Conference committees: Good news for education, job creation

Finally, President Jack Kibbie gets his wish: the Iowa House has agreed to conference committees to settle differences between the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate.

In JUNE of 2011, agreements were hammered out only after legislators met in conference committees.  For example, compromises were found on four major budget bills just 36 hours after they were sent to conference committee.

In 2012, Senate Democrats hope that a public comparison of the House and Senate differences will again quickly result in agreements that will benefit educational opportunity and support job creation efforts.

Below:

• Senate Conference Committee members
• Legislative Conference Committee Rules

Conference Committee members

SF 2313  Admin & Reg budget

• SENATE: Jochum; Danielson; Bowman; Bartz; Ernst.
• HOUSE: Watts; Iverson; Smith; Kelley; Hunter.

SF 2321  Education budget

• SENATE: Schoenjahn; Quirmbach; Horn; Hamerlinck; McKinley.
• HOUSE: Dolecheck; Jorgenson; Cownie; Winkler; Steckman.

SF 2316 RIIF

• SENATE: McCoy; Beall; Dvorsky; Kapucian; Anderson
• HOUSE: Huseman; Chambers; Hein; Cohoon; Quirk.

HF 2338  Judicial

• SENATE: Hogg; Hancock; Fraise; Kettering; Smith
• HOUSE: Representatives Worthan, Horbach, Arnold, T. Taylor, Wolfe

HF 2335  Justice

• SENATE: Hancock, Hogg, Fraise, Seymour, Whitver.
• HOUSE: Representatives Worthan, Horbach, Arnold, T. Taylor, Wolfe

HF 2336 Ag& NR

• SENATE: Black; Dearden; Wilhelm; Houser; Greiner.
• HOUSE: Representatives Drake, Paustian, Alons, Muhlbauer, Lykam

HF 2337 Economic Devolopment

• SENATE: Dotzler; Seng; Mathis; Dix; Bertrand.
• HOUSE: Representatives Schultz, J. Taylor, Baltimore, Hall, Jacoby

Legislative Conference Committee Rules

Excerpted below is Joint Rule #13 detailing the conference committee process:

1. Within one legislative day after either house insists upon an amendment to a bill, the presiding officer of the house, after consultation with the majority leader, shall appoint three majority party members and, after consultation with the minority leader, shall appoint two minority party members to a conference committee.  The majority leader of the senate, after consultation with the president, shall appoint three majority party members and, after consultation with and approval by the minority leader, shall appoint two minority party members to a conference committee.  The papers shall remain with the house that originated the bill.

2.  The conference committee shall meet before the end of the next legislative day after their appointment, shall select a chair and shall discuss the controversy.

3.  The authority of the first conference committee shall cover only issues related to provisions of the bill and amendments to the bill which were adopted by either the senate or the house of representatives and on which the senate and house of representatives differed.  If a conference committee report is not acted upon because such action would violate this subsection of this rule, the inaction on the report shall constitute refusal to adopt the conference committee report and shall have the same effect as if the conference committee had disagreed.

4.  An agreement on recommendations must be approved by a majority of the committee members from each house.  The committee shall submit two originals of the report signed by a majority of the committee members of each house with one signed original and three copies to be submitted to each house.  The report shall first be acted upon in the house originating the bill.  Such action, including all papers, shall be immediately referred by the secretary of the senate or the chief clerk of the house of representatives to the other house.

5.  The report of agreement is debatable, but cannot be amended.  If the report contains recommended amendments to the bill, adoption of the report shall automatically adopt all amendments contained therein.  After the report is adopted, there shall be no more debate, and the bill shall immediately be placed upon its final passage.

6.  Refusal of either house to adopt the conference committee report has the same effect as if the committee had disagreed.

7.  If the conference committee fails to reach agreement, a report of such failure signed by a majority of the committee members of each house shall be given promptly to each house.  The bill shall be returned to the house that originated the bill, the members of the committee shall be immediately discharged, and a new conference committee appointed in the same manner as the first conference committee.

8.  The authority of a second or subsequent conference committee shall cover free conference during which the committee has authority to propose amendments to any portion of a bill provided the amendment is within the subject matter content of the bill as passed by the house of origin or as amended by the second house.

The complete document of Joint Senate and House rules can be found here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/DOCS/ChamberRules/JointRules.pdf