Arkansas § 10-3-217 - Proposed bills — Filing — Action by committee.

§ 10-3-217. Proposed bills — Filing — Action by committee.

For the purpose of expediting the work of the interim committees of the General Assembly and to encourage each committee to develop bills for prompt introduction upon the convening of each session of the General Assembly, any member of the General Assembly may file drafts of proposed bills for consideration by the appropriate germane interim committee for study, review, modification, and action thereon by the committee. In addition, interim committees may cause drafts of bills to be prepared to carry out the findings and recommendations of the interim committees which result in recommendations for corrective or remedial legislation to be submitted to the next-following session of the General Assembly. Proposed bills may be filed with interim committees as follows: By a member of the General Assembly filed directly with the interim committee of which he or she is a member if the bill is germane to the committee; By a member of the General Assembly filed with the Legislative Council for referral to the appropriate interim committee of the General Assembly; By the Governor or a state agency filed with the appropriate germane interim committee or filed with the Legislative Council for referral to the germane interim committee for study and review. All bills presented by the Governor and state agencies for interim committee study shall be approved for study only upon a majority vote of the committee without that action's creating a presumption of favorable action by the committee on the bill, upon conclusion of its study. Bills filed directly with an interim committee shall be reviewed by the Legislative Council for the purpose of determining that the bill is germane to the committee, and may be re-referred to the germane interim committee if the Legislative Council determines that the bill is not germane to the committee with which filed. Upon conclusion of its study and hearings on a proposed bill, the committee shall take action as follows: Upon the favorable vote of a majority of the members of the committee or if the committee is meeting as a joint committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate, then upon the favorable vote of a majority of the Senate members of the committee and a majority of the House members of the committee, approve the bill, including any amendments that may be agreed to by the committee, for prefiling as a committee bill with the next-following regular session of the General Assembly; Reject the proposed bill as a committee bill; or Take no action thereon. Any bill approved by an interim committee, whether a committee of one (1) house or a joint meeting of committees of both houses, for introduction at the next regular session of the General Assembly shall be prefiled as a committee bill by either the House chair or the Senate chair of the committee in the manner provided for prefiling of bills preceding the convening of each regular session of the General Assembly. However, the prefiling of the bill in the House and the Senate by the chair or cochair of the interim committee as a committee bill shall be solely for the purpose of presenting the bill to the next regular session of the General Assembly for consideration in the manner provided in the rules of the respective houses. The bill shall be considered by each house and by the appropriate committee thereof in the same manner as other bills are considered by the General Assembly. In the event an interim committee rejects a bill or fails to take action thereon, any member of the General Assembly may introduce the bill at the next regular session of the General Assembly, and the bill shall be considered in the same manner as other bills introduced in the House or the Senate.