RULES AND RULINGS: FINAL LEGISLATIVE STEPS


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   Assembly Rule 73. RECONSIDERING. (2)(b) For any decision other than passage
or con-
   currence, the motion for reconsideration shall be considered when the
proposal is next
   regularly scheduled for consideration.
      (3) (a) .... Any motion to reconsider passage or concurrence shall
be taken up immedi-
   ately if the roll call day on which it is entered is already the 2nd or
a later actual day
   following the vote on passage or concurrence, but consideration of any
other motion for
   reconsideration of passage or concurrence, entered on the roll call day
following the day
   on which the proposal was passed or concurred in, shall be laid over and
placed on the
   calendar for the first legislative day which occurs at least 2 calendar
days after the deci-
   sion was made.
      (b) On the final legislative day of the last scheduled floorperiod
preceding the veto
   review session in any legislative biennium, any pending motion to reconsider
shall be
   taken up on the 7th order of business on that day. Any motion to reconsider
entered
   subsequently may be taken up at any time on such day by majority vote.
      (4) (a) A motion to reconsider the decision on an amendment shall be
placed on the
   same calendar as the motion to reconsider the final 2nd reading stage
decision on the
   proposal to which the amendment relates, regardless of when made. The
failure of any
   printed calendar to show any such motion to reconsider a decision on an
amendment
   shall not prevent the consideration of such motion under the proper order
of business on
   that calendar day.
      (b) Reconsideration of decisions on amendments shall follow the sequence
in rule 55
   for consideration of amendments.
      (c) No motion to reconsider a decision on any amendment shall be considered
unless
   the final decision on the proposal at the end of the 2nd reading stage
is reconsidered,
   returning the proposal to the amendable stage.
   Assembly Rule 93. SPECIAL AND EXTRAORDINARY SESSIONS. (6) All motions
to recon-
   sider shall be taken up immediately unless a different time is set by
majority vote for a
   specific motion to reconsider.
   The proper time for considering a motion for reconsideration became an
issue in 1984. On Tuesday, 3/13/84, the Assembly concurred (with amend-
ments) in Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to 1983 Assembly Bill 200, "relat-
ing to establishing a system of marital property shared by husband and wife
and providing penalties". On Wednesday, 3/14/84, a motion was entered
to
reconsider that vote of concurrence. On Thursday, 3/15/84, the point of
order was raised that this motion for reconsideration should be scheduled
for
consideration on the calendar for Friday, 3/16/84 (Assembly Journal 3/15/84,
page
963). Speaker Thomas A. Loftus (Dem., Sun Prairie) was able to point to the
Assembly rule to show that the reconsideration motion was properly sched-
uled for the second day after concurrence:
      Representative T. Thompson rose to the point of order that Assembly
Bill 200 was
    not properly before the assembly under Assembly Rule 73, and should be
on the calen-
    dar of Friday, March 16 rather than the calendar of Thursday, March 15.
      The speaker took the point of order under advisement.
      The speaker ruled that Assembly Bill 200 was properly placed on the
calendar of
    Thursday, March 15 under Assembly Rule 73 (3) (a) because the "decision"
on concur-
    rence in senate substitute amendment 1, which in effect was concurrence
in the bill, was
    made on Tuesday, March 13. The speaker ruled the point of order not well
taken.
    When an Assembly bill has been amended in the Senate and is before the
Assembly for concurrence in the Senate amendment, the Assembly's vote is
a
further "concurrence" bringing the proposal closer to its final
passage. This
concurrence vote is no different from an Assembly vote to concur in a Senate
proposal. It is the last step to be taken by the Assembly at that stage;
barring