By: Vasut H.R. No. 72
 
 
 
R E S O L U T I O N
         BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the 87th
  Legislature, that Rule 1, Section 15, of the permanent rules of the
  House of Representatives of the 87th Legislature is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 15.  Standing Committee Appointments - (a) The speaker
  shall designate the chair and vice-chair of each standing
  substantive committee and shall also appoint membership of the
  committee, subject to the provisions of Rule 4, Section 2.
         (b)  If members of equal seniority request the same
  committee, the speaker shall decide which among them shall be
  assigned to that committee.
         (c)  In announcing the membership of the standing
  substantive committees, the speaker shall designate which are
  appointees and which acquire membership by seniority.
         (d)  The speaker shall appoint the chair and vice-chair of
  each standing procedural committee and the remaining membership of
  the committee.
         (e)  If a new speaker is elected to fill a vacancy in the
  office after the appointment of standing committees, the new
  speaker may not alter the composition of any standing committee
  before the end of the session, except that the new speaker may:
               (1)  vacate the new speaker's membership on any
  committee;
               (2)  make committee appointments for the member who was
  removed as speaker;
               (3)  designate a different member of a standing
  committee as committee chair; and
               (4)  fill vacancies that occur on a committee.
         (f)(1)  A member shall be removed as chair and vice-chair of
  all standing and procedural committees the member serves on, but
  shall retain his or her membership on the committee, if a majority
  of the house adopts a motion to remove a committee chair or
  vice-chair for any of the following reasons:
                     (A)  the member is absent from the sessions of the
  house without leave under Rule 5, Section 3, for more than seven (7)
  cumulative days during any regular session;
                     (B)  the member is absent from the sessions of the
  house without leave under Rule 5, Section 3, for more than three (3)
  cumulative days during any special session;
                     (C)  the member is absent from the sessions of the
  house without leave under Rule 5, Section 3, for more than fourteen
  (14) cumulative days, with the intent to cause a lack of quorum
  under Rule 5, Section 1, during the past six (6) months.
               (2)  A motion under Subdivision (1) must be seconded by
  twenty-five (25) members, of whom the speaker may be one, and shall
  be recognized as a privileged motion if otherwise in order.
               (3)  A motion under Subdivision (1) is not in order
  unless a member has previously provided at least twenty-four hour's
  notice of intent to make the motion by addressing the house when the
  house is in session and stating that a member intends to make a
  motion for the removal of a member(s) as chair or vice-chair of a
  standing or procedural committee.
               (4)  A member that is subject to a motion under
  Subdivision (1) is permitted, but not obligated, to address the
  house for not more than 10 minutes on a motion being considered by
  the full house under Subdivision (1). The time limits established
  by this rule shall include time consumed in yielding to questions
  from the floor. The time limit established by this rule shall not
  be extended.
               (5)  No member may be subject to a motion under
  Subdivision (1) more than once during any regular or special
  session.
               (6)  A motion under Subdivision (1) is incidental to a
  call of the house, under Rule 5, Section 7.
         (g)  The speaker may not appoint a member as a chair or
  vice-chair of any committee if the member was removed as a chair or
  vice-chair of any committee during the previous twelve (12) months
  pursuant to Subsection (f).
         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
  87th Legislature, that Rule 5, Section 8, of the permanent rules of
  the House of Representatives of the 87th Legislature is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 8.  Securing a Quorum. (a) When a call of the house is
  moved for one of the above purposes and seconded by 15 members (of
  whom the speaker may be one) and ordered by a majority vote, the
  main entrance to the hall and all other doors leading out of the
  hall shall be locked and no member permitted to leave the house
  without the written permission of the speaker. The names of members
  present shall be recorded. All absentees for whom no sufficient
  excuse is made may, by order of a majority of those present, be sent
  for and arrested, wherever they may be found, by the
  sergeant-at-arms or an officer appointed by the sergeant-at-arms
  for that purpose, and their attendance shall be secured and
  retained. The house shall determine on what conditions they shall
  be discharged. Members who voluntarily appear shall, unless the
  house otherwise directs, be immediately admitted to the hall of the
  house and shall report their names to the clerk to be entered in the
  journal as present.
         (b)  Until a quorum appears, should the roll call fail to
  show one present, no business shall be transacted, except to compel
  the attendance of absent members or to adjourn. It shall not be in
  order to recess under a call of the house.
         (c)  Any member without sufficient excuse who fails to appear
  in the hall within twenty-four (24) hours of a call of the house, or
  within twenty-four (24) hours of the appointed time for the member
  to appear pursuant to any written permission of the speaker, shall
  be fined a sum equal to two times the member's per diem per day the
  member is absent without excuse during a call of the house. Such
  fine shall be remitted to the sergeant-at-arms and made payable to
  the Texas House of Representatives.
         (d)  Any member without sufficient excuse who fails to appear
  in the hall within forty-eight (48) hours of a call of the house, or
  within forty-eight (48) hours of the appointed time for the member
  to appear pursuant to any written permission of the speaker, shall
  be re-designated as having zero years and zero days of cumulative
  service as a member of the house of representatives for purposes of
  seniority under these Rules and any privileges appurtenant thereto.
  There shall be no method by which to reinstate the seniority of a
  member that has been re-designated as having zero years and zero
  days of cumulative service as a member of the house of
  representatives for purposes of seniority under this subsection.
         (e)  Any member without sufficient excuse who fails to appear
  in the hall within seventy-two (72) hours of a call of the house, or
  within seventy-two (72) hours of the appointed time for the member
  to appear pursuant to any written permission of the speaker, shall
  be removed as chair and vice-chair of all standing and procedural
  committees the member serves on, but shall retain his or her
  membership on the committee.