General Assembly Standing Rules Relating to Public Hearings

At its meeting on March 16, 2022, the Assembly Committee on Business Referral approved a motion to enable actions that must be taken prior to the assembly. That motion included approving several "special rules of order for the 225th General Assembly (2022) and suspend[ing] any rules that conflict with them." Among the "special rules" was the following action: "The opportunity to participate in committee public hearings will be provided electronically prior to the convening of the General Assembly." The excerpts from the "Standing Rules of the General Assembly" [as amended by the 224th General Assembly (2020)] presented here include special notes for changes that have been implemented to provide that opportunity.

Schedule

a. Each committee, with the exception of the Assembly Committee on Bills and Overtures, shall schedule at its convenience one or more public hearings on matters before it, including on any commissioners’ resolutions submitted to it. Public hearings are the opportunity for the committee to hear from those who do not have other avenues for addressing the committee—including those who are not Presbyterian. For this reason, those who are given privilege to speak to the committee in E.2.f.(1–7) are not entitled to address the committee during public hearings.

Special Note: The Assembly Committee on Business Referral has accepted a schedule that requires that requests to provide public hearing testimony be received by May 8 for all matters filed with the Stated Clerk by the "45-day deadline" of the Assembly, and that such testimony be submitted by May 19 so that it can be translated and made available to commissioners and advisory delegates before in-person committee sessions begin. A separate opportunity will be provided to receive public testimony relating to commissioners' resolutions after the filing deadline for those items. A full calendar of deadline dates is provided with this resource.

Time Limits for Presentations

b. The committee may limit the time for the presentation by any person during a public hearing, including an elected member or staff member of an entity of the General Assembly. If the time allotted for the public hearing is not sufficient to accommodate all the persons wishing to speak, a method shall be approved by the assembly committee that ensures that an equal number of persons on each side of an issue have an opportunity to speak. Any person denied the right to speak at the hearing may appeal to the Assembly Committee on Bills and Overtures on the basis that the method employed in selecting speakers was not fair.

Special Note: The Assembly Committee on Business Referral has established a two-minute limit per speaker for all statements offered in Public Hearings for GA225. The process for establishing whether the number of requests received to speak to specific items of business exceeds the allotted time for each committee's public hearing during this Assembly are set out in the next resource in this section, "The Public Hearings Process for GA225."

Hearing Form

c. Any person who wishes to be heard in a public hearing shall sign up on a hearing form, posted in a public place in the building in which the assembly is being held, no later than the close of business on the second day of the General Assembly or noon of the day after the subsequent referral of business to the committee by the General Assembly. The location of hearing forms shall be announced during the first session of the assembly. In the event that an issue is expected to be controversial, those wishing to speak shall be asked to indicate whether they wish to speak for or against the recommendation.

Special Note: Because participants in Public Hearings will not be present for the committee meetings in Louisville on June 20 to July 2, the "Hearing Form" for this hybrid General Assembly is provided as an online sign-up form with deadlines in advance of the opening of the assembly. The sign-up and submission process for this assembly are set out in the next resource in this section, "The Public Hearings Process for GA225."