Committees

One of the most important parts of the organizational structure of the House and the Senate is the committee system, which allows the General Assembly to manage the significant volume of legislation introduced in each house. The committee system enables the General Assembly to consider legislation more thoroughly by dividing the task of scrutinizing and amending legislation among committees.

Committee Assignments

The Senate President names the standing committees of the Senate and appoints their members, ranking minority members, and chairpersons at the beginning of session. The Minority Leader of the Senate may recommend minority party members and the ranking minority member for each committee. The chairpersons of House committees are appointed by the Speaker, who also determines the number of members who will serve on each committee and subcommittee, except for the Rules and Reference Committee, which must have 12 members, four of whom are appointed by the Minority Leader.

For all committees and subcommittees, the Speaker appoints the majority party members and the Minority Leader appoints minority party members. The number of minority members on standing committees of the Senate is governed by custom and usually reflects the proportion that the minority bears to the total membership. The minority membership of a standing committee in the House must be proportional to the partisan composition of the House and must be adjusted upward as needed. Exceptions to this rule are the Finance Committee and the Rules and Reference Committee, for which House Rules specify that the chairperson and vice-chairperson are not included when calculating the committee’s partisan composition. Committee assignments for members generally are based on an individual member’s seniority, interests, or subject matter expertise. The Minority Leader of the House may designate a ranking minority member on each committee.

The House and Senate Rules also specify that certain members of leadership may serve on or are members of committees in addition to the ones to which they have been designated as regular members. The Speaker, Minority Leader, and Speaker Pro Tempore of the House are ex officio, nonvoting members of all House committees except those where they are regular committee members. The House Minority Leader may designate the Assistant Minority Leader to be a nonvoting member of a committee in the Minority Leader’s absence except those where the Assistant Minority Leader is a regular committee member. The Senate President may be substituted as a voting member of any committee. The Senate Minority Leader is an ex officio, nonvoting member of each committee but may be substituted as a voting member of any committee by request.

Role of the Chairperson

A chairperson and vice-chairperson of a committee are named from the majority party members appointed to that committee. For each House committee, the chairperson selects the committee secretary (a legislator, not to be confused with the staff member who assists the committee) from the members of the minority party

A chairperson exercises a great deal of authority concerning the operating procedures of the committee. For example, the chairperson determines when the committee meets, which of the bills referred to the committee will be given a public hearing at each meeting, the duration of testimony, when amendments may be offered, and other matters pertaining to the manner in which the committee considers legislation. Rules relating to absences, committee duties and functions, committee reports, expenses, meetings, quorums, votes, and other matters are prescribed by the rules of each house.

The chairperson of a committee generally may subpoena witnesses to appear before the committee and require those witnesses to present books, papers, and records. The House Rules require that a majority of the committee membership approve the subpoena of witnesses; the Senate Rules require the President’s authorization.

Standing Committees

The most active type of committee in the General Assembly is the standing committee. While the number and titles of standing committees may vary from General Assembly to General Assembly, each house has separate standing committees to deal with broad subject matter areas.

Committees on Rules and Reference

A rules and reference committee, while considered to be a standing committee, has functions different from those of the other standing committees. The work of this committee may seem routine to the casual observer, but its actions are critical to the progress of any legislation toward enactment.

The House and the Senate Rules and Reference Committees assign bills and joint resolutions to standing committees. Members of these committees screen bills and assign them to the appropriate committees of the House and Senate.

Introduction does not always guarantee referral to committee. A bill that is not referred to a committee does not progress further in the enactment process. However, the rules of the House of Representatives require that all bills and resolutions introduced on or before May 15 of the even-numbered year of a biennium be referred to a standing, select, or special committee or standing subcommittee and be scheduled by the chairperson of the committee to which it is referred for at least one public hearing. The Senate Rules specify that all bills and resolutions referred by the Rules and Reference committee on or before April 1 of the even-numbered year of a biennium must be scheduled for a minimum of one public hearing.

Another responsibility of the Rules and Reference Committees is to schedule bills for a floor vote by the full House or Senate. The Senate Committee prescribes the order of Senate business, channels all appointments of the Governor to the appropriate standing committee before they are submitted to the full Senate for confirmation, and arranges the daily legislative Senate Calendar. The Senate Rules specify that the Calendar must be posted one calendar day in advance. In addition, the Rules permit the Chairperson of the Senate Committee to call a special meeting to add a bill to the Calendar upon a majority vote, and bills may be placed conditionally on the Calendar subject to favorable action by a committee.

The House Committee decides which bills and resolutions are on the House Calendar. House Rules specify that the Calendar may not be set later than 24 hours before the session is scheduled to begin, unless a majority of House members orders otherwise.