House and Senate adopt rules

The House and Senate met Tuesday to adopt the rules that will govern their operations throughout the session. Senators also drew lots to determine whether they would be serving two- or four-year terms (this drawing is conducted after boundaries are changed through the redistricting process, when all Senate seats are up for election, to ensure staggered terms).

The Senate rules remain mostly unchanged from last session’s, though the shift to a combined Education Committee that includes a Higher Education Subcommittee (rather than two separate committees) was formalized.

The House, however, debated extensively over several new proposed amendments to its rules, the most significant of which is designed to preclude another quorum-busting walkout – a technique used by Democrats in 2021 to try to kill controversial Republican priority legislation. That amendment, which imposes hefty penalties on members who are absent “for the purposes of impeding the action of the House,” passed on a largely-partisan 87-59 vote. Amendments that would have eliminated the decades-old House practice of appointing committee chairs from both parties were killed on points of order.