SR 24 Would Change Rule on Unrecorded Senate Votes: Goes to Committee on Rules for Floor Vote, by State Sen. Josh McKoon | Jan 16, 2017 | The Forum
Like most Georgians, it is my opinion
that all votes under the Gold Dome should be recorded and the record readily
available to the public.
As D.A. King has noted on
InsiderAdvantage (‘State Senate rule allowing unrecorded votes should be scrapped’, January 4), in the Georgia Senate, the
default method for approving amendments to legislation that has already cleared
public scrutiny in the committee process is an unrecorded, hand vote. When this
happens, there is no record of the vote from any member on the vote machine or
in the permanent Senate Journal.
Current rules require a total of five
senators to request a traditional, recorded vote on floor amendments. Most such
votes go unrecorded.
In an effort to add to the transparency
of state government and eliminate the possibility of confusion on any senator’s
vote in the senate chamber, I have filed Senate Resolution 24. It would change
the existing Senate rule so that any one senator could ask for a recorded, Roll
Call vote on floor amendments.
SR 24 is open for co-signers and I hope
for full bipartisan support from the 56 Senate members this week when we return
to business. I also hope that voters will make their support for SR 24 clear to
their own state senators, regardless of party affiliation.
It is my experienced opinion that
changing this outdated Senate rule will protect all members and aid in the
public’s ability to understand the legislative process. Passage of my proposed
rule change requires a two-thirds majority if SR 24 is allowed to go to the
full Senate.
Georgians of all political views need to
know that unless five senators say otherwise, a vote on changing the unrecorded rule could be done with an unrecorded
vote — if SR 24 makes it to the senate floor.
Josh
McKoon, R-Columbus, represents Georgia Senate District 29.
http://insideradvantage.com/2017/01/16/sr-24-would-change-rule-on-unrecorded-senate-votes-goes-to-committee-on-rules-for-floor-vote/
No comments:
Post a Comment