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Motion of the Council of Allegheny County amending and supplementing the Rules of Council, Article II, Rule N, in order to establish a uniform mechanism for the introduction of amendments to legislative items pending before Council or any of its committees.
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Whereas, Allegheny County Council does, from time to time, amend legislative items pending before it, both at regular meetings of the full Council and at meetings of the various committees of Council; and
Whereas, a basic procedure for amending legislative items is contained within the Rules of Council, at Article II, Rule F.5 (relating to committee quorums) and Article II, Rule N (relating to amendment form); and
Whereas, neither Article II, Rule F.5 nor Article II, Rule N contain guidelines for the timing or distribution of proposed amendments;
Whereas, it is the desire of Council to clarify the interaction of these two Rules via reference in Article II, Rule N; and
Whereas, it is further the desire of Council to establish a uniform mechanism governing the introduction of amendments in order to allow adequate time for both staff preparation and thorough, informed consideration of amendments by the Council and/or committee members;
The Council of the County of Allegheny therefore hereby moves as follows:
For the reasons delineated herein, the Rules of Council, Article II, Rule N., is hereby amended as follows:
N. Amendments
1. Motions, ordinances, and resolutions may be amended by an affirmative vote of the majority of the seated members of Council when they are offered at a meeting of the full Council. Such amendments may also be approved by affirmative vote of a majority of the members present of a committee to which an amendment is presented for discussion and voting, subject to the quorum requirements contained within Section F.5 of this Article. All amendments to motions, ordinances, and resolutions shall be subject to the following requirements:
a. All amendments to be proposed shall be developed by the sponsor(s) and Council staff in a fashion that allows for their finalization and formatting for timely presentation to the Council or committee members, per the requirements of Subsection N.1.b.; and
b. All amendments to be proposed shall be presented in their final form to the Council members or members of the relevant committee no later than 48 hours prior to the scheduled starting time for the Council or committee meeting at which the amendments will be offered for discussion and voting; and
c. All amendments offered to any proposed ordinance, resolution, or written motion shall be presented in written form, with a clear indication that an amendment is being offered and noting all sponsors of the amendment, to the Council Members before the final vote is taken on the bill. Amendments circulated electronically via e-mail shall be deemed to be in writing, provided that they comply with the other requirements of this Subsection.
2. In the event that an amendment that does not comply with the timeliness and formal requirements established within this Rule, the presiding officer and/or parliamentarian shall immediately rule such amendment out of order and ineligible for second, discussion, or voting unless the defects are cured or the applicable Rule of Council is waived in accordance with the procedures established herein.
3. The deadline for circulation established pursuant to the terms of Subsection N.1.b may be waived by the affirmative vote of a majority of the seated members of the Council or committee to which an amendment will be presented for discussion and voting. All other provisions of this Section may be waived in accordance with the general procedure for waiving the Rules of Council established within Article VI, Rule B.