# Standing Rules of the 3rd Atoll State Senate

**Standing Rules of the 3rd Atoll State Senate
Palm County, Atoll September 23rd, 2021**

PAGE 2 — THESTANDING RULES OF THE 3RD ATOLL STATE SENATE

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**RULE I OFFICES**
1. The President of the Senate shall be designated as the Lieutenant
Governor, who shall serve as the Chairman in all sessions where possible.
They shall hold the office and execute the duties thereof.
2. At the beginning of a Congress, the Senate shall elect a President Pro
Tempore, who shall hold the office and execute the duties thereof at the
pleasure of the State Senate and until another is elected or his term of
office as a Senator expires. The President Pro Tempore shall serve as the
Chair of any session where the President of the Senate is absent.
3. In the absence of the President of the Senate and President Pro Tempore,
the Clerk of the Senate, or in his absence the Assistant Clerk, shall
perform the duties of the Chair.
4. The President Pro Tempore shall have the right to name, in writing, a
member to perform the duties of the Chair, including the signing of duly
enrolled bills and joint resolutions but such substitution may not be done
unless both the President of the Senate and President Pro Tempore are
absent and shall not extend beyond an adjournment, except by unanimous
consent of the membership.

**RULE II ORDER OF BUSINESS**
1. The Presiding Officer, having taken the chair with a Quorum of 51% of the
membership being present, shall proceed with the Order of Business. The
Senate shall convene every week or as otherwise prescribed by the
President of the Senate so long as there is no period of more than fourteen
days between sessions.
2. An Emergency Session can be convened with the consent of ½ of the
membership. The Senate, when wishing to enact an Emergency Session,
shall sign a letter with the signature of each member in assent of the
question presented and the reasoning provided to enact an Emergency
Session. The letter shall be presented to the County Clerk and the
President of the Senate.
3. During Emergency Session, the Senate shall be restricted to discuss the
subject and reasoning provided by the authority which called the
Emergency Session.
4. The regular order of business shall follow in specific order as follows: (a)
Roll Call; (b) Unfinished Business; (c) Appointments and Special Business
from the presiding officer; (d) Any further petitions and motions.

**RULE III DEBATE**
1. When a member desires to speak, they shall address the Presiding Officer,
and shall not proceed until they are recognized. No member may interrupt
another member in debate.
2. No member in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words
impute to another member or to other members any conduct or motive
unworthy or unbecoming of a Senator. Furthermore, no member shall use
language determined by the Presiding Officer as unparliamentary.
3. If any member, in speaking or otherwise, in the opinion of the Presiding
Officer, transgress these standing rules, the Presiding Officer shall, either
on his own motion or at the request of any other member, call them to
order. Any member called to order shall take their seat and may not
proceed without leave of the Senate, which shall be granted upon motion
that shall be determined without debate. Any member called to order by
the Presiding Officer, as well as any member requesting the Presiding
Officer call a member to order, may appeal the ruling of the Chair through
motion. Such motion may be open to debate. If a member, after being
called to order, continues to be unruly, in the opinion of the Presiding
Officer, the Presiding Officer may direct a present Bailiff or law
enforcement officer to escort and remove a member from a session. Such
removal may only last until adjournment.
4. Whenever confusion arises in the chamber or the galleries, or
demonstrations of approval or disapproval are indulged in by the
occupants of the galleries, it shall be the duty of the Presiding Officer to
enforce order on his own initiative and without any point of order brought
forward by a member.

**RULE IV SUSPENSION AND AMENDMENT OF THE RULES**
1. No motion to suspend, modify, or amend any rule, or any part thereof,
shall be in order unless specifying precisely the rule or part proposed to be
suspended, modified, or amended, and the purpose thereof.
2. These standing rules shall continue from one Congress to the next unless
they are changed as provided in these rules.

**RULE V VOTING PROCEDURE**
1. When the yeas and nays are ordered, the names of members shall be called
alphabetically; and each members shall, without debate, declare his assent
or dissent to the question, unless excused by the President of the Senate;
and no member shall be permitted to vote after the decision shall have
been announced by the Presiding Officer, but may for sufficient reasons,
with unanimous consent, change or withdraw his vote. No motion to
suspend this rule shall be in order, nor shall the Presiding Officer entertain
any request to suspend.
2. A Member, notwithstanding any other provisions of this rule, may decline
to vote, in committee or on the floor, on any matter when he believes that
his voting on such a matter would be a conflict of interest.
3. In the interest of time, a member may ask for unanimous consent to
proceed with a motion. During a request for unanimous consent, the
Presiding Officer must ask the floor for any objections. If no objection
arises, the motion shall be granted. A request for unanimous consent may
not extend to the consideration of any bill or resolution.
4. If a member is not present at a session may cast an absentee vote before the order of business has begun.
After members present have voted, the presiding officer shall call out the absentee vote from not present members.
The members like present, must vote on the aye, nay, abstain.
If the members not present do not vote the vote shall be counted to those present.

**RULE VI BILLS, RESOLUTIONS, AND FURTHER MOTIONS**
1. No bill or resolution may be entertained unless introduced to the Clerk of
the Senate for at least twenty-four hours. All bills and resolutions shall be
examined under the supervision of the Clerk of the Senate before brought
onto the floor.
2. All bills and resolutions shall be given the chance to have amendments or
scrutinized by the floor in one straight reading of the bill.
3. Any amendments must be clearly marked. Newly entered clauses must be
entered in green font. Any removed or edited clauses must be struck out in
red font.
4. Any member with a planned absence that wishes to vote on a given matter
must inform and notify the presiding officer as well as the Clerk of the
Senate. The member must also designate a Proxy member which shall vote
in the place of the absent member.
5. The motions accepted shall be as follows:

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