S.L. 1969-1184

NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1969 SESSION

CHAPTER 1184

SENATE BILL 700

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE LEGISLATIVE SERVICES COMMISSION AND TO PRESCRIBE ITS DUTIES.

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1. G.S. 120, Article 7, is hereby rewritten in its entirety to read as follows:

"Article 7.

"Legislative Services Commission

G.S. 120-31. Legislative Services Commission Organization.

"(1) The Legislative Services Commission shall consist of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, three Senators appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and three Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House shall serve until the selection and qualification of their respective successors as officers of the General Assembly. The initial appointive members shall be appointed upon the date of ratification of this Act and each shall serve for the remainder of his elective term of office and until his successor is appointed or until he ceases to be a member of the General Assembly, whichever occurs first. A vacancy in one of the appointive positions shall be filled in the same manner that the vacated position was originally filled, and the person so appointed shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term of the person whom he succeeds. In the event the office of Speaker becomes vacated, the three representatives shall elect one of themselves to perform the duties of the Speaker as required by this Act. In the event the office of President Pro Tempore becomes vacated, the three senators shall elect one of themselves to perform the duties of President Pro Tempore as required by this Act. Members so elevated shall perform the duties required by this Act until a Speaker or a President Pro Tempore is duly elected by the appropriate House.

"(2) The President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall be the Chairman of the Commission in odd-numbered years and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be Chairman of the Commission in even-numbered years.

"(3) The Commission may elect from its membership such other officers as it deems appropriate, and may appoint other members of the General Assembly to serve on any committee of the Commission.

"(4) The Commission may adopt rules governing its own organization and proceedings.

"(5) Members of the Commission, when the General Assembly is not in session, shall be reimbursed for subsistence and travel allowance as provided for members of the General Assembly when in session for such days as they are engaged in the performance of their duties.

Sec. 2. "G. S. 120-32. Commission duties. The Legislative Services Commission is hereby authorized to:

"(1) Determine the number, titles, classification, functions, compensation, and other conditions of employment of the joint legislative service employees of the General Assembly, including but not limited to the following departments:

(a) Legislative Services Officer and Personnel

(b) Electronic Document Writing System

(d) Legislative Printing

(e) Enrolling clerk and personnel

(f) Library

(g) Research and Bill Drafting

(h) Printed Bills

(i) Disbursing and Supply

"(2) Determine the classification and compensation of employees of the respective Houses other than staff elected officers; however, the hiring of employees of each House and their duties shall be prescribed by the Rules and Administrative Regulations of the respective House.

"(3) Acquire and dispose of furnishings, furniture, equipment, and supplies required by the General Assembly, its agencies and commissions and maintain custody of same between sessions. It shall be a misdemeanor for any person(s) to remove any State-owned furniture, fixtures, or equipment from the State Legislative Building for any purpose whatsoever, except as approved by the Legislative Services Commission.

"(4) Contract for services required for the operation of the General Assembly, its agencies, and commissions; however, any departure from established operating procedures, requiring a substantial expenditure of funds, shall be approved by appropriate resolution of the General Assembly.

"(5) (a) Provide for engrossing and enrolling of bills.

(b) Appoint an Enrolling Clerk to act under its supervision in the enrollment and ratification of Acts.

"(6) (a) Provide for the duplication and limited distribution of copies of ratified laws and joint resolutions of the General Assembly and forward such copies to the persons authorized to receive same.

(b) Maintain such records of legislative activities and publish such documents as it may deem appropriate for the operation of the General Assembly.

"(7) (a) Provide for the Secretary of State to index, print, bind, and distribute the Session Laws of each regular, extra or Special Session of the General Assembly and provide for the printing and distribution of the North Carolina Manual, Directory, and Journals of each House.

"(b) Provide and supply to the Secretary of State such bound volumes of the Journals and Session Laws as may be required by him to be distributed under the provisions of G.S. 147-45, G.S. 147-46.1, and G.S. 147-48."

Sec. 3. "G.S. 120-33. Duties of Enrolling Clerk.

"(1) All bills passed by the General Assembly shall be enrolled for ratification under the supervision of the Enrolling Clerk.

"(2) Prior to enrolling any bill, the Enrolling Clerk shall substitute the corresponding Arabic numeral(s) for any date or section number of the General Statutes or of any Act of the General Assembly which is written in words.

"(3) All bills shall be typewritten and carefully proofread before enrollment.

"(4) Upon ratification of an act or joint resolution, the Enrolling Clerk shall assign in Arabic numerals a chapter number to each session law and deposit the ratified laws and joint resolutions with one true copy of each with the Secretary of State.

"(5) The Enrolling Clerk shall furnish each member of the General Assembly with a legible conformed copy of all laws and joint resolutions of the General Assembly, which shall show the chapter number of any law or the number of any joint resolution, in conformity with the number assigned to the enactment.

"(6) The Enrolling Clerk upon completion of his duties after each session shall deposit the original bills and resolutions enrolled for ratification by him with the Secretary of State.

Sec. 4. "G. S. 120-34. Printing of Session Laws.

"(1) The Secretary of State, immediately upon the termination of each session of the General Assembly, shall cause to be published all the laws and joint resolutions passed at such session, whether public, private, general or special within the meaning of the constitution and without regard to classification, except that the laws and resolutions shall be kept separate and indexed separately; and the volume shall contain the certificate of the Secretary of State that it was printed under the direction of the Office of the Secretary of State and from ratified acts and resolutions on file in the office of the Secretary of State. In printing, the certificate required to be endorsed upon the original bills and resolutions shall be omitted; but immediately at the end of each law or resolution shall be inserted the word "Ratified" adding the day, month, and year.

"(2) All index references with respect to the Session Laws shall refer to the chapter numbers of such laws in lieu of page numbers, and all index references to resolutions shall refer to the resolution numbers of the resolutions in lieu of page numbers, to the end that the indexes shall thereby be made consistent with the index to the General Statutes which refers to the section numbers and not to page numbers.

"(3) There shall be printed not more than twenty-five hundred (2,500) volumes of the Session Laws and six hundred (600) volumes of the Journals of each House of each Session of the General Assembly, all of which shall be bound, and delivered to the Secretary of State for distribution by him under the provisions of G.S. 14745, G.S. 147-46.1, G.S. 147-48 and other applicable statutes.

Sec. 5. "G.S. 120-35. Payments for Expenses. Actual expenses for the joint operation of the General Assembly shall be paid by the State Treasurer upon authorization of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Expenses for the operation of a single House shall be paid by the State Treasurer upon authorization of the presiding officer of the appropriate House. The President of the Senate shall advise with the President Pro Tempore of the Senate with respect to all expenditures involving joint operations and Senate operations, and the President Pro Tempore shall make his recommendations in connection therewith.

Sec. 6. "G.S. 120-36. Legislative Services Officer of 'the General Assembly.

"(1) The Legislative Services Officer of the General Assembly shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Legislative Services Commission, and his compensation shall be fixed by the Legislative Services Commission.

"(2) The Legislative Services Officer of the General Assembly shall perform such duties as are assigned to him by the Legislative Services Commission and shall be available to the Legislative Research Commission to provide such clerical, printing, drafting, and research duties as are necessary to the proper functions of the Legislative Research Commission."

Sec. 7. G.S. 120, Article 8 is hereby rewritten in its entirety to read as follows:

"G.S. 120-37. Elected Officers Staff.

"(1) Each House shall elect a principal clerk, reading clerk, and sergeant-at-arms, each of whom shall serve for a term of two years, each of whom shall serve at the pleasure of the respective House or until his successor is elected.

(2) The salary of the staff elected officers of each House, during any session of the General Assembly, shall be as follows:

(a) Principal Clerk $168.00 per week

(b) Sergeant-at-arms 126.00 per week

The elected officers listed in this Section shall also receive subsistence at the same daily rate as provided for members of the General Assembly, and mileage at the rate of ten cents (10¢) per mile, for one round trip only, from their homes to Raleigh and return."

"(3) Upon the adjournment of any session of the General Assembly, the Principal Clerk of each House upon completion of the duties of their respective offices shall cause to be delivered to the office of the Secretary of State any bill or resolution that failed to be enacted or adopted and shall deposit all calendar books and such other records that may be deemed to be appropriate for safe keeping.

"(4) The principal clerks and sergeants-at-arms of the Senate and House of Representatives, at such times as may be designated by the Legislative Services Commission, together with such assistants as may be necessary in arranging for the opening of the Senate and House of the General Assembly before the days for convening thereof, and such necessary services as are rendered after adjournment, shall receive the same salary and subsistence as shall be allowed by law to the said clerks, sergeants-at-arms, and their assistants during the session of the General Assembly. The principal clerks of the General Assembly shall be allowed seventeen hundred dollars ($1,700.00) as additional compensation for services required to be performed by them between regular sessions of the General Assembly, including the indexing and transcribing of a copy of their respective journals, which shall be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State. The State Treasurer is directed to issue his warrants for such officers and clerks and for such time as is certified to by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House upon vouchers signed by them."

Sec. 8. The following Sections of the General Statutes are hereby repealed: G.S. 120-21; G.S. 120-22; G.S. 120-30.15; G.S. 120-30.17(3); G.S. 120-30.17(4); G.S. 147-40; G.S. 147-43.1; G.S. 147-43.2; and 147-43.3.

Sec. 9. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 10. This Act shall be in full force and effect upon and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 1st day of July, 1969.