THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: AN ...

66 THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: AN EVALUATION AND BLUEPRINT FOR REFORM
Senate, South Dakota House and Senate, and Utah House and Senate. No data were available for
the California Senate, Idaho House, North Carolina Senate, and Rhode Island House and Senate.
102 The National Conference of State Legislatures found that 47 of 91 chambers impose a
deadline. NCSL, INSIDE THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS, supra note 33, at 3-7 to 3-9 tbl.96-3.2. Wayne
L. Francis also estimates that half of the chambers impose deadlines. Wayne L. Francis, Floor
Procedures and Conference Committees in State Legislatures, in ENCYCLOPEDIA
LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM 721, supra note 31, at 723.
103 ROSENTHAL, supra note 80, at 142. See also N.Y. ASSEMB. R.IV,§ 5.
OF THE AMERICAN
104 For the Senate, see Sen. Liz Krueger, Waking Up the State Senate: 34 Proposals for Reinvigorating
Democracy in Albany through Rules Reform (Oct. 2002) (on file with the Brennan Center). In the
Assembly, committee members may file a “Form 99” to request that the chair have the committee
act on the bill within the legislative session by placing it on the agenda and either reporting or holding
it. In practice, however, this tool is ineffective for several reasons. First, in practice, the timeframe
in which a committee chair must act frequently extends over two years. Second, in practice,
if the committee chair or Speaker’s committee staff do not support the bill, the chair simply asks
the sponsor to remove the “99” request or else the bill will be held by the committee rather than
reported to the floor. This threat effectively eviscerates the members’ power to force a committee
to report a bill. Telephone Interview with E, Chief of Staff to N.Y. State Assembly Member F, Oct.
10, 2003; Telephone Interview with B, Legislative Director to N.Y. State Assemblyman C (Oct. 10,
2003); E-mail Correspondence with B, Legislative Director to N.Y. State Assembly Member C (Feb.
12, 2004) (on file with the Brennan Center).
105 RULES ANALYSIS DISCHARGE RULES, supra note 94; see also NAT’L CONFERENCE OF STATE
LEGISLATURES, EXAMPLES OF CHAMBER RULES ON THE RECALL, WITHDRAWAL OR DISCHARGE OF
A BILL FROM COMMITTEE (n.d.) (on file with the Brennan Center); NAT’L CONFERENCE OF STATE
LEGISLATURES,DISCHARGE,WITHDRAWAL OR RECALL OF A BILL FROM COMMITTEE (Oct. 2002) (on
file with the Brennan Center) (containing responses to an electronic discussion group questionnaire
covering procedures in 67 chambers).
106 ROSENTHAL, supra note 80, at 142.
107 N.Y. ASSEMB. R. IV, § 7(b); N.Y. SEN. R. XI, § 2(b).
108 These chambers include the Hawaii Senate and House, the Idaho Senate, the Missouri
Senate and House, and the South Dakota Senate and House. RULES ANALYSIS DISCHARGE RULES,
supra note 94.
109 TIEFER, supra note 33, at 314-15. The rule is U.S. H. R. XV(2).
110 N.Y. ASSEMB. R. IV, § 7(c)(2); N.Y. SEN. R. VI, § 2(b).
111 N.Y. ASSEMB. R. IV, § 7(b); N.Y. SEN. R. XI, § 2(b); RULES ANALYSIS DISCHARGE RULES,
supra note 94.
112 N.Y. ASSEMB. R. IV, § 7(b); N.Y. SEN. R. XI, § 2(b).
113 RULES ANALYSIS DISCHARGE RULES, supra note 94.
114 N.Y. ASSEMB. R. IV, § 7(b); N.Y. SEN. R. XI, § 2(e).
115 In two chambers, there is a blackout at the end of the session: the Nevada Senate (2 days)
and the Pennsylvania House (6 days). In the Utah House, discharge requires a 2/3 rather than
majority vote in the last three days. In the Arizona Senate, the President does not have to act on
petitions to discharge in the last 7 legislative days, though he or she may choose to do so. In the
Mississippi House, deadlines apply only to discharge motions to withdraw revenue or appropriation
bills from the House Appropriations or Ways and Means Committees. Those deadlines are: for
House appropriation or revenue bills, the 50th day of a 90-day session and the 85th day of a 125day
session; and, for Senate appropriation or revenue bills referred to the House, the 70th day of a