NY-CMA Assembly Rules NY

Section 1. Powers and Duties. The Speaker shall: a. take the chair

each day at the hour to which the House adjourned;

b. call the House to order, lead the Members of the Assembly in the

Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and,

except in the absence of a quorum, proceed to business in the manner

prescribed in these Rules; and

c. possess the powers and perform the duties herein prescribed. The

Speaker:

(1) shall preserve order and decorum, name the member entitled to the

floor when more than one member seeks to be recognized and, in debate,

prevent personal reflections and confine members to the question under

discussion;

(2) shall decide all questions of order subject to appeal to the House

and on every appeal shall have the right, from the Chair, to assign the

reason for such decision; in case of such appeal no member shall speak

more than once, nor for more than 15 minutes;

(3) shall appoint the chairpersons and members of all committees

thereof, except where the House shall otherwise order;

(4) shall create such sub-committees of each standing committee,

jointly with the chairperson of the standing committee, as may be deemed

necessary;

(5) shall appoint the chairpersons and members of all sub-committees

thereof, except where the House shall otherwise order;

(6) may designate by an appointment in writing duly entered upon the

Journal of the House, any member to perform the duties of the Chair for

a period not exceeding five consecutive legislative days, but for no

longer period, except by special consent of the House and the member so

designated shall be, during the time designated, vested with all the

powers and duties conferred by these rules and section 40 of the

legislative law;

(7) shall not be required to vote in ordinary legislative proceedings,

except where such vote would be decisive;

(8) shall be a member and Chairperson of the Committee on Rules;

(9) shall appoint a Majority Leader, who shall be a member of the

Committee on Rules, and who, together with the Minority Leader, shall be

a member ex-officio of all other standing committees of the House, and

entitled to the same rights and privileges as other members of said

committees except the right to vote;

(10) shall appoint such other officers as he or she deems necessary to

the conduct of the affairs of the Assembly;

(11) may direct a standing committee to conduct any investigation

which the Assembly or a committee thereof is authorized to conduct,

provided, however, that the Speaker may not so direct the Committee on

Oversight, Analysis and Investigation unless requested in writing by a

majority of the membership of such Committee;

(12) shall execute the judgment of the House, without debate, in cases

of adjudged breach of its privileges; and

(13) may create such task forces of the Assembly as he or she may deem

necessary or advisable and shall appoint the chairperson and members of

each such task force.

(14) shall adopt rules and regulations, and take such other measures

as may be necessary to provide for the establishment and maintenance of

a system of internal controls and a program of internal control review

for the Assembly in accordance with the guidelines set forth in Rule VII

hereof.

Vacancy. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of the

Speaker, the Majority Leader shall be the Acting Speaker until the

Assembly shall re-assemble.

Assembly Chamber, lobbies, rooms and property. a. The use of the

Assembly Chamber, lobbies, rooms and property shall be controlled by the

Speaker. He or she shall direct the Sergeant-at-Arms to perform such

acts as may be necessary to preserve order.

b. The following persons shall be entitled to admission to the floor

of the House during the session thereof:

(1) the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor;

(2) the members and former members of the Assembly and the Senate;

(3) the elected State officers and their deputies;

(4) persons in the exercise of an official duty directly connected to

the business of the House; and

(5) the representatives of the news media designated by the Speaker.

c. No other person shall be admitted to the floor during the session,

except upon the permission of the Speaker or by vote of the House; and

persons so admitted shall be allowed to occupy places only in the seats

in the rear of the Assembly Chamber. Such permission may be revoked by

the Speaker, at pleasure, or upon order of the House.

d. No person shall be admitted to the floor of the Assembly Chamber

who is interested in pending or contemplated legislation, or who is

employed by or receives compensation from any public or private source

for influencing legislation.

e. No person other than a member shall occupy the chair of a member

during the session of the House.

f. No person shall have access to or be permitted within or by the

Clerk's desk during the session of the House, except officers of the

House in the discharge of their official duties.

g. The Speaker may, at pleasure, recognize a member for the purpose of

introducing guests in the chamber.

Sergeant-at-Arms. Subject to the direction of the Speaker, the

Sergeant-at-Arms shall enforce the Rules of the House, enforce order in

the Assembly Chamber, lobbies and rooms, exclude all persons from the

floor except such as are entitled to the privileges of the same and

perform such other duties as the Speaker may direct.

Sexual harassment policy. The Speaker shall promulgate a policy

prohibiting sexual harassment, which shall, at a minimum, be applicable

to members of the Assembly and Assembly staff, define the conduct which

is prohibited, establish a process for the resolution of complaints of

such conduct, and provide for appropriate training for all members of

the Assembly and Assembly staff. Nothing contained herein shall be

deemed to require the repromulgation of a sexual harassment policy

statement which is already in effect and which meets the requirements of

this rule. Copies of the sexual harassment policy promulgated hereunder

shall be distributed to all members of the Assembly and Assembly staff

and shall be available to the public.

Affirmative action policy. The Speaker shall promulgate a policy

with respect to affirmative action, which shall, at a minimum:

(a) prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of race, color,

creed, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation, national origin,

disability, genetic predisposition or carrier status, marital status or

military status;

(b) appoint an affirmative action officer who shall report annually to

the Speaker;

(c) create an affirmative action advisory committee to assist the

affirmative action officer in the implementation of such policy;

(d) require that the human resources office of the Assembly undertake

recruitment of minority and protected-class individuals;

(e) establish a process for the resolution of complaints of

discrimination; and,

(f) create a system by which such policy is disseminated and enforced.

Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to require the repromulgation

of an affirmative action policy which is already in effect and which

meets the requirements of this rule. Copies of the affirmative action

policy promulgated hereunder shall be distributed to all members of the

Assembly and Assembly staff and shall be available to the public.

Non-fraternization policy. The Speaker shall promulgate a policy

prohibiting fraternization with student interns, which shall at a

minimum, be applicable to members of the Assembly and Assembly staff,

define the conduct which is prohibited, and establish a procedure for

investigation of alleged violations of the policy. Nothing contained

herein shall be deemed to require promulgation of a non-fraternization

policy which is already in effect and which meets the requirement of

this rule. Copies of the non-fraternization policy promulgated hereunder

shall be distributed to all members of the Assembly and Assembly staff

and shall be available to the public.

Budget adoption schedule. Within ten days of submission of the

budget by the Governor, the Speaker shall promulgate a schedule of dates

for consideration and passage of the budget appropriation and related

bills. Such dates shall include dates for public hearings on such bills,

dates for the issuance of forecasts and dates for the passage of such

appropriation bills. Such schedule, to the extent practicable, shall be

promulgated jointly with the Temporary President of the Senate.

Provided, however, upon the adoption of a budget adoption schedule

pursuant to Joint Rule II, the provisions of such Joint Rule shall

supercede the provisions of this section.

Transmittal of bills to the Governor. All Assembly bills passed

by the Assembly and sent to the Senate for action shall, upon passage

and return by the Senate to the Assembly, be transmitted by the Index

Clerk to the Governor within ten legislative days after receipt from the

Senate, except that any bill returned for transmittal to the Assembly

after the first of May and before the first of June shall be transmitted

to the Governor within thirty days of such receipt, and any bill

returned for transmittal to the Assembly on or after the first of June

shall be transmitted to the Governor within forty-five days of such

receipt.

Committee on Rules. a. At any time during the session, a bill or

resolution may be introduced by the Committee on Rules and shall be

referred to a committee; provided however that all bills shall be

referred to a standing committee other than the Committee on Rules, for

consideration. A bill or resolution introduced at the request of a

member shall, if the member so requests, have his or her name included

on both the original and printed copies of the bill or resolution as

follows:

"Introduced by the Committee on Rules (at the request of M. of

A.........)."

b. The general functions of the Committee on Rules shall be:

(1) to determine the order on the Calendar of bills reported by the

other standing committees of the Assembly and such Committee shall be

deemed to be a standing committee only for the purpose of regulating

Calendar practices including:

(a) the introduction of a bill;

(b) the ordering of a bill directly to special order of second and

third reading transmitted to it from any other standing committee as

provided by these Rules;

(c) the ordering of a bill, otherwise on second reading, directly to a

special order of second and third reading; and

(d) the review of each message of necessity issued by the Governor

pursuant to Article III of the Constitution and the ordering of a bill

to a special order of second and third reading for which any such

message has been issued; provided, however that prior to the ordering of

a bill for second and third reading, such message must be accepted by an

affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the Committee on

Rules;

(2) to regulate the housekeeping practices of the Assembly;

(3) to establish minimum qualifications for each category of staff

employees; and

(4) to establish and maintain minimum duties and standards of

effectiveness for all staff employees.

Assembly Graduate Scholar and Internship Committee. There shall

be an Assembly Graduate Scholar and Internship Committee to consist of

the Speaker Pro Tempore, Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader,

Assistant Speaker, Minority Leader, Chairperson of the Higher Education

Committee, Ranking Minority Member of the Ways and Means Committee and

Ranking Minority Member of the Higher Education Committee. The Speaker

shall appoint the chairperson from among the membership of this

Committee.

Assembly Committee on Conference Committees. There shall be an

Assembly Committee on Conference Committees to consist of five members;

provided, however that there shall be at least one minority member on

such committee. Members of such committee shall be selected from among

Assembly leadership positions. The Speaker shall appoint the chairperson

from among the membership of the committee. Such committee shall meet at

least once a month during the regular Legislative Session, excluding

January, and as necessary to review legislation passed by both houses

for the purpose of making recommendations for the convening of

conference committees pursuant to Joint Rule II of the Permanent Joint

Rules of the Senate and Assembly. The committee shall review requests

for conference committee made by the introducer of legislation.

Recommendations issued by the committee must be in writing and indicate

any dissenting opinion. Meetings of the Assembly Committee on Conference

Committees shall be subject to the provisions of article seven of the

Public Officers Law known as the "Open Meetings Law".

Ethics training. The Standing Committee on Ethics and Guidance

shall develop and regularly update a course of instruction for all

members and employees of the Assembly with regard to the laws and

policies governing their conduct. The committee shall recommend to the

Speaker an ethics training plan for implementing and scheduling such

course of instruction.