2017 House Committee of Conference Procedures

The Chairmen of the policy committees will receive bills amended by the Senate and should check with their committees to determine whether to recommend that the House concur, non-concur, or non-concur and request a Committee of Conference.

When a committee requests that the bill be sent to a Committee of Conference, the Chairman will recommend members for appointment. If the bill has gone to more than one committee, the members may come from the different committees as determined by the Speaker. Chairmen should recommend only those members from their policy committees. The Speaker shall make the final decision of Conference committee members, and the committee choices are generally limited to those who support the House position.

The first named House member shall serve as Chairman of the House Conferees. For House bills in Committee of Conference, the House Conferee Chairman shall set the time and place of the first meeting with the Clerk’s Office and shall chair each meeting of the Committee of Conference. The first meeting shall be posted in the Clerk’s Office and outside the committee room at least 24 hours in advance. If a Committee of Conference meeting recesses, the reconvening time shall be posted in the Clerk’s office and outside the committee room with at least 12 hours’ notice. [House Rule 49 (c)].

The House and Senate Conferees on a bill shall meet jointly but vote separately while in conference. The Committee of Conference may not change the title of the bill.

The Committee also may not add amendments that are not germane to the subject matter of the bill or contain subject matter that has been indefinitely postponed. A non-germane amendment is one in which the subject matter is not contained in either the House or Senate version of the bill. [House Rule 49 (g)]

The sponsor of a bill that is in Committee of Conference shall, upon request, be provided an opportunity to be heard.

A unanimous vote of both the House and Senate Conferees, voting separately, is necessary for an agreed upon report to be sent to the House and Senate.

Reports of all Committees of Conference must be filed with the Office of Legislative Services by the June 15, 2017 deadline adopted by the House. All Committee of Conference members must sign their reports in the Office of Legislative Services by June 15, 2017 by 4:00 p.m.

The first-named House member on all bills in Committee of Conference must prepare an analysis of the report. This “blurb” should contain a complete explanation of all changes made to the bill since it was passed by the House and must be submitted to the House Clerk for printing in the calendar.

Representative Dick Hinch will be the liaison between the Speaker’s Office, Clerk’s Office and the Committee of Conference Chairs.

All Committee of Conference reports shall be distributed in seat pockets to be acted on some subsequent day. [House Rule 49 (f)].

*See House Rule 49 for more information