House rules
The Washington State House rules establish procedures and protocols for conducting legislative business in the House of Representatives. These rules provide the framework for how bills are processed, committees operate, and representatives conduct official business.
Preface
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That ​permanent House Rules for the Sixty-Eighth Legislature be adopted as follows:
PERMANENT RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SIXTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE 2023-2024
- Rule 1. Definitions
- Rule 2. Chief Clerk to Call to Order
- Rule 3. Election of Officers
- Rule 4. Powers and Duties of the Speaker
- Rule 5 . Chief Clerk
- Rule 6. Executive Rules Committee
- Rule 7. Duties of Employees
- Rule 8. Admission to the House
- Rule 9. Absentees and Courtesy
- Rule 10. Bills, Memorials and Resolutions - Introductions
- Rule 11. Reading of Bills
- Rule 12. Amendments
- Rule 13. Final Passage
- Rule 14. Hour of Meeting, Roll Call and Quorum
- Rule 15. Daily Calendar and Order of Business
- Rule 16. Motions
- Rule 17. Remote Participation and Voting Permitted Upon Authorization
- Rule 18. Members' Right to Debate
- Rule 19. Rules of Debate
- Rule 20. Ending of Debate - Previous Question
- Rule 21. Voting
- Rule 22. Reconsideration
- Rule 23. Call of the House
- Rule 24. Appeal from Decision of Chair
- Rule 25. Standing Committees
- Rule 26. Duties of Committees
- Rule 27. Standing Committees - Expenses - Subpoena Power
- Rule 28. Vetoed Bills
- Rule 29. Suspension of Compensation
- Rule 30. Smoking and Vaping
- Rule 31. Liquor
- Rule 32. Parliamentary Rules
- Rule 33. Standing Rules Amendment
- Rule 34. Rules to Apply for Assembly
- Rule 35. Legislative Publications
- Rule 36. Emergency Resolution Authorized
Rule 4. Powers and Duties of the Speaker
The speaker shall have the following powers and duties:
(A) The speaker shall take the chair and call the house to order precisely at the hour appointed for meeting and if a quorum be present, shall cause the journal of the preceding day to be read and shall proceed with the order of business.
(B) The speaker shall preserve order and decorum, and in case of any disturbance or disorderly conduct within the chamber or legislative area, shall order the sergeant at arms to suppress the same and may order the sergeant at arms to remove any person creating any disturbance within the house chamber or legislative area.
(C) The speaker may speak to points of order in preference to other members, arising from the seat for that purpose, and shall decide all questions of order subject to an appeal to the house by any member, on which appeal no member shall speak more than once without leave of the house.
(D) The speaker shall sign all bills in open session. (Article II, section 32)
(E) The speaker shall sign all writs, warrants, and subpoenas issued by order of the house, all of which shall be attested to by the chief clerk.
(F) The speaker shall have the right to name any member to perform the duties of the chair, but such substitution shall neither extend beyond adjournment nor authorize the representative so substituted to sign any documents requiring the signature of the speaker.
(G) The speaker, in open session, shall appoint committee chairs as selected by the majority party caucus, and shall appoint members to committees in the same ratio as the membership of the respective parties of the house, unless otherwise provided by law or house rules.
(H) The speaker shall serve as chair of the rules committee and the executive rules committee.
(I) The speaker shall have charge of and see that all officers, attaches, and clerks perform their respective duties.
(J) The speaker pro tempore shall exercise the duties, powers, and prerogatives of the speaker in the event of the speaker's death, illness, removal, or inability to act until the speaker's successor shall be elected.