One more note on House rules
Here’s another tidbit on the revision of the House Rules.
The bill that contains the rules went through committee Thursday and will probably hit the floor Tuesday.
In that committee meeting, members got a chance to ask about various aspects of their rules. Rep. Paul Luebke asked about Rule 24.1A:
RULE 24.1A. Excuse From Deliberations and Voting on a Bill. –(a) Any member shall, upon request, be excused in advance from the deliberations and voting on a particular bill at any time that the reason for the request arises in the proceedings on the bill.
(b)The member may make a brief oral statement of the reasons for making the request. The member may provide to the Principal Clerk, on a form provided by the Clerk, a concise written statement of the reason for the request, and the Clerk shall include this statement in the Journal.
(c)The member so excused shall not debate the bill or any amendment to the bill, vote on the bill, offer or vote on any amendment to the bill, or offer or vote on any motion concerning the bill, in committee or on the floor of the House at any reading, or any subsequent consideration of the bill.
His question revolved around members who excused themselves on the floor but had taken part in committee discussions and maybe even voted in committee. Many times, its harder to get something through a committee than the full House, so interceding there is actually more valuable to whatever interest than voting on the floor.
“There have been times when people are speaking on issues where they have a direct conflict of interest,” Luebke said after the meeting.
Luebke essentially asked during the meeting what could a member do if he or she felt another member was violating the rule.
“There’s a House Ethics Committee, a Joint Ethics Committee and a State Ethics Commission,” came the reply from legislative staffer and chief bill drafter Gerry Cohen.
The implication there is that a member who behaves as Luebke described could be charged with violating ethics guidelines. This is a recourse made possible by the ethics laws that were passed last year.
Place your bets on whether we get to see this new feature in action.