S.J.R. 9

1

JOINT RULES RESOLUTION - CHANGES TO
2 BILL AND APPROPRIATION PROCESS
3 1997 GENERAL SESSION
4 STATE OF UTAH
5 Sponsor: Lane Beattie
6 A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE LEGISLATURE REVISING JOINT RULES;
7 IMPLEMENTING CAUCUS DECISIONS RELATING TO THE LEGISLATURE'S BILL
8 AND APPROPRIATION PROCESS; MAKING TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS; AND
9 PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
10 This resolution affects legislative rules as follows:
11 AMENDS:
12 JR-3.02
13 ENACTS:
14 JR-19.01
15 JR-19.02
16 JR-19.03
17 JR-19.04
18 JR-19.05
19 JR-19.06
20 JR-19.07
21 REPEALS:
22 JR-4.37
23 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
24 Section 1. JR-3.02 is amended to read:
25 JR-3.02. Joint Appropriations Committee.
26 (1) The Joint Appropriations Committee of the Legislature consists of all the members of
27 the Legislature.

1 (2) (a) The members of the Joint Appropriations Committee shall be divided into the
2 following subcommittees:
3 (i) Capital Facilities and Administrative Services;
4 (ii) Commerce and Revenue;
5 (iii) Economic Development and Human Resources;
6 (iv) Executive Offices, Criminal Justice, and Legislature;
7 (v) Health and Human Services;
8 (vi) Higher Education;
9 (vii) Physical Resources;
10 (viii) Public Education;
11 (ix) Retirement; and
12 (x) Transportation and Environmental Quality.
13 (b) The President of the Senate and Speaker of the House shall appoint their respective
14 members to each subcommittee.
15 (c) The Retirement Subcommittee shall have the same members as the Retirement
16 Standing and Retirement Interim Committees.
17 (3) (a) A majority of any committee or subcommittee constitutes a quorum for the
18 transaction of business. If a member of a committee fails, without giving prior notice of the reason
19 for his absence, to attend two consecutive meetings of the committee or subcommittee of which
20 he is a member, his membership in the committee or subcommittee may not be counted in
21 determining a quorum in any subsequent meeting that the committee member misses.
22 (b) In determining a committee or subcommittee quorum, a majority is at least 50% in one
23 house and more than 50% in the other.
24 (c) In all decisions of the subcommittees, a majority vote will prevail. A majority vote is
25 at least 50% of the members of one house and more than 50% in the other house in attendance.
26 (4) (a) There shall be an Executive Appropriations Committee consisting of 18 members
27 composed of:
28 (i) three members of the majority leadership of the Senate and four members of the
29 majority leadership of the House;
30 (ii) two members of the minority leadership of the Senate and three members of the
31 minority leadership of the House;

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1 (iii) the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the chair of the House
2 Appropriations Committee; and
3 (iv) (A) one member from the majority party of the Senate as appointed by the President
4 of the Senate or as chosen by the Senate majority caucus;
5 (B) two members from the minority party of the Senate as appointed by the Senate
6 minority leader or as chosen by the Senate minority caucus; and
7 (C) one member from the minority party of the House as appointed by the House minority
8 leader or as chosen by the House minority caucus.
9 (b) A member of the Executive Appropriations Committee, whose membership is
10 determined under Subsection (i) or (ii), may appoint a designee to permanently serve in that
11 individual's place with the approval of the Speaker or the President for any majority party member
12 or with the approval of the House or Senate minority party leader for any minority party member.
13 (c) In all decisions of the Executive Appropriations Committee, a majority vote prevails.
14 When a division is requested, that vote must include at least 50% of the members of one house and
15 more than 50% of the members of the other house in attendance.
16 (5) (a) The Executive Appropriations Committee shall meet no later than [the second week
17 of January] the third Wednesday in December to:
18 [(a)] (i) direct staff as to what revenue estimate to use in preparing budget
19 recommendations;
20 [(b)] (ii) decide whether or not to set aside special allocations for the end of the session;
21 [(c)] (iii) set aside an appropriate amount for fiscal note bills;
22 [(d)] (iv) approve the appropriate amount for each subcommittee to use in preparing its
23 budget; and
24 [(e)] (v) set a budget figure.
25 (b) The chairs of each appropriation subcommittee are invited to attend this meeting.
26 (6) The Office of Legislative Fiscal Analyst shall prepare revised revenue estimates in
27 February.
28 (7) The Executive Appropriations Committee shall include in its consideration tax
29 collections and revenue policy, tax administration, and analysis of revenue sources.
30 (8) (a) With the approval of the Executive Appropriations Committee, time schedules for
31 subcommittee meetings will be determined so that no conflict exists with the annual general

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1 sessions or standing committee meetings of the Legislature. [No appropriations]
2 (b) Appropriations subcommittees [shall] may not meet while the Senate or House is in
3 session without special leave from the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate.
4 (9) (a) (i) It is the duty of the appropriations chair of each house to receive the reports of
5 the subcommittees and to forward the reports to the Executive Appropriations Committee.
6 (ii) The Executive Appropriations Committee shall combine the reports into a total
7 appropriations bill.
8 (b) The Executive Appropriations Committee shall establish a liaison between their
9 committee and each of the appropriations subcommittees.
10 (10) All proposed items of expenditure to be included in the final appropriations bill,
11 including appropriations for the Legislature and its committees and staff, shall be submitted to one
12 of the subcommittees named in this rule for consideration and recommendation.
13 (11) (a) After receiving and reviewing subcommittee reports, the Executive Appropriations
14 Committee may refer the report back to an appropriations subcommittee with any guidelines the
15 Executive Appropriations Committee considers necessary to assist the subcommittee in producing
16 a balanced budget.
17 (b) The subcommittee shall meet to review the new guidelines and report the adjustments
18 to the chairs of the Executive Appropriations Committee as soon as possible.
19 (12) (a) After receiving the reports, the appropriations chairs will report them to the
20 Executive Appropriations Committee.
21 (b) That committee shall:
22 (i) make any further adjustments necessary to balance the budget; and
23 (ii) complete all decisions necessary to draft the final appropriations bill no later than the
24 38th day of the annual general session.
25 (13) (a) During the interim, the Executive Appropriations Committee shall meet at least
26 every other month on the day before interim meetings on alternating months between Legislative
27 Management Committee meetings.
28 (b) The first meeting of the Executive Appropriations Committee shall be in the month
29 following the first meeting of the Legislative Management Committee.
30 (c) The appropriations subcommittee chairs may attend these meetings and provide input
31 regarding their budget.

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1 Section 2. Section JR-19.01 is enacted to read:
2 JR-19.01. Prioritization of bills.
3 (1) Consistent with Joint Rule 4.27 on prefiling of bills, beginning 60 days after each
4 annual general session and ending December 1 of each year, each legislator may make an
5 irrevocable and nontransferable prioritization of up to three bills.
6 (2) (a) (i) When sufficient drafting information is available, priority bills and interim
7 committee bills shall be drafted first.
8 (ii) All other bills shall be drafted on a first-in, first-out basis.
9 (b) Except as otherwise provided in these rules, before numbering any bills, the Office of
10 Legislative Research and General Counsel shall reserve as many bill numbers as necessary to
11 allow all designated priority bills to be the first bills numbered.
12 (c) Because priority bills are among the first bills numbered, priority bills are the first bills
13 to receive fiscal notes.
14 Section 3. Section JR-19.02 is enacted to read:
15 JR-19.02. Refiled bills.
16 A legislator may not request for drafting any bill that failed to pass in a prior annual general
17 session until after December 1, unless the bill is designated as one of the legislator's priority bills.
18 Section 4. Section JR-19.03 is enacted to read:
19 JR-19.03. Requesting, refiling, approving, and abandoning bills.
20 (1) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (1)(c), a legislator may not file a request for
21 legislation with the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel after noon on the 11th day
22 of the annual general session.
23 (b) Except as provided in Subsection (1)(c), by noon on the 11th day of the annual general
24 session, each legislator shall, for each bill request for legislation on file with the Office of
25 Legislative Research and General Counsel, either approve the bill request for numbering or
26 abandon it.
27 (c) A legislator may file a request for legislation or approve a bill for numbering any time
28 after noon on the 11th day of the annual general session if:
29 (i) for House bills, the representative makes a motion to request a bill for drafting and
30 introduction and that motion is approved by a constitutional two-thirds majority of the House; or
31 (ii) for Senate bills, the senator makes a motion to request a bill for drafting and

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1 introduction and that motion is approved by a constitutional majority vote of the Senate.
2 Section 5. Section JR-19.04 is enacted to read:
3 JR-19.04. Fiscal note threshold -- Deadline for passing fiscal note bills.
4 (1) (a) The House shall refer any Senate bill with a fiscal note of $10,000 or more to the
5 House Rules Committee before giving that bill a third reading.
6 (b) The Senate shall table on third reading each House bill with a fiscal note of $10,000
7 or more.
8 (2) (a) Before adjourning on the 33rd day of the annual general session, each legislator
9 shall prioritize fiscal note bills and identify other projects or programs for new or one-time funding
10 according to the process established by leadership.
11 (b) Before adjourning on the 40th day of the annual general session, the Legislature shall
12 either pass or defeat each bill with a fiscal note of $10,000 or more.
13 Section 6. Section JR-19.05 is enacted to read:
14 JR-19.05. Bond bills -- Availability and deadline for passage.
15 (1) Each legislator shall receive a copy of any bond bill by noon on the 40th day of the
16 annual general session.
17 (2) Before the calendared closing time of the 40th day of the annual general session, the
18 Legislature shall either pass or defeat each bond bill.
19 Section 7. Section JR-19.06 is enacted to read:
20 JR-19.06. Appropriations bills and School Finance bills -- Availability and deadline
21 for passage.
22 (1) Each legislator shall receive a copy of the General Appropriations bill, any
23 Supplemental Appropriations bill, and the School Finance bill by calendared floor time on the 43rd
24 day of the annual general session.
25 (2) Before the calendared closing time of the 43rd day of the annual general session, the
26 Legislature shall either pass or defeat the General Appropriations bill, any Supplemental
27 Appropriations bill, and the School Finance bill.
28 Section 8. Section JR-19.07 is enacted to read:
29 JR-19.07. Second Supplemental Appropriations bill.
30 (1) Each legislator shall receive a copy of the second supplemental appropriations bill by
31 calendared floor time on the 45th day of the annual general session.

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1 (2) By noon on the 45th day of the annual general session, the Legislature shall either pass
2 or defeat the second supplemental appropriations bill.
3 Section 9. Repealer.
4 This act repeals:
5 Rule JR-4.37, No Request for Legislation May be Made Without the Approval of the
6 Rules Committee After the Eighteenth Day.
7 Section 10. Effective date.
8 This resolution takes effect upon approval by a constitutional two-thirds vote of all
9 members of the Senate and House of Representatives.




Legislative Review Note
as of 1-28-97 8:17 AM

A limited legal review of this bill raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel

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