Referred to: The Laws, Rules and Government Services Committee (Chairman Kovacs and Legislators Gavaris, Hansut, Harmon, Kitchen, Levine, and Uchitelle)

Legislator Jeff Collins offers the following:

WHEREAS, the Ulster County Legislature considers and evaluates all proposed legislation through a committee system; and

WHEREAS, Committees are responsible to complete a thorough examination

and full vetting of proposals to ensure completeness, fairness and benefit to the County and its residents before said proposals are presented to the full Legislative body for vote; and

WHEREAS, a mechanism for each resolution to be considered by the full Legislative Body was established to discharge a defeated resolution from a Committee; and

WHEREAS, the makeup of the Ulster County Legislature is ever evolving making criteria based on caucus membership inconsistent and arbitrary; and

WHEREAS, current rules require signature of less than 1/3 of the members of the Legislature to successfully execute a Petition to Discharge, thereby diminishing the committee process and creating increased potential for introduction of partisan, divisive resolutions which do not have the requisite number of votes for adoption by the Legislature; and

WHEREAS, it has been determined that changing the number of required signatures to a majority of the total number of Legislators is a more reasonable practice demonstrative of the will of the full body; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, thatRule 3. RESOLUTIONS, LOCAL LAWS, RULES FOR PROCEDURE FOR PRESENTATION AND CONSIDERATION, Section E. Petition to Discharge, Subsection (b), isherebyamendedtoreadasfollows:

(b) At least 75% a majority of the total number of the members of the Legislature Legislators who make up the minority caucus shall have signed such Petition (any combination of Legislators may sign, not merely minority party Legislators). Such signature may be an actual signature on the Petition to be held in the custody of the Clerk of the Legislature, or a written request to the Clerk of the Legislature (hand delivered, mailed, e-mailed, or faxed and in any event, received by the Clerk within thirty days of such Petition’s being filed) that the Clerk of the Legislature place such

Legislator’s name to the Petition.  If a Legislator does not personally sign the petition, the request from the Legislator to the Clerk of the Legislature to add that Legislator’s name shall be appended to the Petition; and, be it further

          RESOLVED, that Rule 3. RESOLUTIONS, LOCAL LAWS, RULES FOR PROCEDURE FOR PRESENTATION AND CONSIDERATION, Section C.  Procedure for the submission and consideration of Resolutions in Committee., Subsection 1. Introduction., Subsection (c) Memorializing Resolutions., is hereby amended to read as follows:     

(c) Memorializing Resolutions. Any resolution which memorializes the New York State Legislature, Congress of the United States, or any other body to take an action which will not require a home rule message, shall be sponsored by at least one member from each caucus OR one Legislator less than the number of Legislators who make up the minority caucus required to successfully execute a Petition to Discharge as required in Section 3. E. b. of these Rules of Order.; and, be it further

RESOLVED, that pursuant to Rule 2, entitled “AMENDMENT OF RULES,” of the Rules of Order of the Ulster County Legislature, this resolution and the amendment proposed herein shall be read at two consecutive meetings of the Ulster

County Legislature; and, be it further

            RESOLVED, that this rule change shall take effect upon an affirmative vote of this body subsequent to two consecutive readings,

and move its adoption.

FIRST READING:            

SECOND READING:

                                                               ADOPTED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

        AYES:                       NOES:    

Passed Committee: Laws, Rules and Government Services on ____________.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

NONE