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Minnesota House of RepresentativesCommittee on Governmental Operations, Reform, Technology and

- Elections

Committee Report on Legislative Process ReformAugust 2008

On June 10, 2007 Representative Gene Pelowski, Chair of the House Committee onGovernmental Operations, Reform, Technology and Elections, issued a press releaseannouncing his intent to "use the 2007 interim and the 2008 legislative session to studyWays to improve the legislative process in Minnesota". Representative Pelowski beganthis process in the summer of 2007 by meeting informally with staff from the NationalConference of State Legislatures (NCSL) to discuss national trends in legislative processrefonn.

The committee met three times on this issue during the 2008 legislative session:0 On April 15, 2008 the committee met to hear testimony from Brenda Erickson,

program principal in NCSL’s Legislative Management Program. Ms. Ericksontestified and gave the committee written information on national trends to 'streamline the legislative process.The committee met again on April 16, 2008 to hear more testimony from Ms.Erickson. That day the committee also heard presentations from MichelleTimmons, Revisor of Statutes, on trends in legislative activity, and from formerState Senator and former Court of Appeals judge Jack Davies.

0 On April 30 the committee heard testimony from Patrick McCormack, Director ofHouse Research and from Phil Griffin, from the Minnesota Government RelationsCouncil (MGRC).

The committee continued its meetings after adjournment of the 2008 legislature:0 The committee met on June 13 for a general discussion of the legislative process,

including policy considerations and potential changes.I On June 23 the committee discussed committee structure and procedures in more

detail, and also heard testimony from Geoff Bartsh of the MGRC.0 On July 10, the committee discussed floor procedures, conference committees,

and issues relating to the end of Session.0 On July 28, the committee discussed conference committee and issues relating to

the end of session, and heard testimony from Keith Carlson, representing theMinnesota Inter-County Association, and from Mark Anfinson, representing theMinnesota Newspaper Association.

At its final hearing, on August 15, 2008, the committee recommended that the 2009legislature consider certain changes in the legislative process. Those changes are listed inthis report. The changes in this report come from ideas suggested from a variety ofsources: House members, lobbyists, and members of the public. Where practical, thisreport includes sample language changes in House rules that could be considered to

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implement the changes. The ideas in this report were discussed, but not formallyadopted, by the House Committee on Governmental Operations, Reform, Technologyand Elections. The committee discussed whether to pass along all of the ideas for othersto consider, or whether to vote separately on each idea. By a vote of 7-5, the committeedecided to pass along all of the ideas for others to consider in the 2009 session.

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COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AND PROCEDURES ................................................. .. 4£71

Cooperation between House and Senate Committees ~Number of committees; membership and jurisdiction of committeesBill IntroductionsReferral/Re-Referral ofbills to committeesCommittee schedules/agendasOther issues relating to the work of committees

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FLOOR PROCEDURES .............................................................................................. .. 11V

Consideration of amendments’ l

Consideration ofbillsOther issues relating to floor sessions

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CONFERENCE COMMITTEES/END OF SESSION ............................................. .. 17

Conference CommitteesEnd of Session

OTHER ISSUES ........................................................................................................... .. 19

Public access and participationSchedules, organization, and other issues —

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COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AND PROCEDURES

Cooperation between House and Senate committees

#C1 The names and jurisdiction of House and Senate committeesshould be more closely aligned, including the accounts assignedto budget divisions.

#C2 House and Senate committees should cooperate more, byestablishing more joint House/Senate committees, or by having

"more joint committee meetings. The Pension Commission is agood example. Having joint committees or joint hearings wouldbe particularly useful for finance committees.

#C3 House and Senate committees with similar jurisdictions shouldfacilitate joint hearings. These committees could be scheduled tomeet at the same time, to facilitate joint hearings. However, ifthis is done, committee chairs and staff would need to coordinateto make sure members of the public can participate in themeetings of committees in both the House and Senate when theydon’t meet jointly. _

Number of committees; membership and jurisdiction of committees

#C4 Each House member should serve on fewer committees, whichshould be accomplished by reducing the number of committeesand by reducing the number of members serving on eachcormnittee.

#C5 Subcommittees should consist entirely of members of the parentcommittee.

#C6 The minority caucus should have proportional representation onall committees and divisions.

6.02 COMMITTEE AND DIVISIONMEMBERSHIP. At least30 days before the start ofa regular session ofthe Legislature, the

, Speaker-designate must provide the minority politicalpartycaucuses with a list ofthe standing committees and divisionsproposedfor the session. Thenumber ofminority caucus members to be appointed to eachcommittee and division must be determined bv the Speaker and

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Bill introductions

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must be proportional to the number ofminoritv caucus members inthe House. The Speaker-designate and may require generalmembership guidelines to befollowed in the selection ofcommitteeand division members. The minoritv leader must appoint membersQ7’ the minority caucus to each committees and divisions, consistentwith the number ofmembers and general membership guidelinesspecified by the Speaker-designate.

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The jurisdiction of each House committee and division should bedescribed in detail (including the chapters ofMinnesota Statuteswithin the jurisdiction of each group) and this information shouldbe available on the House website.

All committees should have jurisdiction over both policy andfinance matters.

The number ofbills each member can introduce (as chief author)each session should be limited, with possible exceptions for localor individual bills, executive branch bills, or as otherwiseauthorized by the House.

Allow an unlimited number of authors on a bill.

1.12 AUTHORS OF BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS.After a bill or

resolution is introduced and given itsfirst reading: (a) a member maybe removed as an author, by motion ofthe member; and (b) a memberwishing to be an author may be added as an author, by motion oftheauthor ofthe bill or resolution.

A member may not be the chiefauthor ofmore than 25 bills inanv annual regular session. A bill that the chiefauthor designates as alocal or individual bill or that the author introduces at the request ofanexecutive branch agencv does not countforpurposes ofthe limit in thisparagraph. Upon motion ofa member, the House mav excusecompliance with the limit in this paragraph.

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#C11 Establish an annual deadline for bill introduction for bills to beconsidered that year.

1.10 INTRODUCTION OF BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS. A billor resolution must be submitted to the Speaker at least 24 hours beforethe convening ofthe daily session at which it is to be introduced.

A bill or resolution must be introduced in triplicate and each copymust bear the signature ofthe member or the name ofthe committee ordivision introducing it.

In regular session, a billprepared by a department or agency ofstate government must be introduced and given itsfirst reading at leastten days before the date ofthefirst committee deadline. A committeemay not act on a Housefile during an annual regular session unlessthat House file is introduced at least 20 days before the date ofthe firstcommittee deadline thatyear. ‘

Referral/re-referral of bills to committees

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The House should devise a mechanism under which bills, or partsof bills, could be considered simultaneously by multiplecommittees.

When a bill is re-referred to a committee with limited jurisdictionover certain parts of the bill, the secondary committee shouldlimit its consideration of the bill to matters within the jurisdictionof the committee

1.11 FIRSTREADING AND REFERENCE OF BILLS. A bill orresolution must be reported and given itsfirst reading when it isintroduced. A bill or resolution must not be objected to when it isintroduced. AAfter itsfirst reading, the Speaker must refer a bill or resolution to theappropriate standing committee or division, except as provided in Rule1.15 and Rule 1.13. The Speaker may refer a bill or resolutionsimultaneously to more than one standing committee or division. Ifthisoccurs, the Sneaker may provide that a committee or division hasjurisdiction only over a specifiedportion ofthe bill, and may specify thesequence in which the committees or divisions are to report the billback to the House.

The House should reduce re-referral of bills.

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The House should have clearer standards (in addition to those incurrent rule for some committees) for when re-referrals ofbills tocertain committees is required.

The House should consider more carefully, or perhaps develop aformal mechanism for determining, the sequence of re-referralsfor bills that need to be referred to multiple committees.

1.11 FIRSTREADING AND REFERENCE OF BILLS. A bill orresolution must be reported and given itsfirst reading when it isintroduced. A bill or resolution must not be objected to when it isintroduced.After itsfirst reading, the Speaker must refer a bill or resolution to theappropriate standing committee or division, except as provided in Rule1.15 and Rule 1.13. At the time ofthe initial referral, the Speaker maydesignate subsequent committees to which the bill must be referred, andmay specify the sequence ofthese referrals.

The House should develop a mechanism under which a secondarycommittee would formally be assigned jurisdiction only overlimited parts of a bill.

6.30 COMMITTEE REPORTS. Except as provided in this rule,the House must adopt or reject a committee report on a bill orresolution without amendment. '

A A committee report recommending that a bill be re-referred toanother committee may recommend that the subsequent committee havejurisdiction only over limitedparts o_f the bill. The House may amendthe portion ofthe committee report that recommends limitedjurisdictionfor a subsequent committee...

Committee scheduling and agendas

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The House should allow each member to designate one or morebills as priority bills, and require that committees hear and vote onthese bills, assuming there is a Senate companion.

6.19 HEARINGS ONPRIORITYBILLS. Each House member maydesignate one bill._for which the member is the chiefauthor, as apriority bill each annual legislative session. The chair ofeachcommittee to which a priority bill is referred must schedule the billfora hearing ifthere is a Senate companion bill.

Committees should give better notice of their agendas, includingnotice ofmajor amendments to be considered.

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6.20 COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE; DEADLINES. TheSpeaker mustprepare andpublish a schedule ofcommittee meetings,fixing asfar as practicable the regular meeting day and time ofeachcommittee. ....Asfar as practicable, amendments to be offered incommittee must be filed with the chair ofthe committee at least 24hours in advance ofthe committee hearing. The chair ofa committeemust make the amendment available to the public as soon as practicalgfier the amendment isfiled with the chair.

Committee chairs should attempt to give notice of the nextweek’s agenda by Thursday of the preceding week.

6.20 COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE," DEADLINES.Asfar as practicable, the chair ofa committee mustgfll give three

days notice ofthe date, time, place and agendafor each meeting,;_alt_d___(2) give notice ofthe date, time,_place and agendafor the next week ’smeetings by Thursday ofthe preceding week.

Committee meetings should begin at the scheduled time.

6.20 COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE; DEADLINES. TheSpeaker must prepare andpublish a schedule ofcommittee meetings,fixing asfar as practicable the regular meeting day and time ofeachcommittee. The chair ofthe committee must convene the meeting at thescheduled time.

An amendment in a committee should be in order only if it ismade available to the public in advance, with possible exceptionsfor author amendments, technical amendments, or amendmentsauthorized by specific vote of a committee (or perhaps asupermajority of the committee)

6.20 COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE; DEADLINES. The Speakermustprepare andpublish a schedule ofcommittee meetings, fixing as far aspracticable the regular meeting day and time ofeach committee.

amendment may not be offered in a committee unless the amendmenthas beenfiled with the chair at least 24 hours before the scheduled start of thecommittee meeting. A committee may waive compliance with this requirementby a vote of--—--members ofthe committee. The chair ofa committee mustmake an amendment available to the public as soon as practical after theamendment isvfiled with the chair.

Committees should more closely follow the order ofbills listedon committee agendas.

6.20. COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE,"DEADLINES. ....Asfar as practicable, the chair ofa committeemust give three days notice ofthe date, time, place and agendafor eachmeeting. The committee must take up items in the order listed on theagenda, unless otherwise provided by vote of the committee.

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Other issues relating to the work of committees

Committees should not schedule a bill for hearing until the bill isintroduced and available to the public.

6.20. COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE," DEADLINES. ....Asfar as practicable, the chair ofa committee must give three days noticeofthe date, time, place and agendafor each meeting. A bill must not belisted on the agendafor a committee meeting until the bill has beenintroduced, and the committee may not report the bill until at least twodays after the bill has been introduced.

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Committees should be expected to do most of the work on bills.The House should use standing committees and subcommittees tohear testimony, build expertise, and take action on bills, and notrely on working groups, or leave detailed work for the HouseFloor. Committees should take the time necessary to do thiswork, even if it means holding bills over for multiple hearings, orhaving bills sent back from the floor to committee. Committeeschedules, member schedules, and committee deadlines should bedesigned to facilitate this role.

Omnibus budget bills should contain only budget-relatedmaterial. Language items should relate to budget decisions madein the bill or to general matters with a fiscal impact within thejurisdiction of the bill.

4.03 WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE; BUDGETRESOLUTION; EFFECT ONEXPENDITURE AND REVENUEBILLS.

....(e) Majorfinance and revenue bills are:the higher education and worlg’orce developmentfinance bill;the K-12 educationfinance bill;the early childhood learningfinance bill,"the agriculture, rural economies, and veterans ajfairsfinance bill;the environment and natural resourcesfinance bill,‘the health care and human servicesfinance bill;the state governmentfinance bill;the transportationfinance bill;the public safetyfinance bill;the Minnesota heritagefinance bill,'the energyfinance bill,‘the housing andpublic health finance bill,"the capital investment bill; andthe tax bill ...... ..

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..... .. (1') A maiorfinance and revenue bill may contain only materialthat is related to thefinance and revenue decisions made in that bill.

OR .... .. (1') A majorfinance and revenue bill may contain onlymaterial that affects present orfuturefinancial obligations. budgetpolicy. or revenue ofthe state.

Policy language should not be included in finance bills unless theappropriate policy committee has considered and recommendedapproval of the language.

4. 03 WA YS AND MEANS.......(f) A maiorfinance and revenue bill may contain only material

that agfects present orfuturefinancial obligations, budget policy. orrevenue ofthe state unless the appropriate policy committee hasrecommended approval of a bill containing other language.

Amendments offered in committees should be germane to thejurisdiction of the committee, especially for secondarycommittees that should be considering only parts of a bill.

6.21 COMMITTEE PROCEDURES.........An amendment oflered in committee must be on a subject that is

within thejurisdiction ofthe committee. A member ofa committee mayraise a point oforder objecting to an amendment that the memberbelieves is not on a subject within thejurisdiction ofthe committee.Whether an amendment is on a subject that is within thejurisdiction ofthe committee is a question to be decided by the person chairing themeeting, who may put the question to the committee.

Finance and Tax Committees and divisions should not act on abill before receiving applicable fiscal and revenue notes for thecorrect version of the bill.

4.10 BILLS AFFECTING STATE REVENUES ANDEXPENDITURES. (a) Except as provided in Rule 1.15, a House orSenate bill that directly, substantially, and specifically ajfects anypresent orfuturefinancial obligation, budget policy, or revenue oftheState must be referred as provided in paragraphs and (c) to theappropriate Finance or Tax Committee before the bill receives itssecond reading. j

A bill subject to paragraph (a)... must, recommendedtopass, be subsequently referred to the Finance Committee...

(c) A bill with a substantial impact on the tax revenues or taxpolicies ofthe State must be referred to the Committee on Taxes....

_(e)To the extent practicable. a committee or division must notreoort a bill subject to this rule until the committee or division hasreceived an executive branchfiscal note or revenue analysis, asqpplicable,_for the version of the bill the committee or division isconsidering.

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Consideration of Amendments

FLOOR PROCEDURES

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The House rule governing germaneness of amendments should bemade more specific, either by codifying current custom and usageor by making the germaneness standard more restrictive.

A floor amendment should not be in order if it annexes anotherbill.

3.31 AMENDMENTNOT TO ANNEXANOTHER BILL. Except in acommittee or division. no bill or resolution shall be amended byannexing or incorporating any other bill or resolution.

A floor amendment should not be in order if the amendment haspreviously been offered and rejected either in committee or on thefloor.

3.32. AMENDMENTMAYNOTBE OFFERED MULTIPLE TIMES. Altamendment to a bill is out oforder ifthe amendment has previouslybeen offered and not adopted. either in a committee or division or bythe House.

A floor amendment should be in order only if it has previouslybeen offered and rejected in committee.

3.32. FLOOR AMENDMENTNOTALLOWED UNLESS OFFERED INCOMMITTEE. An amendment to a [maiorfinance or revenue] bill onthe Houseqfloor is out oforder unless the amendment has previouslybeen offered in a committee or division, unless the amendment is purelyof a technical nature.

Amendments to be offered on the floor should be pre-filed, and madeavailable to the public, including on the Internet, before the Houseconsiders the bill being amended.

3.33. AMENDMENTS MUSTBE PRE-FILED. An amendment offeredto the House is out oforder unless the amendment has beenfiled withthe Speaker at least 24 hours before being offered. When anamendment isfiled with the Speaker, the Speaker must have theamendment posted on the ‘House website as soon as practical.

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The House should establish a process for controlling whatamendments can be offered, at least for certain bills.

3.34. LIMITS ONAMENDMENTS. The Committee on Rules andLegislative Administration may designate amendments that may beQfiered to a bill on the Calendarfor the Day or the Fiscal Calendar. Ifthe Committee designates amendments_for a bill. any proposedamendment to the bill that has not been designated by the Committee isout of order. .

The Committee on Rules and Legislative Administration must givenotice ofintent to designate amendments under this rule at least ----days before the Committee meets to designate amendments to beconsidered. A member intending to offer an amendment mustfile theproposed amendment with the Committee at least ---hours before themeeting at which the Committee will designate amendments.

The House should establish a process under which aggregate timelimits can be established for debate on all amendments to a bill.

2.42. TIME LIMITFOR DEBATE. The Committee on Rules andLegislative Administration may designate an aggregate time limitfordebate on all amendments ofiered to a bill on the Calendarfor the Davor the Fiscal Calendar.

The House should relax or repeal rules that restrict the ability tooffer amendments that are not consistent with the budgetresolution.

4.03 WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE; BUDGETRESOLUTION;EFFECT ONEXPENDITURE AND REVENUE BILLS.....

...(g) After the adoption ofa resolution by the Committee on Waysand Means, the Committee on Ways and Means must reconcilefinanceand revenue bills with the resolution. When reporting a bill, the chair ofthe Committee must certijy to the House that the Committee hasreconciled the bill with the resolution.

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The number of delete-all amendments and other major substantiveamendments offered on the House floor should be reduced, withbills being referred back to committee, where public testimonycan occur, ifmajor amendments are needed.

A floor amendment proposing a constitutional amendment shouldbe out of order, unless it is amending a constitutional amendmentalready proposed in the bill being considered.

3.34. AMENDMENTMAYNOTPROPOSE A NEWCONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. An amendment offered to theHouse is out oforder ifthe amendment proposes a constitutionalamendment. However, an amendment may propose a change to the textgfa constitutional amendment already beingproposed in the bill underconsideration.

Consideration of bills

#F10 The House should use a general orders calendar.

1.03 ORDER OF BUSINESS. After the Journal is read, the orderofbusiness ofthe day is:

(1) Presentation ofpetitions or other communications(2) Reports ofstanding committees and divisions(3) Second reading ofHouse bills(4) Second reading ofSenate bills(5) Reports ofselect committees(6) Introduction andfirst reading ofHouse bills(7) Consideration ofmessages from the Senate(8) First reading ofSenate bills(9) Consent Calendar(10) Calendarfor the day(11) General Orders(H-) Q2) Motions and resolutions

1.05 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE. The Committee ofthe Wholeis a committee ofthe entire membership of the House. The Speaker mayappoint another member as chair to preside over the Committee oftheWhole.

When the House arrives at the General Orders of the Day. it shallresolve itself into a Committee ofthe Whole to consider bills onGeneral Orders.

The Rules ofthe House shall be observed in the Committee ofthe

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Whole sofar as applicable, except that the previous question shall notbeforced or speaking limited. A roll call must be ordered if15members demand it. A roll call must be ordered on a amendmentincreasing the amount ofan appropriation. I

A motion that the Committee arise shall always be in order andshall be decided without debate.

1.07 GENERAL ORDERS OF THE DAY. The chief clerk, at thedirection o_f the Speaker, shall prepare the General Orders o_f the Day._which is a list ofall bills that have been given their second reading thathave been not been placed on another calendar. Bills on GeneralOrders must be numbered according to their order at second reading.Unless otherwise ordered by a maiority ofthe Committee, items onGeneral Orders shall be taken up in numerical order.

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The House should take up bills in the order stated on a publishedcalendar. '

1.51. ORDER OF CONSIDERATION OF BILLS. Unless otherwiseprovided by the House, bills on the Calendarfor the Day. FiscalCalendar, and Consent Calendar must be taken up in the order listedon the calendar.

The House should establish a limit of one hour for debate on mostbills, and a limit of two hours for major budget bills or othermajor bills. Time available for speaking on bills should beallocated between the majority and minority caucus, based on thepercent of House members in each caucus.

2.42. TIME LIMITFOR DEBATE. Debate on a bill, includingproposed amendments, on the Calendarfor the Day or the FiscalCalendar is limited to one hour. However, the limit is two hours for amaiorfinance or revenue bill orfor another bill in which the Committeeon Rules and Legislative Administration specifies a two-hour limit

Better notice should be given ofwhen motions to concur/refuse toconcur in Senate amendments to House files will be considered.There should be a waiting period, during which the text of Senateamendments to House files must be available to the public, beforethe House can vote to concur in Senate amendments.

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1.16. MOTIONS FOR CONCURRENCE. The chiefclerk must publishand make available on the House website a list ofHousefiles passed bythe Senate with Senate amendmentsjor which House concurrence inthe Senate amendments is requested. A motion to concur in Senateamendments to a House file is not in order until 24 hours after thechiefclerk has published this list.

The House should make greater use ofmotions “for the previousquestion” to cut off debate, provided the House develops acustom ofbeing consistent about when the motion is regarded asappropriate. .

The number of days that a bill must be placed on the GeneralRegister before floor consideration should be increased, withlimited exceptions.

1.20 GENERAL REGISTER. The General Register consists ofallbills that have received a second reading, except those placed on theConsent Calendar under Rule 1.23. Bills must be placed on the GeneralRegister in the order that they receive their second reading. A bill mustbe on the General Register for at least two days, be given to eachmember, and be available to the public before it may be considered bythe House on the Calendarfor the Day or the Fiscal Calendar. Eachday that the House meets in session, the ChiefClerk must publish.a listof the bills on the General Register.

Other issues relating to floor sessions

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It should not be possible to waive the rule that forbids the Housefrom meeting after midnight.

1.50 ADJOURNING OF THE HOUSE. The House may not meetduring a legislative day aftermidnight . q. ’ Z . g g. q ._ l E I .

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The House should consider the scheduled time of floor sessions inrelation to scheduled committee meeting times, in particular withregard to potential inconvenience to the public and to Housemembers ifmeetings/sessions run longer than expected.

House rules should provide for floor votes specifically addressingthe issue ofwhether the body believes that a bill is constitutional,and should specify consequences if a body believes that a bill isnot constitutional.

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3.05 CONSTITUTIONALITY. A motion as to the constitutionality ofabill or amendment is in order, and must be put before the body by theSpeaker. The question must be put asfollows: “Is the matter beforethe body deemed constitutional by the maiority ofmembers voting? ” Ifa maiority ofmembers do not vote infavor ofthe constitutionality ofabill or amendment, that bill or amendment is laid on the table.

3.10 PRECEDENCE OF MOTIONS. While a question is underconsideration, only thefollowing motions may be received:

(1) T0fix the time ofaajournment. (2) To aajourn

(3) To lay on the table(4) For the previous question(5) To question constitutionality(6) To refer(7) To postpone to a day certain(8) T0 amend(9) To postpone indefinitely(J 0) To pass

Thefirstfour motions must be decided without debate.The motions have precedence in the order listed, except that ifthe

motionfor the previous question has been properly made, and ifnecessary seconded, and the main question ordered, the motion to layon the table is not in order

The House should more strictly enforce the current rule providingthat members must not speak more than twice on a subject, andnot more than once until every other member wishing to speakhas had an opportunity.

The House should develop a custom of referring bills back tocommittees if extensive amendments are needed (perhapsgranting exemptions from committee deadlines when thishappens).

The House should ensure that members of the minority caucushave a reasonable opportunity to have their bills heard incormnittee and on the House floor, in part because this likely willtend to limit the number of amendments offered on the Housefloor.

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Joint rules should allow bills to be passed between the House andSenate more than once before requiring a conference cormnittee.

Joint rules should further restrict the ability of conferencecommittee members (even less than a quorum) to meet privately.

Conference committees should be scheduled at a time and withenough advance notice to facilitate public participation.

The House and Senate should reconsider rules goveming whatlanguage is permissible to include in a conference cormnitteereport. -

House and joint rules should require conference committees tomeet and accept public testimony on final conference committeereports, particularly when there have been significant policychanges that weren’t in either the House or Senate bill.

Conference committee reports should always be available tomembers and the public for at least 12 hours before beingconsidered for adoption by the House and Senate.

The House and Senate should reduce the need for conferencecommittee by increasing use ofjoint House/Senate committeesand/or establishing standing joint committees with an institutionalrole in negotiating major budget items at the end of session.

The House and the Senate should establish better methods ofcommunicating and coordinating between various conferencecommittees at the end of session, so that language being agreed toin one conference committee can better be taken into account byother conference committees.

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The House and Senate should establish a deadline for acting onbills and conference reports that is a prescribed period in advanceof the constitutional deadline for adjournment.

The House and Senate should establish a period at the end ofsession during which the only permissible legislative actionwould be making corrections to legislation previously passed.

More key decisions at the end of session should made be in publicmeetings by more groups of legislators, rather than beingnegotiated in private meetings between the Governor andlegislative leadership. Decisions on budget bills should be madein individual conference committees.

End of session agreements should be made far enough in advanceso that legislative staff have adequate time to prepare final draftsof conference reports and other bills, and members, the executivebranch, and the public have time to review these documents (andif necessary make suggestions to correct unintended results)before the legislature takes final action.

The House and the Senate should set deadlines for giving targetsto key budget conference committees, or should submit theseissues to the full House and the full Senate for votes.

Joint Rule 2.06....(Severalparagraphs droppedfor space reasons.)If an agreement is reported, the house of origin shall act first upon thereport. A Conference Committee report must be limited to provisionsthat are germane to the bill and amendments that were referred to theConference Committee. A provision is not germane if it relates to asubstantially dijferent subject or is intended to accomplish a substantiallydijferent purposefrom that of the bill and amendment that were referredto the Conference Committee.The Speaker ofthe House ofRepresentatives and the Maiority Leader of

the Senate shall agree upon budget targets and any substantivelimitations on the actions of the Conference Committees [necessary tomeet the constitutional requirement of a balanced budget] by a date nolater than ten days prior to the date of adiournment and shallcommunicate those to the chairs ofthe Conference Committee. Afier thisdate, the Speaker and Majority Leader shall submit the question ofbudget targets to each floor and allow a vote of all members on thetargetsfor budget negotiations. A Conference Committee report may notappropriate a larger sum of money than the larger of the bill or theamendments that were referred to the Conference Committee unless theadditional appropriation is authorized by the Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives and the Majority Leader ofthe Senate .... ..

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OTHER ISSUES

Public Access and participation -

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Budget/fiscal year

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#B5

In establishing House rules and procedures, a primaryconsideration should be making the legislative process easier forthe public to participate in and to follow. To the extent possible, "theprocess should be made more transparent to the public,including specifically allowing the public to track movement oflanguage between bills.

The House and the Senate should make it easier for the public totrack bills, especially when bills from one chamber are substitutedfor companion bills from the other chamber, and when individualbills are rolled into onmibus bills.

The house should hold more hearings away from the Capitol,including possibly mini-sessions in Greater Minnesota during theinterim

The legislature should attempt to create reasonable expectationsfor the media and for the public about what the legislature canaccomplish and what process is necessary for the legislature toconduct its business.

Legislative public information functions should be centralized forthe convenience of the public

The state fiscal year should be changed to conform to the calendaryear used by local govermnents.

The state biennial budget cycle should be changed so that thebiennium starts on July 1 of the even-numbered year.

The House and the Senate should jointly agree on budget targetsbefore the deadline for legislative committee work on majorfinance and revenue bills.

The House should provide more time for members to reviewomnibus budget bills at each step in the process.

Budget forecasts should occur earlier.

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The House should hold meetings after the general election andbefore the start of the legislative session for organizationalpurposes, and to begin overviews of issues. The legislatureshould propose a constitutional amendment as needed toimplement this .

The House should make legislative service more family friendlyfor House members by limiting evening meeting and limitingmeetings on Friday afternoons and Monday mornings.

At least 2 weeks notice should be given of all non-emergencymeetings during interim.

All interim meetings should be clustered during designated weeksand should occur from Tuesday to Thursday on these weeks.

The majority leadership should meet early in the session with theminority leadership to agree on a structure and schedule for majorparts of the legislative session.

Legislative leadership and committee chairs should be morewilling to say “no” at various points in the process, in part as ameans of reducing time spent on matters that are not likely toadvance.

Deadlines for policy committees should be later in the session, tothese committees have more time to work on legislation.

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In establishing meeting schedules, the House should take intoaccount the time demands on members who have other jobs.

The Minnesota Constitution should be amended to repeal the 120legislative day limit, while maintaining the January to May timeperiod during which the legislature can meet in regular session.

Statutory deadlines for the executive branch to submit its bills tothe Revisor for drafting should be more strictly enforced. Newdeadlines should be imposed for introduction of these bills.

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#S12 The House should discourage omnibus policy bills.

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