THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: AN ...

of these committees. 142 In 1971, a former Senate Majority Leader summarized
the situation in terms that could apply fully as well today: “The Rules Committee
can do anything.” 143
The rules committees, and by extension the Speaker and Majority Leader, have
controlled the fate of legislation for at least a century. In 1906, for example, the
New York Times reported a failed attempt on the first day of the Assembly session
“by Democrats and some Republicans to take from the Committee on Rules its
plenary power over legislation in the last ten days of the session.” 144 In 1913,
Chester Lloyd Jones, a scholar of American legislative procedure, noted that the
ten days during which the rules committee had its extraordinary powers were in
fact extended by party leaders, who “set the day for adjournment earlier than
there was any possibility of adjourning,” thus lengthening the actual period of
Rules Committee control to up to a month. 145 By the 1940s, the rules committees
in both houses had consolidated “virtually a directive power over the process of
legislation,” particularly in the last weeks of the session. 146
■ THE LEGISLATIVE CALENDARS
The legislative chambers of most states, including New York, and the Congress
use a calendar system to organize their business and determine when and
whether a bill will be considered by the full chamber. 147 In general, bills may be
scheduled for floor debate using one of three methods: (1) by automatic calendar
(e.g., in numeric sequence, alphabetical order by committee name, or in the
order reported from committee); (2) by specific order of the presiding officer or
another individual leader; or (3) by the determination of a rules or management
committee. In New York, both chambers use an automatic calendar of sorts, but
allow the Speaker and Majority Leader to exercise control over the order of the
calendar in their respective chambers.
Although “relatively few individuals [are] involved in calendar decisions in most
state legislatures,” 148 New York’s system is unusual in placing complete control in
the hands of the Speaker and Majority Leader. As a formal matter, all bills must
proceed through three stages or “readings” prior to a floor vote. 149 In the Senate,
all bills reported by a standing committee (unless designated an “order of special
report”) are automatically placed on the “first report” calendar, moved to the
“second report” calendar after one legislative day, and then to the “order of third
reading” after another legislative day. 150 This schedule can be collapsed into a
single day upon unanimous consent of the Senators. If a bill reaches the third
reading, then the vote on its final passage “shall be taken immediately thereafter.”
151 But a bill does not reach a third reading unless and until the Senate
Majority Leader so allows.
In every other state, legislation may be removed from a calendar only by a majority
vote. 152 Under New York’s Senate rules, however, action on bills listed on the
Senate calendar may be suspended by requesting that a “star” be placed beside
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