Floor Action in the Chamber
PART 5
"Democracy . . . is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and
dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike."
-- Plato, The Republic, 428-348 B.C.
BACKGROUND
What better way to witness the variety and disorder of democracy than a visit to the chamber of
the Minnesota House? On any given day when the House is in session, you'll find members
milling about on the floor, conferring with colleagues, talking on the phone, and sometimes even
reading the newspaper. All the while, another colleague may be giving an impassioned
speech.
That may surprise some people, but when you understand the reason behind the apparent
disorder, the floor process begins to make a little more sense. It all goes back to Woodrow
Wilson's observation that we learned about in Part 4, "Congress in session is Congress on public
exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee-rooms is Congress at work."
So why do floor sessions appear so chaotic and unorganized?
First impressions
First, more than half the members usually have heard the major bills in committee before they
reach the floor. So most people have already made up their minds on how they will vote --
regardless of the speeches pro and con.
Second, often times the only time members see many of their colleagues is on the floor. So
they take that opportunity to line up support for other bills that they want to pass. While one bill
is being debated, members are busy discussing bills that will be debated later that day or later in
the session.
Third, sometimes legislators make speeches and ask questions on the floor to clarify the
subtleties of a bill -- points the courts can look to should there be a legal challenge of the law. So
although some speeches are redundant, they are made to include key points in the official
record.
Fourth, some of the speeches have more to do with the next election than with the merits of a
bill. Speeches are sometimes designed to attract the attention of the media, with an eye on the
November elections. It's usually the majority and minority leaders who are responsible for putting
forth their party's views on legislation, and who lead the charge during a spirited public policy
debate.
Party caucuses
Frequently, toward the end of a daily session or sometimes even in the middle, you'll hear the
majority and minority leaders announce the time of their respective political party's caucus
meetings, which are held in separate rooms. It's during these meetings, which are closed to the
public, where both major parties plot their political strategies. Then, back on the floor, those
strategies are played out.
Because there are no rules to limit debate on bills, the discussions sometimes go on for hours
and can continue well into the night. In recent years, however, the leadership has attempted to
minimize the late-night floor sessions.
Seating
You've probably heard the terms "left-wing" and "right-wing" before. But what you probably
didn't know is that the terms can be traced to early legislative seating arrangements. And those
labels still hold true today in the Minnesota House.
When facing forward, DFLers, who are considered more liberal, are generally on the left
while Independent-Republicans, who are considered more conservative, are on the right. Because
the DFL has had a sizable majority in the House in recent years, some DFLers do sit to the right
because there wouldn't be enough room otherwise.
Seating charts that show where each senator and representative sit in their respective
chambers are available from the House Public Information Office and Senate Information (see
Appendix E-5).
There are also two alcoves in the back of the House chamber where people can sit. One is for
the media; the other is equipped with a telephone for use by members. Only accredited members
of the media and some House staff people are allowed on the House floor. The Senate is much
more strict about who is allowed on the floor, and requires men to wear a suit and tie in the
Senate chambers. There is no dress code in the House.
Although members of the public are not allowed on the House or Senate floor when they are
in session, they can watch from the galleries of each body (see Appendix C-10).
The speaker
The speaker of the House is often referred to as the second most influential person in state
government. He or she is the person who sits at the front of the House chamber, conducts floor
sessions, and makes the final rulings on parliamentary procedure. Sitting just below the speaker
is the chief clerk and several assistant clerks. They are responsible for processing the paperwork
in the House (see Appendix B-4). In the Senate, the secretary of the Senate and his or her
assistants make sure the paperwork is done correctly.
The young people sitting just below the chief clerk and the secretary of the Senate are pages,
who in the words of one supervisor, "are there to do almost anything that will help a House
member or a staff member get their work done" (see Appendix C-9).
General Orders
In Part 3, we learned some of the more normal paths a bill takes through the floor on its way to
becoming law. After being sent to the floor from committee, most bills are placed on General
Orders. Here, the full House or Senate, acting as the Committee of the Whole, votes on the bill,
and can add amendments if a majority agrees to the idea. The electronic voting panels on either
side of both chambers allow you to see how every member voted (see Appendix C-7).
If a bill passes on General Orders, it is then placed on the Calendar, where it will be voted on
a second time on the floor on a different day; this is often called final passage. This is the normal
procedure for passing bills. But, as we will see, it is by no means the only path a bill can take on
the floor.
Consent Calendar
There are three shortcuts that essentially bypass the placing of bills on General Orders, and
eliminate the need to vote on bills a second time. The first shortcut involves non-controversial
bills. These bills -- ones that legislators would likely agree to -- are placed on the Consent
Calendar, as we learned in Part 3. Here, a bill is voted on just once on the floor to receive final
passage. But a bill can be taken off the Consent Calendar if at least 10 House members or at least
three senators vote to remove it. The bill is then placed on General Orders and debated under the
normal procedure.
Special Orders
The second shortcut is known as Special Orders. Basically, this is a method by which bills on
General Orders are bumped to the head of the line to be debated, and it's usually used toward the
end of session to speed the process along.
Before each floor session late in the legislative year, the rules committees in both the House
and Senate meet to decide which bills should be debated that day. The rules committees in each
body include the leaders in the respective houses. Essentially, it's the leaders who decide which
bills will be considered; the other members lobby to have their proposals taken up.
A bill on Special Orders receives its final passage that day and does not need to be voted on a
second time. Bills that do not get placed on Special Orders can stay on General Orders before
being brought up. Sometimes, the House or Senate isn't able to debate all the bills on General
Orders so the proposal dies for that year.
Rule 1.10
The third shortcut is simply called Rule 1.10, which refers to House Rule 1.10 that authorizes the
maneuver. This allows bills sent from the House committees on Taxes and Appropriations, and
the Senate Finance Committee, to be sent to the floor for final action one day after it's passed
from committee. Bills called up under Rule 1.10 are voted on just once by the House or Senate
and receive final passage at that time. Like Special Orders, this is usually done to speed up the
process.
The midpoint
When a bill receives its final passage in one house, it may seem that the journey has reached the
end. But, in fact, it's only half way through the Legislature.
What happens here? The bill is sent to the other body for comparison with its companion bill
-- provided one exists and it usually does. If the bills are identical, the one that has received final
passage in one house is sent to the other body and substituted for the bill pending there. The bill
that has been approved by one body is sent to wherever the other bill is pending. If it's pending
on the floor, it's sent there; if it's pending in the Environment and Natural Resources Committee,
it's sent there.
If companion bills emerge from the House and Senate in identical form, the measure is then
sent to the governor for his or her signature. This often happens with non-controversial bills, but
rarely, if ever, with large tax and appropriations measures.
But that doesn't mean the body where the bill is now pending must accept the language from
the other house. It can change the bill as it sees fit -- just as if the bill originated in that house
from the beginning.
Concurrence and Repassage
But if amendments are made in one body and not in the other, the process becomes even more
complicated. Here's how it works:
If one body amends a bill that has been sent to it from the other, it must be sent back to the
original body to allow members to consider the amendment. If the other body approves the
amendment, the measure is then sent to the governor. This is called
concurrence and repassage, meaning that the
other body concurs, or accepts the amendments, and repasses the bill.
Conference committees
But if the original body doesn't accept the amendments, a conference committee is named. As we
learned in Part 3, conference committees, which are composed of both House and Senate
members, are named to work out the differences between the two bills. The conference
committee can do whatever it wants to the bill as long as a majority of House members on the
committee, and a majority of the Senate members on the committee, agree to the changes. After a
conference committee reaches an agreement, the agreement is sent back to the House and Senate
once again for each body's approval. No amendments to bills are permitted at this stage.
So even though a bill is said to receive final passage shortly before it reaches
its midpoint, the measure's journey is hardly final. It still has a long way to go and can easily get
sidetracked along the way.
Voting requirements
Most bills can be passed by a majority vote, which is 68 members in the House and 34 members
in the Senate. But to pass some bills, a larger majority is needed.
Bills dealing with banking must be passed with a two-thirds majority, as does a measure
calling for the expulsion of a member or a vote to override the governor's veto of a bill.
Bills that authorize state borrowing authority, or bonding, to finance state projects, such as
university buildings, need to be passed with a vote of three-fifths of the members in each
house.
Once a bill is passed by both houses, it is sent to governor for his or her signature.
NEW TERMS
- concurrence: action in which one body approves or adopts a
proposal or action taken by the other house.
- repassage: a final vote on a bill previously passed in another
form to include amendments of the other chamber, a conference committee or
amendments.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
Beginning
Students could do a study of the recently renovated House chamber. They could
examine old photos of the chamber, read Restoration, a booklet describing the renovation process
(see Appendix E-5), and then take a Capitol tour paying particular attention to the details in the
"new" House chamber (see Appendix E-4).
Intermediate
Remember those amendments that either failed or were approved in committee in Part 4?
Those same arguments can be resurrected during a debate of a mock floor session. Just because
an amendment, or a bill, failed in committee doesn't mean it can't be brought up again on the
floor. There are, however, a few restrictions. The legislator who sponsored an amendment that
failed in committee can now lobby his or her colleagues to support the measure on the floor.
Perhaps that legislator can promise to support a colleague's bill in exchange for his or her support
for the bill in question. Thus, a vote for granting the right to vote to 16-year-old girls could be
traded for a bill requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets, for example. Maybe sheer persuasion
can lure a colleague to support the bill. Don't count out the factor of the next election, which is
always in the background when a legislator casts a vote. How would his or her constituents react
to the so-called "hate-crime bill," which increased the penalty for an assault that is committed
because of a person's race, religion or sexual preference, among other motives? There are some
very strong lobbying groups that "target" legislators who vote against their wishes. These groups
often work to defeat such legislators in the next election.
Remember that a bill must emerge from both the Senate and House in identical form for it to
be sent to the governor for his or her signature. So a student or students, acting as the Office of
the Revisor of Statutes, must compare the two versions to see if they are identical. If not, one
body must send its bill to the other to see if that body will concur with the changes that were
made. If so, the bill is then sent to the governor. If not, a conference committee is named to work
out the differences. The conference committee can do whatever it wants to the bill as long as a
majority of House members on the committee, and a majority of the Senate members on the
committee, agree to the changes. Once a compromise is reached, it is sent back to each body for
approval. At this stage, no amendments are permitted. The bill is then sent to the governor. (See
Appendix F-1 for more information on how to set up a mock legislature.)
Advanced
Ideally, students should attend a floor session when their bill is being debated. The Chief
Clerk's Office in the House and the Senate Information Office in the Senate can tell students
when a bill is scheduled for debate. But it always pays to check again just before coming to the
Capitol. Things change quickly and often at the Capitol. If you are unable to attend, students can
check the newspapers and the House and Senate journals to see what happened. The journals list
all of the amendments that were offered and whether they were approved. Of course, students
will have to monitor developments in both houses, paying close attention to amendments that are
approved. If one body or the other refuses to concur with the amendments, students should be
prepared to follow the process through conference committee.
For backtracking bills, students should follow the same procedure that was outlined in Part 4.
It's important to find out as much information as possible from newspapers, journals, the
computer tracking system at the Legislature, and Session Weekly and Senate Briefly. Once that
has been done, it can be helpful to contact the principal players in the debate: the chief authors in
the House and Senate, and key lobbyists. But keep in mind that these people are often very
busy.
[For additional ideas for activities on the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels, see
"Getting Started" (Appendix F-1).]
Introduction
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