HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 2

42ND LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO -SECOND SESSION, 1996

INTRODUCED BY ROBERT A. PERLS

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION AMENDING LEGISLATIVE JOINT RULE 3-1 TO PROVIDE THAT CONFERENCE COMMITTEES BE SUBJECT TO THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT.

WHEREAS, Legislative Joint Rule 8-1 provides that joint rules may be adopted, amended or repealed by concurrent resolution approved by two-thirds of the membership of each house;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, that Joint Rule 3-1 be amended to read:

"CONFERENCE COMMITTEES (3-1)

A. If one house refuses to concur in the amendments made to its bill by the other house, the chief clerk shall notify the house making the amendments of that refusal to concur and ask that it recede from its amendments. If the

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amending house refuses to recede from its amendments, a conference committee, consisting of three members from each house, shall be appointed by the president pro tempore of the senate and the speaker of the house.

B. The conference committee shall meet at a time to be mutually agreed upon by the committee members, and the time and place of the meeting shall be printed on the daily schedule of house and senate committee hearings or posted in the capitol in such a way as to give, under the circumstances, reasonably adequate notice of the meeting to the public.

C. When agreement on the amendments in dispute has been reached, the members shall report to their respective houses, or, if agreement has not been reached, they shall report that fact to their respective houses. [No new item shall be presented as an amendment for inclusion in the conference committee report unless the item has been the subject of a legislative committee hearing during the session.] Voting in the conference committee shall be by the respective houses, and a majority of the membership from each house is required for adoption of a recommendation. The report of the conference committee shall not be subject to amendment in either house. The report of the conference committee shall always be in order except during a roll call or when a question of order or a

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motion to adjourn is pending. The report of the conference committee shall not be voted on in either house until at least twenty-four hours after the time the conference committee report has been reported to the respective house, except for conference committee reports that are received in the last twenty-four hours of a session, in which case at least one legislative day must lapse between receipt of the conference committee report by the house and a vote on the report.

D. Conference committees are subject to the provisions of the Open Meetings Act, except for requirements related to time periods for meeting notices, publication of agendas and minutes.

E. Conference committees shall only consider matters included in the house or senate versions of the bill. Conference committees shall not agree to new terms or provisions not included in the house or senate versions of the bill. Conference committees shall not recommend funding levels greater than the amount included in either the house or senate version of the bill.".

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