BOSTON- The Massachusetts Senate passed two sets of rules today, the first establishing the operating procedures of the Senate and the second establishing joint legislative rules with the House of Representatives. Both sets of rules govern the operations of the Legislature for the 2017-2018 legislative session. The joint rules passed by the Senate will need to be reconciled with the House version of the Joint Rules and approved by both branches.

The Senate first debated the Senate Rules that will govern the operations of the Senate for the 2017-2018 session. Changes to the rules for the Senate include requiring the agenda for informal sessions shall be available to the public at least one calendar day prior to the start of that session, allowing a court officer to vote for members who are disabled “or due to a condition related to pregnancy, childbirth or nursing a child,” establishing rules for electronic voting, and expanding the ability of the Senate Committee on Climate Change to receive and hear bills related to climate change legislation.

The Joint Rules proposal passed by the Senate includes provisions that will improve the flow of legislation between the House and the Senate. These changes include Joint Rule 10 day, the deadline to move bills out of the Joint Committees, will be moved from the third Wednesday in March of the second year of the term to February 1st of the second year. The House and Senate agree that the existing Joint Committee structure and composition will remain in place.

Legislation will be reported to the branch where it originated, unless the joint committee decides otherwise under its own rules. This change will allow each branch more time to work on legislation after it is reported out of committee.

To allow more time for differences in legislation to be worked out, Conference committees must be appointed no later than two weeks before the end of formal sessions on July 31 of the second year.

Roll call votes will be required for Senate “bundling” of budget amendments and for House “consolidated” budget amendments. In addition, the Senate will no longer allow “pairing” of absent Senators’ votes. These changes increase transparency for the general public on how each member voted.

The joint rules proposal will be reconciled with the House version and with the final version to be approved by both branches.