Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 1–Assemblymen
Perkins, Buckley and Hettrick

 

Joint Sponsors: Senators Raggio and Titus

 

FILE NUMBER..........

 

Assembly Concurrent RESOLUTION—Adopting the Joint Rules of the Senate and Assembly for the 19th Special Session of the Legislature.

 

    Resolved by the Assembly of the State of Nevada, the

Senate Concurring, That the following Joint Rules of the Senate

and Assembly for the 19th Special Session of the Legislature are

hereby adopted:

 

APPLICABILITY OF JOINT RULES

 

Rule No. 1.  Generally.

    The Joint Rules for the 19th Special Session of the Legislature

are applicable only during the 19th Special Session of the

Legislature.

 

CONFERENCE COMMITTEES

 

Rule No. 2.  Procedure Concerning.

    1.  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.

    2.  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.

    3.  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. 3.  Procedure Concerning.

    1.  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.

    2.  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 any message from the Governor to be

received, read and entered in full in the Journal of proceedings.

    3.  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. 4.  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. 5.  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. 6.  Joint Sponsorship.

    1.  A bill or resolution introduced by a committee of the

Senate or Assembly may, at the direction of the chairman of the

committee, set forth the name of a committee of the other House

as a joint sponsor, if a majority of all members appointed to the

committee of the other House votes in favor of becoming a joint

sponsor of the bill or resolution. The name of the committee joint

sponsor must be set forth on the face of the bill or resolution

immediately below the date on which the bill or resolution is

introduced.

    2.  The Legislative Counsel shall not cause to be printed the

name of a committee as a joint sponsor on the face of a bill or

resolution unless the chairman of the committee has signed his

name next to the name of the committee on 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 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 nonprimary 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 sponsormust 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 committee as a primary joint sponsor, the statement

must be signed by the chairman of the committee. 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 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.

 

PRINTING

 

Rule No. 7.  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. 8.  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. 9.  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. 10.  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 a 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. 11.  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. 12.  Duties of Secretary of Committees and Director.

    1.  Each committee shall cause a record to be made of the

proceedings of its meetings.

    2.  The secretary of a committee 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.

 

LIMITATIONS ON REQUESTS FOR

DRAFTING OF LEGISLATIVE MEASURES

 

Rule No. 13.  Germaneness Required for 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. 14.  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. 15.  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

Committee on Elections, Procedures and Ethics of the Assembly

or the Committee of the Whole of the Senate, as appropriate. If the

Speaker of the Assembly or the Majority Leader of the Senate is a

member of one of these committees, 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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