Amendment #13 to H2015

Amendment to Rule 20A

Representatives O'Connell of Taunton, Cole of Peabody, Diehl of Whitman and Lyons of Andover move to amend the order by striking out Rule 20A in its entirety and  inserting in place thereof the following text:-

“20A. Notwithstanding the provisions of Rule 33A, amendments to the General Appropriation Bill shall be filed with the Clerk of the House in a format to be determined by the Clerk by five o’clock P.M. within the close of five business days of said General Appropriation bill being made available in a format to be determined by the Clerk and release of said document by said Clerk if the release of said document occurs by ten o’clock A.M.  Otherwise, the day following the release shall be considered the first business day. The Clerk, with the assistance of the committee on Ways and Means, shall categorize the subject-matter of the amendments and arrange such amendments for consideration sequentially by subject as appearing in the published version of the General Appropriation Bill, or the Clerk, with the assistance of the committee on Ways and Means, shall categorize the subject-matter of the amendments and arrange such subject matters for consideration as determined by the committee on Ways and Means. Debate on the General Appropriation Bill shall not commence until a date and time to be determined by the House which is subsequent to the designated time established for filing of amendments.

Before the main question on the General Appropriation Bill is placed before the House, an amendment may be postponed or withdrawn at the request of the primary sponsor of the amendment or postponed by the committee on Ways and Means; provided that further consideration of any amendment so postponed shall take place immediately subsequent to consideration of the amendments within the particular subject-matter to which the postponed amendment was assigned according to the provisions of paragraph one of said rule; provided that if more than one amendment is so postponed, subsequent consideration of said amendments shall be in the order determined by the committee on Ways and Means; provided further, an amendment so postponed shall not be subsequently considered outside of its assigned subject-matter; and provided further, that notwithstanding the provisions of Rule 33A, amendments submitted to the Clerk shall be in a format to be determined by the Speaker in consultation with said Clerk and shall include an original copy only; and provided further that perfecting or substitute amendments, including, but not limited to an amendment consolidating more than one amendment, may be submitted by the committee on Ways and Means during consideration of the subject category to which the amendment or amendments were assigned; provided, however, that an amendment may be removed from the consolidated amendment at the request of the sponsor of said amendment for the purpose of it being offered as a further amendment to the consolidated amendment.”