ASSEMBLY CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 18

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblyman KAVANAUGH

A Concurrent Resolution establishing joint rules for the consideration of initiative petitions submitted to the Legislature.

    Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (the Senate concurring):

    The Joint Rules of the Senate and General Assembly are amended by the addition of the following rules to be appropriately numbered:

    1. a. Any member of the Legislature who served as the legislative sponsor of an initiative petition to amend the Constitution, to enact a law or to repeal an existing law or any section or part thereof, pursuant to the provisions of the "Citizens' Initiative Act," P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as Assembly, No. of ), shall have the prerogative of introducing the bill or resolution which embodies that initiative petition, except that if the legislative sponsor has not introduced such a bill or resolution by the end of the second meeting of the house of which the sponsor is a member after certification of the bill or resolution by the Secretary of State pursuant to section 15 of that act, any other member of the Legislature may introduce the bill or resolution at the next succeeding meeting of the Legislature or any meeting thereafter. The bill or resolution shall be introduced in the form prepared by the Office of Legislative Services, pursuant to subsection f. of section 5 of that same act. Each such bill and resolution shall be numbered pursuant to the rules of the house in which it is introduced.

    b. No member of the Legislature shall introduce in the house of which he is a member more than a total of four bills or resolutions submitted to the Legislature pursuant to the "Citizens' Initiative Act" during any biennial session of the Legislature.

    2. a. Each bill and resolution introduced in the Legislature pursuant to subsection a. of section 1 of these joint rules shall, after introduction and first reading, be referred to the standing reference committee with the greatest expertise in the subject matter contained in the bill or resolution.

    b. Within two weeks after the bill or resolution has been referred to committee, the chairman thereof shall schedule no fewer than three public hearings on the bill or resolution. One of the public hearings shall occur during regular business hours in the city of Trenton. The other hearings shall begin no earlier than 5 p.m., with one occurring at a central location in the northern part of the State and one occurring a central location in the southern part of the State. The time and location of additional hearings shall be determined by the chairman, if the chairman deems such hearings to be in the public interest or if so determined by a majority vote of the members of the committee. The provisions of the "Open Public Meetings Act," P.L.1975, c.231 (C.10:4-6 et seq.) shall apply to each hearing. The chairman shall make certain that each person who attends a hearing and wishes to testify is granted an opportunity to do so.

    All of the hearings provided for by this subsection shall occur within six weeks after the bill or resolution has been referred to the committee.

    c. At the conclusion of the last scheduled hearing of the committee on the bill or resolution or at a meeting to be held no later than one week after the last scheduled hearing, the committee shall determine by majority vote whether to release the bill "Favorably" or "Without Recommendation." No other motion to release or vote to release the bill or resolution shall be made or taken. No motions to amend the bill or resolution or to adopt a committee substitute bill or resolution or to change the bill or resolution in any way or otherwise impede its release from committee shall be permitted. Upon the release of a resolution to amend the constitution from the committee, all constitutional requirements necessary to place the amendment on the general election ballot shall be met subsequently in a timely fashion.

    3. a. Within one month after release of each resolution which proposes a constitutional amendment and each bill which proposes a law or the repeal of a law from the committee to which it was referred, the bill or resolution shall be posted by the house for third reading and final passage. No motions to move the bill or resolution back to second reading for purposes of amendment or to adopt a house substitute bill or resolution therefor or to change the bill or resolution in any way shall be permitted, except as provided by section 5 of these joint rules.

    b. Each such bill or resolution which receives a majority of the vote in its favor shall be declared passed and shall be referred to the other house of the Legislature. Each such bill or resolution which receives less than a majority of the vote in its favor while on third reading shall be declared to have failed and shall not be subject to any further action

by that house for the remainder of the biennial session of the Legislature.

    4. a. Each bill and resolution which is declared passed in one house of the Legislature shall be referred to the standing reference committee of the other house with the greatest expertise in the subject matter contained in the bill or resolution.

    b. Within two weeks after the bill or resolution has been referred to committee, the chairman thereof shall schedule no fewer than two public hearings on the bill or resolution. One of the public hearings shall occur during regular business hours in the city of Trenton and the other shall begin no earlier than 5 p.m. at a central location in the central part of the State outside of the county of Mercer. Consideration of the bill or resolution shall be in accordance with the procedures established for such consideration in sections 2 and 3 of these joint rules.

    5. Any bill or resolution which has been declared passed in one house of the Legislature and is on third reading in the other house may be substituted for a bill or resolution introduced in that house which is also on third reading therein, provided that: 1) the two bills or resolutions to be merged are identical; 2) the motion to substitute is made by the sponsor of the bill or resolution to be substituted for; and 3) the motion receives the concurrence of a majority of the members of the house.

    6. Each resolution which is declared passed in both houses of the Legislature shall not be subject to further action, except in the case of a resolution to amend the constitution.

    Each bill which is declared passed in both houses of the Legislature shall be sent to the Governor for approval or veto. Each bill that receives an absolute or a conditional veto shall be deemed to have failed and shall not be subject to any further action for the remainder of the biennial session of the Legislature, except that nothing in these joint rules shall prohibit the Legislature from overriding an absolute veto by the Governor.

    7. Nothing in these joint rules shall preclude a member of the Legislature from introducing into one biennial session of the Legislature the same or a modified version of a bill or resolution which failed during the previous biennial session of the Legislature.

    8. This concurrent resolution shall expire upon the enactment of a substantialy similar constitutional amendment.

STATEMENT

    This joint resolution establishes joint rules for the consideration of initiative petitions submitted to the Legislature.

    It provides that any member of the Legislature who served as the legislative sponsor of the initiative petition has the prerogative of introducing the bill or resolution which embodies the proposed constitutional amendment, law or repeal of a law that has been submitted to the Legislature pursuant to the provisions of the "Citizens' Initiative Act," except that if the legislative sponsor does not introduce such legislation by the end of the second meeting of the house of which the sponsor is a member after certification of the bill or resolution by the Secretary of State, any other member of the Legislature may introduce that bill or resolution. No member shall introduce more than a total of four such bills or resolutions during any biennial session of the Legislature.

    Each bill or resolution introduced would be referred to a standing reference committee and the committee would hold no fewer than three public hearings on the legislation: one in Trenton during regular business hours and one in the northern part of the State and one in the southern part of the State beginning no earlier than 5 p.m. At the conclusion of the last hearing, to be held no later than six weeks after introduction of the bill or resolution, or at a meeting to be held no later than one week after the last hearing, the members would vote only on whether to release the bill "Favorably" or "Without Recommendation" but could not amend it in any way. Within one month of the release, the bill would go to the full house for a vote. If defeated, no further action could be taken on it for the remainder of the biennial session; if passed, it would be referred to the other house for assignment to a committee, two public hearings (one in Trenton and one in the central part of the State outside of Mercer county beginning no earlier than 5 p.m.), automatic release and consideration by the full house within one month of release from committee.

    If a bill is declared passed in both houses of the Legislature, it goes to the Governor for approval or veto. Any bill which receives an absolute or a conditional veto shall be deemed to have failed and shall not be subject any further action for the remainder of the biennial session of the Legislature, except that nothing in the joint rules shall prohibit the Legislature from overriding an absolute veto by the Governor.

Establishes joint rules for consideration of initiative petitions submitted to the Legislature.