chairperson shall furnish to the Speaker, the Majority and Minority Leaders and to the ranking minority member of such committee, a list of all bills referred to such committee to date together with the above agenda and memoranda. In addition, copies of such agenda shall be made available not later than such Thursday to representatives of the news media and to the general public by the filing thereof with the Legislative Library and the Assembly Public Information Office, and shall be made available on the Assembly Internet site and the Legislative Retrieval System. The notice provisions of this subdivision and of subdivision c shall not apply to the Committee on Rules. Nothing contained in this subdivision shall be deemed to waive any of the provisions of article seven of the Public Officers Law known as the "Open Meetings Law". c. The chairperson of a standing committee may call a special meeting or add or delete items on the agenda of a regular meeting by giving twenty-four hour notice of the agenda of such special meeting or such additions or deletions in the same manner and to the same extent as notice of agenda for regular meetings, provided, however, that such notice shall not be required if a message of necessity has been received from the governor in connection with the bill under consideration or the ranking minority member of the committee consents thereto. d. All standing committee meetings shall be open to representatives of the news media and general public, except that the committee, upon a two-thirds vote of the members of the committee present or upon a majority vote of the total membership of the committee, whichever is the greater, may hold an executive session at which only members of such committee shall be in attendance. The subjects to be acted upon at the executive session shall be limited to the subjects enumerated in section one hundred five of the Public Officers Law. No bill shall be voted upon at such executive session. No committee shall vote to report any bill unless a majority of all the members thereof is actually present. The affirmative vote of a majority of all the members appointed to a standing committee shall be necessary to every report. The negative vote of such a majority shall be necessary to defeat a bill in committee. No proxy vote shall be valid. e. No bill shall be removed from a committee agenda once a motion to consider the bill has been made. f. At the conclusion of a committee meeting the committee clerk of such committee shall deliver to the Office of Journal Operations and the ranking minority member of such committee a roll call on each of the bills considered by the committee and on each vote to hold an executive session indicating the attendance of the members and the ayes and nays. Such roll call shall be reproduced not later than 24 hours after transmittal to such Office and shall be made available for inspection by the general public and representatives of the news media in the Assembly Public Information Office, the Assembly Internet site and the Legislative Retrieval System. [f.] g. The report of a committee upon any matter referred to it other than a bill, may include a brief statement of the opinion of any member or members of the committee voting in either the majority or minority. [g.] h. The audio and/or video broadcast of committee meetings shall be made available on the Assembly Internet site when practicable, and shall be subject to the same requirements as apply to televised proceedings of Assembly sessions pursuant to Rule X.