Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 1–Senators Raggio and Titus
SENATE Concurrent RESOLUTION—Adopting the Joint Rules of the Senate and Assembly for the 17th Special Session of the Legislature.
Resolved by the Senate of the State of Nevada, the Assembly
Concurring, That the following Joint Rules of the Senate and Assembly
for the 17th Special Session of the Legislature are hereby adopted:
APPLICABILITY OF JOINT RULES
Rule No. 1. Generally.
The Joint Rules for the 17th Special Session of the Legislature are
applicable only during the 17th Special Session of the Legislature.
JOINT RULES COMMITTEE
Rule No. 2. Duties.
1. There is hereby created a Joint Rules Committee for the 17th
Special Session of the Legislature. The membership of the committee
consists of:
(a) Two members appointed by the majority floor leader of the Senate;
(b) One member appointed by the minority floor leader of the Senate;
(c) Two members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly; and
(d) One member appointed by the minority floor leader of the
Assembly.
2. The members of the Joint Rules Committee shall elect a chairman
and vice chairman from among their members. The chairman must be
elected from one house of the legislature and the vice chairman from the
other house.
3. Any member of the Legislature may request the approval of the
Joint Rules Committee for a request to draft a bill, resolution or
amendment during the 17th Special Session. Except as otherwise
provided in Joint Rule No. 3 and subsection 2 of Joint Rule No. 14, a
majority of the members of the Senate and a majority of the members of
the Assembly appointed to the Joint Rules Committee must approve any
request for the drafting of a bill, resolution or amendment during the
17th Special Session before it is submitted to the Legislative Counsel.
CONFERENCE COMMITTEES
Rule No. 3. Procedure Concerning.
In every case of an amendment of a bill, or joint or concurrent
resolution, agreed to in one House, dissented from in the other, and not
receded from by the one making the amendment, each House shall
appoint a committee to confer with a like committee to be appointed by
the other; and the committee so appointed shall meet publicly at a
convenient hour to be agreed upon by their respective chairmen and
announced publicly, and shall confer upon the differences between the
two Houses as indicated by the amendments made in one and rejected in
the other and report as early as convenient the result of their conference
to their respective Houses. The report shall be made available to all
members of both Houses. The whole subject matter embraced in the bill
or resolution shall be considered by the committee, and it may
recommend recession by either House, new amendments, new bills or
resolutions, or other changes as it sees fit. New bills or resolutions so
reported shall be treated as amendments unless the bills or resolutions
are composed entirely of original matter, in which case they shall receive
the treatment required in the respective Houses for original bills, or
resolutions, as the case may be.
The report of a conference committee may be adopted by acclamation,
and such action may be considered equivalent to the adoption of
amendments embodied therein. The report is not subject to amendment.
If either House refuses to adopt the report, or if the first conference
committee has so recommended, a second conference committee may be
appointed. No member who served on the first committee may be
appointed to the second.
There shall be but two conference committees on any bill or
resolution. A majority of the members of a conference committee from
each House must be members who voted for the passage of the bill or
resolution.
MESSAGES
Rule No. 4. Procedure Concerning.
Proclamations by the Governor convening the Legislature in extra
session shall, by direction of the presiding officer of each House, be read
immediately after the convening thereof, filed and entered in full in the
Journal of proceedings.
Whenever a message from the Governor is received, the Sergeant at
Arms will announce: “Mr. President, or Mr. Speaker, the Secretary of
the Governor is at the bar.” The secretary will, upon being recognized by
the presiding officer, announce: “Mr. President, or Mr. Speaker, a
message from His Excellency, the Governor of Nevada, to the
Honorable, the Senate or Assembly,” and hand same to the Sergeant at
Arms for delivery to the Secretary of the Senate or Chief Clerk of the
Assembly. The presiding officer will direct the biennial message of the
Governor to be received and read, and all special messages to be
received, read and entered in full in the Journal of proceedings.
Messages from the Senate to the Assembly shall be delivered by the
Secretary or Assistant Secretary, and messages from the Assembly to the
Senate shall be delivered by the Chief Clerk or Assistant Chief Clerk.
NOTICE OF FINAL ACTION
Rule No. 5. Communications.
Each House shall communicate its final action on any bill or
resolution, or matter in which the other may be interested, by written
notice. Each such notice sent by the Senate must be signed by the
Secretary of the Senate, or a person designated by the Secretary. Each
such notice sent by the Assembly must be signed by the Chief Clerk of the
Assembly, or a person designated by the Chief Clerk.
BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Rule No. 6. Signature.
Each enrolled bill or joint resolution shall be presented to the
presiding officers of both Houses for signature. They shall, after an
announcement of their intention to do so is made in open session, sign
the bill or joint resolution and their signatures shall be followed by those
of the Secretary of the Senate and Chief Clerk of the Assembly.
Rule No. 7. Joint Sponsorship.
1. A bill or resolution introduced by one or more legislators elected
to one House may, at the direction of the legislator who brings the bill or
resolution forward for introduction, set forth the names of one or more
legislators who are members elected to the other House and who wish to
be primary joint sponsors or non-primary joint sponsors of the bill or
resolution. The number of primary joint sponsors must not exceed five
per bill or resolution. The names of each primary joint sponsor and non
-primary joint sponsor must be set forth on the face of the bill or
resolution in the following order immediately below the date on which
the bill or resolution is introduced:
(a) The name of each primary joint sponsor, in the order indicated on
the colored back of the introductory copy of the bill or resolution; and
(b) The name of each non-primary joint sponsor, in alphabetical
order.
2. The Legislative Counsel shall not cause to be printed the name of
a legislator as a primary joint sponsor or non-primary joint sponsor on
the face of a bill or resolution unless the legislator has signed the
colored back of the introductory copy of the bill or resolution that was
submitted to the front desk of the House of origin or the statement
required by subsection 4.
3. Upon introduction, any bill or resolution that sets forth the names
of primary joint sponsors or non-primary joint sponsors, or both, must
be numbered in the same numerical sequence as other bills and
resolutions of the same House of origin are numbered.
4. Once a bill or resolution has been introduced, a primary joint
sponsor or non-primary joint sponsor may only be added or removed by
amendment of the bill or resolution. An amendment which proposes to
add or remove a primary joint sponsor or non-primary joint sponsor
must not be considered by the House of origin of the amendment unless
a statement requesting the addition or removal is attached to the copy of
the amendment submitted to the front desk of the House of origin of the
amendment. If the amendment proposes to add or remove a legislator as
a primary joint sponsor or non-primary joint sponsor, the statement
must be signed by that legislator. A copy of the statement must be
transmitted to the Legislative Counsel if the amendment is adopted.
5. An amendment that proposes to add or remove a primary joint
sponsor or non-primary joint sponsor may include additional proposals
to change the substantive provisions of the bill or resolution or may be
limited only to the proposal to add or remove a primary joint sponsor or
non-primary joint sponsor.
PRINTING
Rule No. 8. Ordering and Distribution.
Each House may order the printing of bills introduced, reports of its
own committees, and other matter pertaining to that House only; but no
other printing may be ordered except by a concurrent resolution passed
by both Houses. Each Senator is entitled to the free distribution of four
copies of each bill introduced in each House, and each Assemblyman to
such a distribution of two copies. Additional copies of such bills may be
distributed at a charge to the person to whom they are addressed. The
amount charged for distribution of the additional copies must be
determined by the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau to
approximate the cost of handling and postage for the entire session.
RESOLUTIONS
Rule No. 9. Types, Usage and Approval.
1. A joint resolution must be used to:
(a) Propose an amendment to the Nevada constitution.
(b) Ratify a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution.
(c) Address the President of the United States, Congress, either House
or any committee or member of Congress, any department or agency of
the Federal Government, or any other state of the Union.
2. A concurrent resolution must be used to:
(a) Amend these joint rules.
(b) Request the return from the Governor of an enrolled bill for
further consideration.
(c) Resolve that the return of a bill from one House to the other House
is necessary and appropriate.
(d) Express facts, principles, opinion and purposes of the Senate and
Assembly.
(e) Establish a joint committee of the two Houses.
(f) Direct the Legislative Commission to conduct an interim study.
3. A concurrent resolution or a resolution of one House may be used
to:
(a) Memorialize a former member of the Legislature or other notable
or distinguished person upon his death.
(b) Congratulate or commend any person or organization for a
significant and meritorious accomplishment.
VETOES
Rule No. 10. Special Order.
Bills which have passed a previous Legislature, and which are
transmitted to the Legislature next sitting, accompanied by a message or
statement of the Governor’s disapproval, or veto of the same, shall
become the subject of a special order; and when the special order for
their consideration is reached and called, the said message or statement
shall be read, together with the bill or bills so disposed or vetoed; and the
message and bill shall be read in the Senate by the Secretary of the
Senate and in the Assembly by the Chief Clerk of the Assembly, without
interruption, consecutively, one following the other, and not upon
separate occasions; and no such bill or message shall be referred to any
committee, or otherwise acted upon, save as provided by law and
custom; that is to say, that immediately following such reading the only
question (except as hereinafter stated) which shall be put by the Chair is,
“Shall the bill pass, notwithstanding the objections of the Governor?” It
shall not be in order, at any time, to vote upon such vetoed bill without
the same shall have first been read, from the first word of its title to and
including the last word of its final section; and no motion shall be
entertained after the Chair has stated the question save a motion for
“The previous question,” but the merits of the bill itself may be debated.
ADJOURNMENT
Rule No. 11. Limitations and Calculation of Duration.
1. In calculating the permissible duration of an adjournment for 3
days or less, the day of adjournment must not be counted but the day of
the next meeting must be counted, and Sunday must not be counted.
2. The Legislature may adjourn for more than 3 days by motion
based on mutual consent of the houses or by concurrent resolution. One
or more such adjournments, may be taken to permit the Joint Rules
Committee or the Legislative Counsel Bureau to prepare the matters
respectively entrusted to them for the consideration of the Legislature as
a whole.
EXPENDITURES FROM THE LEGISLATIVE FUND
Rule No. 12. Manner of authorization.
Except for routine salary, travel, equipment and operating expenses,
no expenditures shall be made from the Legislative Fund without the
authority of a Concurrent Resolution regularly adopted by the Senate
and Assembly.
RECORDS OF COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS
Rule No. 13. Duties of Secretary of Committee and Director.
1. The Joint Rules Committee and the Committee of the Whole of the
Legislature shall cause a record to be made of the proceedings of its
meetings.
2. The secretary of the Joint Rules Committee and secretary of the
Committee of the Whole shall:
(a) Label each record with the date, time and place of the meeting and
also indicate on the label the numerical sequence in which the record
was made;
(b) Keep the records in chronological order; and
(c) Deposit the records immediately following the final adjournment
of the special session of the Legislature with the Director of the
Legislative Counsel Bureau.
3. The Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau shall:
(a) Index the records;
(b) Make the records available for accessing by any person during
office hours under such reasonable conditions as he may deem
necessary;
(c) Maintain a log as a public record containing the date, time, name
and address of any person accessing any of the records and identifying
the records accessed; and
(d) Retain the records for two bienniums and at the end of that period
keep some form or copy of the record in any manner he deems
reasonable to ensure access to the record in the foreseeable future.
REDISTRICTING
Rule No. 14. Responsibility for Measures.
1. Measures setting forth specific boundaries of the state legislative
districts, congressional districts, districts for the Board of Regents or
districts for the State Board of Education must be requested and
introduced by the Joint Rules Committee.
2. Notwithstanding this Rule and Joint Rule No. 2, if the Majority
Leader of the Senate and the Speaker of the Assembly jointly inform the
Legislative Counsel that the Joint Rules Committee is unable to agree
upon a request for the drafting of measures setting forth specific
boundaries of the state legislative districts, congressional districts,
districts for the Board of Regents or districts for the State Board of
Education, the Majority Leader of the Senate and the Speaker of the
Assembly may each request one bill draft setting forth the specific
boundaries of the state legislative districts and the congressional districts
and one bill draft setting forth the specific boundaries of the districts for
the Board of Regents and the districts of the State Board of Education.
Rule No. 14.1. Equality of Representation.
1. In order to meet constitutional guidelines for deviations in
population among state legislative districts, no plan, or proposed
amendment thereto, will be considered that results in an overall range of
deviation of 10 percent or more, or a relative deviation in excess of plus
or minus 5 percent from the ideal district population.
2. The population of each of the Nevada congressional districts must
be as nearly equal as is practicable. Any population deviation among the
congressional districts from the ideal district population must be
necessary to achieve some legitimate state objective. Legitimate state
objectives, as judicially determined, include making districts compact,
respecting municipal boundaries, preserving the cores of prior districts
and avoiding contests between incumbent representatives. In order to
meet constitutional guidelines for congressional districts, no plan, or
proposed amendment thereto, will be considered that results in an
overall
range of deviation in excess of 1 percent, or a relative deviation in excess
of plus or minus one-half percent from the ideal district population.
3. Equality of population in accordance with the standard for state
legislative districts is the goal of redistricting for the State Board of
Education and the Board of Regents.
Rule No. 14.2. Population Database.
1. The total state population, and the population of defined subunits
thereof, as determined by the 2000 federal decennial census must be the
exclusive database for redistricting by the Nevada Legislature.
2. Such 2000 census data as validated by the staff of the Legislative
Counsel Bureau must be the exclusive database used for the evaluation
of proposed redistricting plans for population equality.
Rule No. 14.3. Districts.
All district boundaries created by a redistricting plan must follow the
census geography.
Rule No. 14.4. Compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
1. The legislature will not consider a plan that discernibly violates
section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, codified as 42 U.S.C. § 1973(a),
which prohibits any state from imposing any voting qualification,
standard, practice or procedure that results in the denial or abridgment
of any United States citizen’s right to vote on account of race, color or
status as a member of a language minority group.
2. The legislature will not consider a plan that is discernibly racially
gerrymandered. Racial gerrymandering exists when:
(a) Race is the dominant and controlling rationale in drawing district
lines; and
(b) The Legislature subordinates traditional districting principles to
racial considerations.
For the purposes of this subsection, “traditional districting principles”
are those traditional redistricting principles that have been judicially
recognized and include compactness of districts, contiguity of districts,
preservation of political subdivisions, preservation of communities of
interest, preservation of cores of prior districts, protection of incumbents
and compliance with section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §
1973 (2).
3. For the purpose of analyzing the 2000 census data, the legislature
shall adopt the method set forth in the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) Bulletin No. 00-02 for aggregating and allocating the 63
categories of race data that will be reported to Nevada by the United
States Census Bureau as part of the federal decennial census.
Rule No. 14.5. Public Participation.
1. The Legislative Counsel Bureau shall make available to the public
copies of the validated 2000 census database for the cost of reproducing
the database.
2. The legislature shall make available for review by the public,
copies of all maps prepared at the direction of the legislature.
LIMITATIONS ON REQUESTS FOR
DRAFTING OF LEGISLATIVE MEASURES
Rule No. 15. Limitations on Drafting and Requirements for
Introduction; Duplicative Measures; Indication of Requester on
Committee Introductions.
The Legislative Counsel shall honor only requests for the drafting of a
bill, resolution or amendment that has been approved by a majority of
the members of the Senate and a majority of the members of the
Assembly appointed to the Joint Rules Committee.
Rule No. 15.1. Amendments.
1. The Legislative Counsel shall not honor a request for the drafting
of an amendment to a bill or resolution if the subject matter of the
amendment is independent of, and not specifically related and properly
connected to, the subject that is expressed in the title of the bill or
resolution.
2. For the purposes of this Rule, an amendment is independent of,
and not specifically related and properly connected to, the subject that is
expressed in the title of a bill or resolution if the amendment relates only
to the general, single subject that is expressed in that Title and not to the
specific whole subject matter embraced in the bill or resolution.
CONTINUATION OF LEADERSHIP OF THE SENATE
AND ASSEMBLY DURING THE INTERIM
BETWEEN SESSIONS
Rule No. 16. Tenure and Performance of Statutory Duties.
1. Except as otherwise provided in subsections 2 and 3, the tenure of
the President pro Tem, Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the
Senate and the Speaker, Speaker pro Tem, Majority Floor Leader and
Minority Floor Leader of the Assembly extends during the interim
between regular sessions of the Legislature.
2. The Senators designated to be the President pro Tem, Majority
Leader and Minority Leader for the next succeeding regular session
shall perform any statutory duty required in the period between the time
of their designation after the general election and the organization of
the next succeeding regular session of the Legislature if the Senator
formerly holding the respective position is no longer a Legislator.
3. The Assemblymen designated to be the Speaker, Speaker pro Tem,
Majority Floor Leader and Minority Floor Leader for the next
succeeding regular session shall perform any statutory duty required in
the period between the time of their designation after the general
election and the organization of the next succeeding regular session.
POLICY AND PROCEDURES REGARDING
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Rule No. 17. Maintenance of Working Environment; Procedure for
Filing, Investigating and Taking Remedial Action on Complaints.
1. The Legislature hereby declares its intention to maintain a
working environment which is free from sexual harassment. This policy
applies to all legislators and lobbyists. Each member and lobbyist is
responsible to conduct himself or herself in a manner which will ensure
that others are able to work in such an environment.
2. In accordance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, for the
purposes of this rule, “sexual harassment” means unwelcome sexual
advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical
conduct of a sexual nature when:
(a) Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a
term or condition of a person’s employment;
(b) Submission to or rejection of such conduct by a person is used as
the basis for employment decisions affecting the person; or
(c) Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably
interfering with a person’s work performance or creating an
intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.
3. Each person subject to these rules must exercise his own good
judgment to avoid engaging in conduct that may be perceived by others
as sexual harassment. The following noninclusive list provides
illustrations of conduct that the Legislature deems to be inappropriate:
(a) Verbal conduct such as epithets, derogatory comments, slurs or
unwanted sexual advances, invitations or comments;
(b) Visual conduct such as derogatory posters, photography, cartoons,
drawings or gestures;
(c) Physical conduct such as unwanted touching, blocking normal
movement or interfering with the work directed at a person because of
his sex;
(d) Threats and demands to submit to sexual requests to keep a
person’s job or avoid some other loss, and offers of employment benefits
in return for sexual favors; and
(e) Retaliation for opposing, reporting or threatening to report sexual
harassment, or for participating in an investigation, proceeding or
hearing conducted by the Legislature or the Nevada Equal Rights
Commission or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
when submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a
term or condition of a person’s employment or submission to or
rejection of such conduct by a person is used as the basis for
employment decisions affecting the person or such conduct has the
purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with a person’s work
performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working
environment.
4. A person may have a claim of sexual harassment even if he has
not lost a job or some other economic benefit. Conduct that impairs a
person’s ability to work or his emotional well-being at work constitutes
sexual harassment.
5. If a legislator believes he is being sexually harassed on the job, he
may file a written complaint with:
(a) The Speaker of the Assembly;
(b) The Majority Leader of the Senate; or
(c) The Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, if the complaint
involves the conduct of the Speaker of the Assembly or the Majority
Leader of the Senate.
The complaint must include the details of the incident or incidents, the
names of the persons involved and the names of any witnesses.
6. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, the Speaker of the
Assembly or the Majority Leader of the Senate, as appropriate, shall
refer a complaint received pursuant to subsection 5 to a committee
consisting of legislators of the same House. A complaint against a
lobbyist may be referred to a committee in either House.
7. If the complaint involves the conduct of the Speaker of the
Assembly or the Majority Leader of the Senate, the Director of the
Legislative Counsel Bureau shall refer the complaint to the Joint Rules
Committee. If the Speaker of the Assembly or the Majority Leader of the
Senate is a member of this committee, the Speaker or the Majority
Leader, as the case may be, shall not participate in the investigation and
resolution of the complaint.
8. The committee to which the complaint is referred shall
immediately conduct a confidential and discreet investigation of the
complaint. As a part of the investigation, the Committee shall notify the
accused of the allegations. The committee shall facilitate a meeting
between the complainant and the accused to allow a discussion of the
matter, if both agree. If the parties do not agree to such a meeting, the
committee shall request statements regarding the complaint from each
of the parties. Either party may request a hearing before the committee.
The committee shall make its determination and inform the complainant
and the accused of its determination as soon as practicable after it has
completed its investigation.
9. If the investigation reveals that sexual harassment has occurred,
the Legislature will take appropriate disciplinary or remedial action, or
both. The committee shall inform the complainant of any action taken.
The Legislature will also take any action necessary to deter any future
harassment.
10. The Legislature will not retaliate against a person who files a
complaint and will not knowingly permit any retaliation by the person’s
supervisors or coworkers.
11. The Legislature encourages a person to report any incident of
sexual harassment immediately so that the complaint can be quickly and
fairly resolved.
12. Action taken by a complainant pursuant to this rule does not
prohibit the complainant from also filing a complaint of sexual
harassment with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission or the federal
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
13. All legislators and lobbyists are responsible for adhering to the
provisions of this policy. The prohibitions against engaging in sexual
harassment and the protections against becoming a victim of sexual
harassment set forth in this policy apply to employees, legislators,
lobbyists, vendors, contractors, customers and visitors to the Legislature.
14. This policy does not create any enforceable legal rights in any
person.
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