Highlights of the Senate Republican Caucus’ proposed rules package include:
- Requiring the Clerk of the Senate to post all roll call votes within 48 hours of a vote being taken;
- Broadcasting of informal and formal sessions online and making a digital copy of the sessions made available to public access television;
- Requiring a unanimous vote of all the members
present to allow Senate business to proceed beyond the hour of midnight;
- Mandating that any measure that proposes an
increase in taxation by available in print and posted on the Senate website
at least 7 days prior for consideration;
- Allowing any senator to object to the
consideration of a particular matter during an informal session, even if a
senator is not physically present as long as a written request to the
Clerk of the Senate has been received no later than 30 minutes prior to
the scheduled start of session;
- Directing the Senate Ways and Means Committee
to include in its executive summary of the state budget any federal
revenue source, non-recurring funding, and off-budget spending that alters
an existing appropriation;
- Requiring the Clerk of the Senate to post on
the Senate website the text of legislation introduced in the Senate that
has not been assigned a bill number;
- Allowing the opportunity to repeal, add, change
or modify any rule if two or more senators propose the measure;
- Allowing a bill or amendment be divided into
two or more separate measures if they are capable of detaching;
- Pairing of votes only in cases where a senator
is absent from the chamber due to military service or physical incapacity;
and
- Prohibiting the use of cell phones or other
mobile electronic devices in the Senate Chamber while the Senate is in
session.