HR 25: Amend specified House Rules
The proposed legislation aims to reform the rules and procedures of the House of Representatives in the state of Ohio. Key changes include: The Speaker shall name all committees and subcommittees, and appoint all members and chairs. The Speaker shall also appoint members to a standing committee so that its membership is proportional to the partisan composition of the House. Responsibility for supervising employees and maintaining parking facilities is delegated to the Chief Administrative Officer and designated staff. The Clerk is responsible for custodding legislative documents, examining bills for constitutional and procedural requirements, and numbering bills and resolutions. A calendar is to be prepared and published to give public notice of bills and resolutions. The Clerk is also responsible for maintaining a journal of the House's proceedings. Amendments to titles of bills may be…
| Feb. 12, 2025 | Adopted |
As Adopted by the House
136th General Assembly Regular Session H. R. No. 25 2025-2026
Representative Manning
A R E S O L U T I O N
To amend Rules 13, 22, 24, 25, 96, and 115 of the House 1
of Representatives of the 136th General Assembly. 2
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
That Rules 13, 22, 24, 25, 96, and 115 of the House of 3
Representatives for the 136th General Assembly be amended to 4
read as follows: 5
Rule 13. (Appointment of committees and boards.) The 6
Speaker shall name all committees and subcommittees, and shall 7
appoint all members and chairs thereto. The Speaker shall 8
appoint members to a standing committee so that its membership 9
is proportional to the partisan composition of the House. The 10
chair and the vice-chair of the Finance Committee and the Rules 11
and Reference Committee shall not be included in making this 12
calculation. The Minority Leader, in a manner to be determined 13
by the minority caucus, may recommend for the Speaker's 14
consideration, minority party members for each committee. 15
Rule 22. (Supervision of employees; maintenance of parking 16
facilities.) (a) Subject to the Speaker's authority under Rule 17
14, and except for employees whose direction is delegated to the 18
Clerk under Rule 26, responsibility for seeing that employees of 19
the House satisfactorily perform their respective duties is 20
H. R. No. 25 As Adopted by the House
delegated to the Chief Administrative Officer and other 21
designated staff as provided by House resolution resolutions 22
adopted during the 136th General Assembly. 23
(b) The maintenance and condition of parking facilities 24
under the control of the House shall be under the direction and 25
control of the Chief Administrative Officer, subject to the 26
approval of the Speaker. 27
(c) The Speaker shall not eliminate parking privileges or 28
the office of a member without the member's consent and . 29
(d) The Speaker may not remove an employee assigned to a 30
member without prior notification to the member, unless 31
extenuating circumstances otherwise require. 32
Rule 24. (Legislative duties and responsibilities of the 33
Clerk.) (a) The Clerk is custodian of the bills, amendments, 34
resolutions, and other legislative documents that are in 35
possession of the House. The Clerk shall not permit a bill, 36
amendment, resolution, or other legislative document to be 37
removed from the Clerk's custody except in the course of the 38
regular business of the House and then only upon receiving a 39
receipt for the document that shows when and to whom the 40
document was released. The Clerk shall prescribe the form of the 41
receipt. A bill, amendment, resolution, or other legislative 42
document in the Clerk's custody is available for public 43
inspection. 44
(b) When a bill or resolution is filed for introduction, 45
the Clerk shall examine the bill or resolution to determine 46
whether on its face it appears to meet the constitutional and 47
procedural requirements for introduction, and shall call any 48
defects to the attention of the author. The Clerk may correct 49
the list of cosponsors if the Clerk receives notice of and 50
verifies a technical error. In fulfilling this duty, the Clerk 51
is not presumed to guarantee the bill meets the constitutional 52
H. R. No. 25 As Adopted by the House
or procedural requirements for introduction. 53
(c) The Clerk shall number bills and resolutions in the order of their filing, and shall keep a complete and accurate record of bills and resolutions that includes, for each bill or resolution, its number; its author; a brief description of its subject; the section or sections of law it seeks to amend, enact, or repeal, if any; notation of its reference to and report by a committee; and notation of its passage or adoption or rejection by the House. The record is open to public inspection.
(d) The Clerk shall provide to the chair of a committee to 63
which a bill or resolution is referred, the bill or resolution 64
together with all official documents and other attachments 65
pertaining thereto. 66
(e) The Clerk shall prepare and publish a Calendar that gives public notice of bills and resolutions that have been arranged on the Calendar for third consideration or adoption, bills and resolutions that have been reported by committees, and other matters descriptive of the current and future business of the House.
(f) The Clerk shall keep a complete and accurate Journal of the proceedings of the House, beginning it on the first day of the first regular session and ending it on the last day of the second regular session. The Clerk shall maintain a separate Journal for any special session, beginning it on the first day and ending it on the last day of the special session. The pages of the Journal shall be numbered serially. All amendments that are taken up, unless withdrawn or ruled out of order, shall be spread upon the Journal. For all amendments that are offered, the Journal shall include the number assigned to the amendment by the Legislative Service Commission.
(g) The Clerk shall superintend the engrossing, enrolling,
H. R. No. 25 Page 4 As Adopted by the House
and presentation of bills and joint resolutions and the 85
preparation and publication of other legislative documents. 86
(h) The Clerk shall attest all writs and subpoenas issued 87
by order of the House, the Journal, and the passage of bills and 88
the adoption of resolutions. These attestation duties are 89
ministerial. 90
Rule 25. (May call the House to order.) If the Speaker, Speaker Pro Tempore, Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore, Majority Floor Leader, and Assistant Majority Floor Leader are absent, at the hour to which the House shall have adjourned or taken recess, except in the case mentioned in Rule 12, the Clerk may call the House to order, and, if called to order, the House shall proceed to choose some member to act as presiding officer until either the Speaker, Speaker Pro Tempore, Assistant Speaker Pro Tempore, Majority Floor Leader, or the Assistant Majority Floor Leader shall be present. The House may not convene unless a member of the majority party is present.
Rule 96. (Amendments to titles.) (a) Amendments to the title of a House or Senate bill may be offered in committee or on third consideration and shall be decided without debate, provided that upon third consideration a motion to amend the title may be made by a sponsor; but no amendments shall change the subject dealt with in the original title. Amendments to the title of a House or Senate bill offered on third consideration may be made by electronic means when permitted by the Speaker or presiding officer. Prior to passage of a bill, a former Representative who no longer is a member of the General Assembly may present a writing to the Clerk requesting deletion of the former Representative's name from the title of the bill as sponsor or co-sponsor. The Speaker shall present the request to the House, and the Clerk shall spread the request upon the pages of the Journal. When the House is agreed, the Clerk shall make out the title accordingly, and certify to the passage of the
H. R. No. 25 As Adopted by the House
bill upon its carrier.
(b) Immediately after the House has voted to concur in Senate amendments to a bill or resolution, and immediately after the House has voted to accept a conference committee report, a Representative may remove the Representative's name from the bill or resolution by rising and stating this desire to the Speaker or presiding officer. The Clerk shall thereupon remove the Representative's name from the bill or resolution. Prior to the vote on concurrence in Senate amendments to a bill or resolution, and prior to the vote on a conference committee report, a former Representative who no longer is a member of the General Assembly may present a writing to the Clerk requesting deletion of the former Representative's name from the title of the bill or resolution as sponsor or co-sponsor. The Speaker shall present the request to the House, and the Clerk shall spread the request upon the pages of the Journal. When the House is agreed, the Clerk shall make out the title of the bill or resolution accordingly.
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(c) Amendments to the title of a resolution, other than one having a congratulatory, commendatory, or other similar purpose, may be offered on the floor and may be made by electronic means when permitted by the Speaker or presiding officer. No amendment to the title of a resolution shall change the subject dealt with in the original title.
Rule 115. (Parliamentary guide.) Mason's Manual of 142
Legislative Procedure (2020), as amplified or clarified in 143
Hughes' American Parliamentary Guide, 1931-1932, Revised New 144
Edition, shall govern in all cases not provided for in the 145
foregoing rules, or the Joint Rules of the Senate and House of 146
Representatives, if any. 147