Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

Rules of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania.

OF DUTIES OF THE SPEAKER.

Taking the Chair.

1. He shall take the chair at the hour to which the House shall have been adjourned, and immediately call the members to order, and, on the appearance of a quorum, shall cause the Journal of the preceding day to be read, which may then be corrected by the House.

Order and Decorum.

2. He shall preserve order and decorum, and in debate shall prevent personal reflections, and confine members to the question under discussion. When two or more members rise at the same time, he shall name the one entitled to the floor.

Of Questions of Order-Questions of Order to be Reported. 3. He shall decide all questions of order. An appeal from his decision shall be made by two members, or the Speaker may, in the first instance, submit the question to the House. All questions of order involving the determination of constitutional law, shall be submitted to the House, in the first instance, on the request of five members. On questions of order there shall be no debate, except on an appeal from the decision of the Speaker, or on

reference of a question by him to the House, when no member shall speak more than once, unless by leave of the House. All decisions upon the questions of order shall be noted by the Clerk, and placed at the end of the Journal of each session, with reference to the decision as stated in the Journal.*

Behavior of Members.

4. While the Speaker is putting the question, or addressing the House, none shall walk out of or across the House; nor in such case, or when a member is speaking, shall entertain private discourse, nor while a member is speaking, shall pass between him and the Chair.

Appointment of Committees.

5. The Speaker shall appoint the members of standing and select committees, unless otherwise ordered by the House.

Signature of Speaker.

6. Acts, addresses and joint resolutions, shall be signed by the Speaker in the presence of the House, after their titles have been publicly read immediately before signing, and the fact of signing shall be entered upon the Journal; and writs, warrants and subpoenas, issued by the House, shall be signed by him and attested by the Clerk.†

Care of the Hall-Substitution.

7. He shall have a general direction of the Hall. He may name a member to perform the duties of the Chair, but such substitution shall not extend *Changed 1875. + Changed 1874.

beyond an adjournment, except when the Speaker obtains leave of absence, in which case he may depute a member as Speaker pro tempore, during such leave, which shall not exceed ten days.*

OF THE ORDER OF BUSINESS,

8. After the reading of the Journal, the order of business shall be as follows:†

FOR FRIDAY.

Of Petitions, &c.

1st. Letters, petitions, memorials, remonstrances and accompanying documents, may be presented and referred.

Original Resolutions, &c.

2d. Original resolutions may be offered; items of unfinished business may be referred; leave of absence, and leave to withdraw petitions and documents may be asked; and motions to appoint additional members of committees may be made.

Reports of Committees.

3d. Reports of committees may be made4th. From standing committees. List is here called over.

5th. From select committees.

Bills.

6th. Bills may be read in place.

phabetical order to be called over.

Counties in al

The foregoing

orders shall only be called on Monday and Friday.

* The Speaker can, under this rule, before the hour to which the House stands adjourned has arrived, name a member to perform the duties of the Chair, with power to call the members to order, and preside over the deliberations. [See Journal, 1826-7, page 90. 1827-8, page 520.

† Change I session of 1876.

MONDAY.

7th. After the foregoing orders for Monday shall have been finished, bills on first reading.

TUESDAY.

8th. Bills on third reading.

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.

9th. Bills on second reading.

10th. Whenever the regular orders of the day have been gone through, then the following shall be the order:

First. Bills on third reading.

Second. Bills on first reading.

Third. Bills on second reading.

11th. Bills on their several readings shall be considered in their numerical order.

12th. Bills on first reading shall be agreed to without amendment or debate, and journalized accordingly by the Clerk.*

Manner of Presenting Petitions.

9. If a member shall have several petitions or documents to present on the same day, he may present them together; provided he shall present a written list of them to the Speaker.†

Alphabetical Order.

10. Bills in place shall be read, and petitions and remonstrances shall be presented to the House in the alphabetical order of the names of the several counties of the Commonwealth, as announced by the Speaker. But if all the names of the counties are not severally called, those omitted shall be first *Adopted 1875.

+Adopted 29th January, 1834.

+Adopted 13th January, 1831.

announced in alphabetical order, when said rules shall be next resumed on any subsequent day.

OF BUSINESS AND DEBATES.

Of Motions, &c.

11. No member shall be permitted to make a motion, or address the Speaker, unless such member shall be at his own desk.

Manner of Addressing the House.

12. When a member is about to speak in debate, or to communicate any matter to the House, he shall rise and respectfully address himself to "Mr. Speaker," confining his remarks to the subject before the House, and avoiding personal reflections.

Transgression of the Rules of the House.

13. If any member in debate transgress the rules of the House, the Speaker shall or any member may, through the Speaker, call him to order; the member so called to order shall immediately sit down, unless permitted to explain; the House shall, if appealed to, decide on the case, but without debate; if there be no appeal, the decision of the Speaker shall be submitted to, and if the case require it, the member so called to order shall be liable to the censure of the House.

Order of Speaking.

14. No member shall speak more than twice on the same subject, without leave of the House.

Not to be Interrupted-Nor Named.

15. No member, when speaking, shall be interrupted, except by a call to order by the Speaker, or by a member through the Speaker, or by a member to explain, or by a motion for the previous question;

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »