ARTICLE V. PROCEDURES
SECTION I. Legislature procedures
a) A bill shall be eligible for consideration if documentation and details of such bills are filed with the rules and administration committee two weeks before a normal senate session when it would be considered – which shall be a non-senate session week.
b) Such documentation shall also be filed with the officers of the senate, which shall establish an ad hoc committee to examine such bills.
c) An ad hoc committee shall consist of five members, representing the various competing interest and duly nominated and approved by the senate select committee, which shall be the officers of the senate.
d) The ad hoc committee shall then make recommendations to the Senate Rules and administration committee following one week of deliberation.
e) The senate shall hold the first hearing for the bill. No debate shall take place at this session-only questions can be asked (directed at the Senate leadership or originators of the bill).
f) The senate standing committee of rules and administration shall after the sitting decide to introduce such bills to the senate floor or to do away with them following consideration of the recommendations of the ad hoc committee and any such constraints that the committee might have determined internally.
g) The standing committee on rules and administration shall be compelled to inform all senate members in writing of bills withdrawn for floor considerations, within twenty four hours after such decisions are taken.
h) Any bill done away with at this stage can be forced away from the committee only by signatures of three-fifth of senate members.
i) The committee if it deems it necessary shall deliberate on bills and put them in final form for floor consideration.
j) A bill shall be introduced to the floor only after it has been included in the order sheet as prepared by the Senate President and approved by the Select committee.
k) Two voting members, one of which must be at least a ranking member of a standing committee must appear on the order sheet as sponsors of any proposed bill.
l) A bill shall be eligible for second reading during which debate can be entertained, if it is passed to the floor for consideration by the rules and administration committee.
m) Consideration of bills can take either of three forms, being-section-by-section, amendment-by-amendment, or wholesale. Decision to consider bills in either form or the other shall be taken by the Senate select committees.
n) Where there is any conceivable dissent, determined by the Senate select committee, two presentations from each side of the divide shall be entertained for five minutes for such, making twenty minutes of cumulative period of debate.
o) A senator can yield parts or all of his/her time to another provided the allotted minutes is not exceeded.
p) Where the senate select committee shall determine that no debate would be entertained, members of the senate can force a debate by one-thirds vote of members sitting in quorum.
q) Section (n) and (o) can be suspended by a unanimous vote of sitting senators.
r) After the conclusion of debate a recorded vote shall be taken, the manner of which shall be open and determined by the presiding officer.
s) For all money bills, requests or petitions before the senate select committee, the senate appropriation committee shall be considered the ad hoc committee.
t) Floor amendments to bills presented by the rules and administration committee shall be effected immediately by the clearance of the rules and administration chair, deeming such constitutional.
u) The senate shall cause the decision of the rules and administration chair be over ruled by unanimous vote.
v) The senate can also cause his/her (senate committee chair) to be reviewed by the full committee in sitting.
w) The proceedings on the floor shall accompany final documentation of bills for record by the Senate Clerk in charge of records and the head of the rules and administration committee.
