25. Committees

(a) Committees of reference of the House shall be:

(1) Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources.

(2) Appropriations.

(2.5) Repealed, House Resolution 13-1002, January 9, 2013.

(3) Business, Labor, Economic, and Workforce Development.

(4) Education.

(5) Finance.

(6) Health, Insurance, and Environment.

(7) Repealed, House Resolution 05-1002, January 12, 2005.

(8) Judiciary.

(9) Local Government.

(9.5) Public Health Care and Human Services.

(10) State, Veterans, and Military Affairs.

(11) Transportation and Energy.


(a.1) The Committee on Legal Services shall be considered a committee of reference for any bill introduced pursuant to section 24-4-103 (8) (d), Colorado Revised Statutes.

(a.2) In addition to the committees of reference specified in subsection (a) of this rule to which bills and joint resolutions that create or authorize any study to be conducted during the interim or that allocate any additional legislative staff resources during the interim may be referred, such bills and joint resolutions shall also be referred to the Legislative Council as a committee of reference in accordance with section 2-3-303.3, Colorado Revised Statutes.

(a.3) On and after January 8, 2003, any reference in these Rules, the Joint Rules of the Senate and House of Representatives, or in the Colorado Revised Statutes, to the Civil Justice and Judiciary Committee or to the Criminal Justice Committee shall be deemed to refer to the Judiciary Committee.

(b) Other permanent committees of the House shall be:

(1) Repealed 1989 Session.

(2) House Services.

(c) The members of all of the committees specified in (a) and (b) above shall be appointed at the commencement of the first regular session of the General Assembly convening after a general election and such committees shall remain constituted until the first regular session of the General Assembly convening after the next ensuing general election. Every member of the House of Representatives, except the Speaker, the majority leader, and the minority leader of the House of Representatives, shall be appointed to at least one of such committees.

(d) From the members appointed to each committee specified in (a) and (b) above, the Speaker shall designate the chairman and the vice-chairman of each committee.

(e) (1) Repealed 1989 Session.
(2) Repealed 1989 Session.

(f) The House services committee shall consist of four members. It shall authorize and review all expenditures for equipment, supplies, and services necessary for the efficient conduct of the business of the House, and shall employ such officers and employees of the House as may be authorized and assign them to their duties, filling any vacancies that may occur from time to time. It shall have full power to summarily remove any officer or employee of the House, but shall be excused from making reports thereon unless requested by some member. It shall attend to the revision, engrossment, and enrollment of all bills, as directed by the House and its committees, reporting thereon from time to time as occasion requires.

(g) All committees shall consist of not fewer than nine nor more than nineteen members, as determined by the Speaker.

(h) The party representation on committees shall be in proportion generally to the relative number of members of the two major political parties in the House.

(i) All committees specified in (a) and (b) above shall not:

(1) Take action upon any bill or other matter before it unless a quorum be present, a quorum being a majority of the entire membership of the committee.

(2) Sit or meet while the House is in session without first having obtained consent of the Speaker upon a showing of special need.

(3) Occupy the House chamber at any time without prior consent of the Speaker.

(j) All committees of reference, as listed in (a) above, shall observe the following rules of procedure:

(1) (A) The committees of reference of the House shall meet at the times and places specified in a Schedule of Committee Meetings and distributed to the members of the House at the beginning of each regular session of the General Assembly; the committees shall be scheduled to meet according to the categories in subsection (k) of this rule.

(B) A committee of reference may hold a special committee meeting at a time and place other than is provided in the Schedule of Committee Meetings, provided the chairman publicly announces the special meeting to the House as much in advance of the actual meeting as possible and provided the announcement is made while the House is in actual session.

(C) If a regularly scheduled committee meeting is canceled, the chairman shall announce such cancellation while the House is in actual session prior to the time the meeting is scheduled to take place.

(D) The chairman of each committee of reference shall determine the order of business for each committee meeting, including the measures that will be considered at each meeting, and shall announce on the floor of the House the measures that are to be considered. However, at least seven days after a measure has been delivered to the chairman, two-thirds of all members appointed to the committee may petition the chairman in writing that a specific measure be considered, such petition to be submitted at a regularly scheduled committee meeting. Upon receipt of the petition, the chairman shall announce such fact to the committee and shall have the petitioned measure listed on the subsequent daily calendar for consideration by the committee, such consideration to be no later than seven days after receipt of the petition.

(E) Committee consideration and action required. Each measure assigned or referred to a committee shall be set for committee consideration at a scheduled meeting, considered by the committee upon its merits, and acted upon by the committee.

(E.1) Bills must be considered within legislative deadlines. Each bill assigned or referred to a committee of reference shall be considered and acted upon by the committee within any deadlines applicable to the bill which are imposed on committees of reference to report bills by the Joint Rules of the Senate and House of Representatives.

(E.2) Discretion of chairman to limit testimony and discussion. The chairman of each committee of reference may limit testimony and discussion on a measure to that which is adequate, in the chairman's discretion, to enable the committee to consider the measure on its merits. In particular, the chairman may limit the length of testimony and discussion and may exclude testimony or discussion which the chairman determines to be repetitious or irrelevant.

(E.3) Scope of consideration by appropriations committee following consideration by another committee. In the case of a measure assigned or referred to the appropriations committee which has previously been considered on its merits by another committee of reference of the House, consideration on the merits shall be consideration of the measure's fiscal impact; but the chairman may, in his or her discretion, permit consideration of other relevant matters. "Fiscal impact" includes but is not necessarily limited to the necessity of appropriations to implement the measure and the amount and source of such appropriations.

(E.4) Applicability of (E) to (E.3). The provisions of subparagraphs (E) through (E.3) of this paragraph (1) apply to measures originating in the Senate when they are considered in the House, as well as to measures originating in the House. When a measure is assigned or referred to more than one committee of reference, the provisions of subparagraphs (E) through (E.3) of this paragraph (1) apply to each committee of reference.

(F) Motions. Only a member of a committee may offer a motion. No motion shall be subject to debate by a committee until it has been seconded and put by the chair.

(G) Consideration of measure required when motion is made out of order to report measure favorably. If a motion is made that a committee report a measure favorably to the committee of the whole, with or without amendments, when such measure is not in the order of business determined by the chairman pursuant to subparagraph (D) of this paragraph (1), then such measure shall be considered by the committee upon its merits. If such motion fails to pass, the measure shall be deemed to be still pending before the committee for action.

(H) Protection of committee deliberations - disruptions. In accordance with section 2-2-404, Colorado Revised Statutes, when conducting a legislative hearing or meeting, the chairman of a committee of reference may request that a sergeant-at-arms remove any person who is violating the provisions of section 18-9-110, Colorado Revised Statutes, or who otherwise impedes, disrupts, or hinders the proceeding or endangers any member, officer, or employee of the General Assembly or any member of the public.

(1.5) The chairman of a committee of reference may delegate any duty or responsibility provided for in this subsection (j) to the vice-chairman of the committee.

(2) Proxies, either written or oral, shall not be permitted for any purpose.

(2.5) Repealed, January 15, 2001, HR 01-1006.

(3) After a committee of reference has taken its final action on a measure, the chairman of the committee shall make a report of such action to the chief clerk of the House within three legislative days, and the chairman shall not delay or withhold making or signing such a report. For committees that meet on Wednesday or Thursday, the chairman shall have two legislative days in which the general assembly is in actual session to make such a report rather than three legislative days. However, during the last three days of a legislative session, the chairman of the committee shall make any committee of reference report as soon as possible. Final action shall consist of reporting a measure out of committee, with or without amendments, for consideration by the committee of the whole, a recommendation for reference to another committee of reference, or postponing the measure indefinitely. A motion to postpone consideration of a measure for more than 30 days or until a date beyond the date for adjournment sine die of the legislative session shall be considered a motion to postpone indefinitely. In addition, a measure shall be considered postponed indefinitely when there has been a tie vote on a motion that would constitute final action and the applicable deadline for House committees of reference to report bills has passed without action by the House Committee on Delayed Bills to extend the deadline for the measure. The chairman shall make a report to the chief clerk of the House indicating that any such measure is deemed postponed indefinitely. Following the date of the applicable committee deadline, the chairman shall have three legislative days in which the general assembly is in actual session to submit such report.

(4) The staff assistant assigned to each committee of reference shall be responsible to the chairman of the committee for the proper preparation of all reports.

(5) Upon receipt of a measure by the chairman of a committee of reference, the chairman shall be responsible for the safekeeping of the measure, but the chairman may give custody of the measure to a staff assistant.

(6) The chairman of a committee of reference shall vote on every question coming before the committee unless he or she has an immediate personal or financial interest in the proposed measure, but he or she shall not vote twice, as in the case to make a tie and then to cast the deciding vote. Every other member shall vote on each measure coming before the committee except proposals in which the member has an immediate personal or financial interest.

(7) If a member of a committee of reference is absent from three consecutive scheduled committee meetings without being excused, the committee chairman shall report such fact to the floor leader of the party to which the member belongs.

(8) A recommendation of any committee of reference to amend a measure shall not become an integral part of the measure in question until adopted by the committee of the whole.

(9) Roll call votes shall be taken and recorded in each committee on final action and on proposed amendments to which one or more committee members have voiced objection. The record shall include the names and numbers of those voting on motions to amend and on final action. Said record shall be available for public inspection.

(10) In order to take any action on a measure by a committee of reference, a quorum must be present and the affirmative vote of a majority of a quorum or a majority of those present and voting, whichever is greater, shall be necessary.

(k) (1) The committees of reference as listed in subsection (a) of this rule shall be placed in the following categories for the purpose of scheduling meetings:


Category
Committee
Monday p.m.Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources.
Education.
State, Veterans, and Military Affairs.
Tuesday a.m.Business, Labor, Economic, and Workforce Development.
Health, Insurance, and Environment.
Judiciary.
Tuesday p.m.Business, Labor, Economic, and Workforce Development.
Judiciary.
Public Health Care and Human Services.
Wednesday a.m.Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources.
Education.
State, Veterans, and Military Affairs.
Wednesday p.m.Finance.
Local Government.
Transportation and Energy.
Thursday a.m.Finance.
Local Government.
Transportation and Energy.
Thursday p.m.Business, Labor, Economic, and Workforce Development.
Health, Insurance, and Environment.
Judiciary.
Friday upon adjournment as calendaredPublic Health Care and Human Services.
As calendaredAppropriations.

(2) A member of the House shall serve on no more than one committee of reference within a category.

(l) Reconsideration in a committee of reference shall be governed by the provisions of Rule 35 (e) and (f).



[State Home | Colorado Legislature | Top]