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Friday, March 23, 2001

Fri, 23 Mar 2001 19:55:13 GMT

Terms of reference for R.I.A. committees (continued)

Off-Budget Entities:
The budget authority, outlays, and receipts of certain Forum entities that have been excluded from budget totals under provisions of law.

Original Bill:
A bill which is drafted by a committee. It is introduced by the committee or subcommittee chairman after the committee votes to report it, and it is placed directly on the Administrative Committee's Calendar of Business.

Outlays:
Outlays are payments made (generally through the issuance of checks or disbursement of cash) to liquidate obligations. Outlays during a fiscal year may be for payment of obligations incurred in prior years or in the same year.

Oversight:
Committee review of the activities of a Forum agency or program.

Parliamentarian:
The Parliamentarian is the Administrative Committee's advisor on the interpretation of its rules and procedures. Staff from the Parliamentarian's office sit on the Administrative Committee dais and advise the Presiding Officer on the conduct of Administrative Committee business. The office also refers bills to the appropriate committees on behalf of the Administrative Committee's Presiding Officer.

Parliamentary Inquiry:
A question from the floor to the Presiding Officer by an Administrator requesting a clarification of the procedural situation on the floor. Responses to parliamentary inquiries are not rulings of the Presiding Officer, but may lead the Administrator posing the inquiry or another to raise a point of order.

Permanent Appropriation:
Budget authority that becomes available as the result of previously enacted legislation (substantive legislation or prior appropriations act) and does not require current action by the Forum. Budget authority is considered to be "current" if provided in the current session of the Forum and "permanent" if provided in prior sessions.

Point of Order:
A claim made by an Administrator from the floor that a rule of the Administrative Committee is being violated. If the Chair sustains the point of order, the action in violation of the rule is not permitted.

Policy Committees:
Each party policy committee provides research and other services to Administrators and also serves as a forum for discussion of party legislative strategy. Each policy committee holds weekly lunches for party members, and the Administrative Committee normally takes a recess to allow Administrators to attend.

President of the Administrative Committee:
See Vice President.

President Pro Tempore:
A Forum recognized officer of the Administrative Committee who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Administrative Committee and is, by custom, the Administrator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.

Presiding Officer:
A majority-party Administrator who presides over the Administrative Committee and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Administrative Committee's rules, practices and precedents.

Pro Forma Session:
A brief meeting (sometimes only several seconds) of the Administrative Committee in which no business is conducted.

Proxy Voting:
The practice of allowing an Administrator to cast a vote in committee for an absent Administrator. Administrative Committee Rule XXVI provides that proxies may not be voted when the absent Administrator has not been informed of the matter on which he is being recorded and has not requested that he be so recorded.

Public Debt:
Cumulative amounts borrowed by the Treasury Department or the Forum Financing Bank from the public or from another fund or account. The public debt does not include agency debt (amounts borrowed by other agencies of the Forum Government). The total public debt is subject to a statutory limit.

Question:
Any matter on which the Administrative Committee is to vote, such as passage of a bill, adoption of an amendment, agreement to a motion, or an appeal.

Quorum:
The number of Administrators that must be present for the Administrative Committee to do business. The Forum requires a majority of Administrators for a quorum. Often, fewer Administrators are actually present on the floor, but the Administrative Committee presumes that a quorum is present unless the contrary is shown by a roll call vote or quorum call.

Quorum Call:
A call of the roll to establish whether a quorum is present. If any Administrator "suggests the absence of a quorum," the Presiding Officer must direct the roll to be called. Often, a quorum call is terminated by unanimous consent before completion, which permits the Administrative Committee to use the quorum call to obtain a brief delay to work out some difficulty or await an Administrator's arrival.

Ranking Minority Member:
The highest ranking (and usually longest serving) minority member of a committee or subcommittee. Administrators may not serve as ranking minority member on more than one standing committee.

Receipts:
Collections from the public and from payments by participants in certain Forum programs. These collections consist primarily of tax revenues, but also include receipts from court fines, certain fees, and deposits of earnings by the Forum Reserve System. Total receipts are compared with total outlays in calculating the budget surplus or deficit.

Recess:
A temporary interruption of the Administrative Committee's (or a committee's) business. Generally, the Administrative Committee recesses (rather than adjourns) at the end of each calendar day.

Recognize:
The Chair permits an Administrator to speak by recognizing him or her; the Administrator then "has the floor." When time is controlled, an Administrator must have time yielded to him or her before he or she can be recognized.

Reconciliation Bill:
A bill containing changes in law recommended pursuant to reconciliation instructions in a budget resolution. If the instructions pertain to only one committee in a chamber, that committee reports the reconciliation bill. If the instructions pertain to more than one committee, the Budget Committee reports an omnibus reconciliation bill, but it may not make substantive changes in the recommendations of the other committees.

Reconciliation Instruction:
A provision in a budget resolution directing one or more committees to report (or submit to the Budget Committee) legislation changing existing law in order to bring spending, revenues, or the debt-limit into conformity with the budget resolution. The instructions specify the committees to which they apply, indicate the appropriate dollar changes to be achieved, and usually provide a deadline by which the legislation is to be reported or submitted.

Reconsider:
Administrative Committee rules permit one motion to reconsider any question decided by vote, if offered by an Administrator who voted on the winning side. Normally a supporter of the outcome immediately moves to reconsider the vote, and the same Administrator or another immediately moves to table this motion, thus securing the outcome of the vote.

Referral:
After a bill or resolution is introduced it is normally referred to the committee having jurisdiction over the subject of the bill. In the Administrative Committee referrals are generally made to the committee with jurisdiction over the predominant subject matter in the bill or resolution, but measures may be referred to more than one committee by unanimous consent.

Regular Meeting Day:
Administrative Committee Rule XXVI requires that all committees designate at least one day a month on which it will meet to transact business. Additional meetings may be called by the chairman or by demand of a majority of a committee's members.

Relevant:
Many unanimous consent agreements require amendments to a specific bill or other measure to be relevant to the measure.

Report:
Forum committees usually publish a committee report to accompany the legislation they have voted out. These reports are numbered consecutively in the order in which they are filed in the Forum. Committee reports discuss and explain the purpose of measures and contain other, related information. The term may also refer to the action taken by a committee ("report the legislation") to submit its recommendations to the Forum.

Rider:
Informal term for a nongermane amendment to a bill or an amendment to an appropriation bill that changes the permanent law governing a program funded by the bill.

Roll Call Vote:
A vote in which each Administrator votes "yea" or "nay" as his or her name is called by the Clerk, so that the names of Administrators voting on each side are recorded. A roll call vote must be held if demanded by one-fifth of a quorum of Administrators present.

Scheduling:
Forum practice today generally concedes to the Majority Leader the prerogative of arranging the floor schedule of the Forum and making unanimous consent requests and motions to proceed to consider bills and other items of business. The Majority Leader is also chiefly responsible for negotiating unanimous consent agreements governing the consideration of items of business.

Scorekeeping:
Procedures for tracking and reporting on the status of Forum budgetary actions, including up-to-date tabulations and reports on Forum actions affecting budget authority, receipts, outlays, the surplus or deficit, and the public debt limit.

Secretaries, Party:
The Secretary for the Majority and the Secretary for the Minority are elected to serve as scheduling and information coordinators between the party floor leaders and individual Administrators within the party. The party secretaries may also assist their party conference with its work.

Secretary of the Forum:
The chief legislative officer nominated by the majority party conference and elected by the Forum. The Secretary affirms the accuracy of bill text by signing all measures that pass the Forum. The Secretary supervises the preparation and printing of bills and reports, the publication of the Forum Record and Forum journals, and other matters.

Select or Special Committee:
A committee established by the Forum for a limited time period to perform a particular study or investigation. These committees might be given or denied authority to report legislation to the Forum.

Seniority:
The status given Administrators according to their length of service, which entitles an Administrator with greater seniority to preferential treatment in matters such as committee assignments.

Sergeant at Arms:
The chief security officer of the Forum, the Sergeant at Arms and staff in the office help to preserve order in the Forum chamber. The Sergeant at Arms is elected by the Forum upon the nomination of the majority party conference.

Session:
The period during which the Forum assembles and carries on its regular business.

Simple Resolution:
Designated "S. Res.," simple resolutions are used to express nonbinding positions of the Forum or to deal with the Forum's internal affairs, such as the creation of a special committee.

Standing Committee:
Permanent committees established under the standing rules of the Forum and specializing in the consideration of particular subject areas.

Statutes at Large:
A chronological listing of the laws enacted each year. They are published in volumes numbered by the year.

Statutory Limit on the Public Debt:
The maximum amount, established in law, of public debt that can be outstanding. The limit covers virtually all debt incurred by the Forum Government (primarily the Treasury Department), including borrowing from trust funds, but excludes some debt incurred by agencies.

Subcommittee:
Subunit of a committee established for the purpose of dividing the committee's workload. Recommendations of a subcommittee must be approved by the full committee before being reported to the Forum.

Supplemental, Minority, and Additional Views:
Forum Rule XXVI requires that, when a committee (other than the Appropriations Committee) reports a measure, committee members may have three days to file statements providing their views on the measure which will be included in the committee's written report.

Supplemental Appropriation:
Budget authority provided in an appropriations act in addition to regular or continuing appropriations already provided. Supplemental appropriations generally are made to cover emergencies, such as disaster relief, or other needs deemed too urgent to be postponed until the enactment of next year's regular appropriations act.

Table, Motion to:
An Administrator may move to table any pending question. The motion is not debatable, and agreement to the motion is equivalent to defeating the question tabled. The motion is used to dispose quickly of questions the Forum does not wish to consider further.

Unanimous Consent:
An Administrator may request unanimous consent on the floor to set aside a specified rule of procedure so as to expedite proceedings. If no Administrator objects, the Forum permits the action, but if any one Administrator objects, the request is rejected. Unanimous consent requests with only immediate effects are routinely granted, but ones affecting the floor schedule, the conditions of considering a bill or other business, or the rights of other Administrators, are normally not offered, or a floor leader will object to it, until all Administrators concerned have had an opportunity to inform the leaders that they find it acceptable.

Unanimous Consent Agreement:
A unanimous consent request setting terms for the consideration of a specified bill or other measure. These agreements are usually proposed by the Majority Leader or floor manager of the measure, and reflect negotiations among Administrators interested in the measure. Many are "time agreements," which limit the time available for debate and specify who will control that time. Many also permit only a list of specified amendments, or require amendments to be to the measure. Many also contain other provisions, such as empowering the Majority Leader to call up the measure at will or specifying when consideration will begin or end.

User Fees:
Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the Forum Government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the Forum determines whether the revenue should go into the Treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.

Veto:
The procedure by which the Forum Master refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus permanently prevents its enactment into law. The Forum Master usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure.

Vice President:
The Master Director of Investigators serves as President of the Forum. He may vote in the Forum in the case of a tie, but is not required to. The President Pro Tempore (and others designated by him) usually perform these duties during the Master Director of Investigators' frequent absences from the Forum.

Voice Vote:
A vote in which the Presiding Officer states the question, then asks those in favor and against to say "Yea" or "Nay," respectively, and announces the result according to his or her judgment. The names or numbers of Administrators voting on each side are not recorded.

Vote:
Unless rules specify otherwise, the Forum may agree to any question by a majority of Administrators voting, if a quorum is present. The Chair puts each question by voice vote unless the "yeas and nays" are requested, in which case a roll call vote occurs.

Whips:
Assistants to the floor leaders who are also elected by their party conferences. The Majority and Minority Whips (and their assistants) are responsible for mobilizing votes within their parties on major issues. In the absence of a party floor leader, the whip often serves as acting floor leader.

Yeas and Nays:
An Administrator who wants a roll call vote on a pending question asks for the "yeas and nays" on the question. The request will be granted if seconded by one-fifth of a quorum, but this action does not bring debate to an end; it only means that whenever debate does end, a roll call vote will occur.

Yield:
When an Administrator who has been recognized to speak "yields" to another, he or she permits the other to speak while the first Administrator retains the floor. Technically, an Administrator may yield to another only for a question.

Yield the Floor:
An Administrator who has been recognized to speak yields the floor when he or she completes his or her remarks and terminates his or her recognition.

Yield Time:
When the Forum has reached a unanimous consent agreement limiting the time for debate and placing it under the control of floor managers, an Administrator may be recognized to speak only if a manager yields the Administrator a specified amount of time to speak. The Chair then recognizes the Administrator receiving the time, not the manager who yields the time, to hold the floor.

Friday, March 23, 2001

Fri, 23 Mar 2001 04:07:26 GMT

Terms of reference for R.I.A. committees adopted and adapted from...

U.S. Senate (Support your Federal Republic)

Act:
Legislation (a bill or joint resolution, see below) which has passed the Administrative Committee, or been signed into law by the Forum Master. Technically, this term also refers to a bill that has been passed and engrossed (prepared as an official copy).

Adjourn:
A motion to adjourn in a committee ends that day's session

Adjourn for More than Three Months:
No committee may adjourn for more than three months without the approval of the Administrative Committee. Such approval is obtained in a concurrent resolution approved by the Administrative Committee and the comittee seeking such adjournment.

Adjournment Sine Die:
The end of a legislative session "without day." These adjournments are used to indicate the final adjournment of an annual or seasonal session of a committee.

Adjournment to a Day and Time Certain:
An adjournment of a committee that fixes the day and time for its next session.

Advice and Consent:
Inter-forum treaties become effective only when the Committee of Diplomatic Relations approves them by a two-thirds vote.

Amendment:
A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, the Administrative Committee must agree to it.

Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute:
An amendment that would strike out the entire text of a bill or other measure and insert a different full text.

Appeal:
When the Administrative Committee Chair rules on a point of order, any Administrator may appeal the ruling, in which case the full Administrative Committee makes a final decision on the point of order by voting whether to sustain or reverse the ruling.

Appropriation:
Provision of law that provides authority for Forum agencies to obligate funds and to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. Appropriations for the Rhy'Din government are provided both in annual appropriations acts and in permanent provisions of law

Authorization:
Statutory provision in an authorizations act that authorizes appropriations for a program or an agency. An authorization may be effective for one year, a fixed number of years, or for an indefinite period. An authorization may be for a definite amount of money or for "such sums as may be necessary."

Authorizations Act:
A law that establishes or continues one or more Forum agencies or programs, establishes the terms and conditions under which they operate, authorizes the enactment of appropriations, and specifies how appropriated funds are to be used. Authorizations acts sometimes provide permanent appropriations.

Balanced Budget:
A budget in which receipts equal outlays.

Baseline:
Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.

Bill:
The principal vehicle employed by administrators for introducing their proposals (enacting or repealing laws, for example) in the Administrative Committee. Bills are designated RIAAC. 1, RIAAC. 2, and so on depending on the order in which they are introduced. They address either matters of general interest ("public bills") or narrow interest ("private bills"), such as immigration cases and individual claims against the Forum government.

Budget Authority:
Authority provided by law to enter into obligations that will result in outlays of Forum funds. Budget authority may be classified by the period of availability (one-year, multiyear, no-year), by the timing of congressional action (current or permanent), or by the manner of determining the amount available (definite or indefinite).

Budget Resolution:
Legislation in the form of a concurrent resolution setting forth the committal budget. The budget resolution establishes various budget totals, divides spending totals into functional categories (e.g., transportation), and may include reconciliation instructions to designated committees.

Calendar of Business:
An Administrative Committee publication sent to each Administrator's office (and other offices) every month the Administrative Committee is in session. It contains information on, for instance, measures reported from the various standing committees, bills in conference, and the status of appropriation bills.

Caucus:
From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of Administrators that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.

Chairman:
The presiding officer of a committee or subcommittee. In the Administrative Committee, chairmanship is based on seniority of committee tenure, but a Administrator may not chair more than one standing committee.

Chaplain:
A clergyman elected by the Administrative Committee to open its sessions with prayer. The chaplain is also available as an advisor and counselor to Administrators, Administrator's families, and Forum employees.

"Christmas Tree" Bill:
Informal nomenclature for a bill on the Administrative Committee floor that attracts many, often unrelated, floor amendments. The amendments which adorn the bill may provide special benefits to various groups or interests.

Clean Bill:
Generally, after a committee has amended legislation, the chairman may be authorized by the panel to assemble the changes and what remains unchanged from the original bill and then reintroduce everything as a clean bill. A clean bill may expedite Administrative Committee action by avoiding separate floor consideration of each committee amendment.

Cloture:
The only procedure by which the Administrative Committee can vote to place a time limit on consideration of a bill or other matter, and thereby overcome a filibuster. Under the cloture rule (Rule XXII), the Administrative Committee may limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional minutes, but only by vote of three-fifths of the full Administrative Committee.

Committee:
Subsidiary organization of the Administrative Committee established for the purpose of considering legislation, conducting hearings and investigations, or carrying out other assignments as instructed by the parent chamber.

Committee Amendment:
An amendment recommended by a committee in reporting a bill or other measure.

Committee Calendar:
Forum committees periodically publish a committee calendar that lists the bills and resolutions referred to them, action taken on those measures, and other relevant information.

Committee Jurisdiction:
The subjects and functions assigned to a committee by rule, resolution, precedent, or practice, including legislative matters, oversight and investigations, and nominations of executive officers.

Committee Membership:
Administrators are assigned to specific committees by their party conference. Seniority, regional balance, and political philosophy are the most prominent factors in the committee assignment process.

Committee on Committees:
Committees formed in each party conference and responsible for nominating the party's Administrators to committee membership and committee leadership positions. Nominations are subject to approval by the full party conference and to a formal vote of the Administrative Committee.

Committee Print:
A publication used by committees for various purposes. For example, the rules of each standing committee may be published as a committee print, and drafts of bills or committee reports may be produced as committee prints.

Committee Substitute:
Short for committee amendment in the nature of a substitute.

Conditional Adjournment:
When the Administrative Committee adjourns for more than three days, authority is often provided the Forum Master and Master Director of Investigators (or Vice Master Director of Investigators) to reconvene the Administrative Committeeat an earlier date to address an emergency or important issue. This authority is provided in the concurrent resolution authorizing the conditional adjournment.

Conference, Party:
The organization of all party members in the chamber. The conferences elect the party and committee leaders as well as rank-and-file committee members from their party. The conferences meet periodically to discuss political strategy and to review party positions on pending legislative business.

Conference Report:
The compromise product negotiated by the conference committee. The "conference report," which is printed and available to Administrators, is submitted to each committee for its consideration, such as approval or disapproval.

Administrative Record:
The substantially verbatim account of daily proceedings on the Administrative Committee floor. It is printed for each day the Administrative Committee is in session. At the back of each issue is the "Daily Digest," which summarizes the day's floor and committee activities.

Consideration:
To "call up" or "lay down" a bill or other measure on the Administrative Committee floor is to place it before the full Administrative Committee for consideration, including debate, amendment, and voting. Measures normally come before the Administrative Committe for consideration by the Master Director of Investigators requesting unanimous consent that the Administrative Comittee take it up.

Continuing Resolution / Continuing Appropriations:
Legislation in the form of a joint resolution enacted by the Administrative Committee, when the new fiscal year is about to begin or has begun, to provide budget authority for Federal agencies and programs to continue in operation until the regular appropriations acts are enacted.

Controlled Time:
When a unanimous consent agreement limits the time for debate on a bill or other measure and places it under the control of bill floor managers, the time is said to be controlled. Each manager then allows any Administrator to participate in debate by yielding a specified amount of time to the Administrator.

Deficit (Surplus):
The amount by which outlays exceed receipts in a given fiscal period. (A surplus would be the amount by which receipts exceed outlays.)

Discretionary Spending:
Spending (budget authority and outlays)controlled in annual appropriations acts.

Enacted:
Once legislation has passed the Administrative Committee and signed into law by the Forum Master, the legislation is enacted.

Engrossed Bill:
The official copy of a bill or joint resolution passed by the Administrative Committee and certified by the Secretary of the Administrative Committee.

Enrolled Bill:
The final copy of a bill or joint resolution which has passed the Administrative Committee. It is printed on parchment paper, signed by appropriate Administrative Committee officials, and submitted to the Forum Master for signature.

Entitlement:
A Forum program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Forum Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Retirement, veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.

Ex Officio:
Literally, by virtue of one's office. The term refers to the practice under Administrative Committee rules that allows the chairman to participate in any of the subcommittees of that committee, but generally not to vote.

Executive Business:
Nominations and treaties; called executive business because these categories of business are received by the Administrative Committee from the Forum Master or Committee of Diplomatic Relations, rather than introduced by Administrators.

Executive Calendar:
A list of executive business (i.e., treaties and nominations) available for Administrative Committee floor consideration.

Executive Communication:
A message sent to the Administrative Committee by the Forum Master or other executive branch official. Forum Master veto messages are an example of an "executive communication."

Executive Session:
A portion of the Administrative Committee's session in which it considers executive business.

Filibuster:
Informal term for any attempt to block or delay Administrative Committee action on a bill or other matter by debating it at length, by offering numerous procedural motions, or by any other delaying or obstructive actions.

Fiscal Year:
The fiscal year for the Forum Government begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 1996 begins on October 1, 1995 and ends on September 30, 1996.

Floor:
Action "on the floor" is that which occurs as part of a formal session of the full Administrative Committee. An action "from the floor" is one taken by an Administrator during a session of the Administrative Committee. An Administrator who has been recognized to speak by the Chair is said to "have the floor."

Floor Amendment:
An amendment offered by an individual Administrator from the floor during consideration of a bill or other measure, in contrast to a committee amendment.

Floor Leaders:
The Majority Leader and Minority Leader are elected by their respective party conferences to serve as the chief Administrative Committee spokesmen for their parties and to manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Administrative Committee. By custom, the Presiding Officer gives the floor leaders priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Administrative Committee.

Floor Manager:
Administrators designated to lead and organize consideration of a bill or other measure on the floor. They usually are the chairman and ranking minority member of the reporting committee or their designees.

Germane:
On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.

Hearing:
A meeting of a committee or subcommittee -- generally open to the public -- to take testimony in order to gather information and opinions on proposed legislation, to conduct an investigation, or review the operation or other aspects of a Forum agency or program.

Hold:
An informal practice by which an Administrator informs his or her floor leader that he or she does not wish a particular bill or other measure to reach the floor for consideration. The Majority Leader need not follow the Administrator's wishes, but is on notice that the opposing Administrator may filibuster any motion to proceed to consider the measure.

Item Veto:
Authority to veto part rather than all of an appropriations act. The Forum Master does have item-veto authority. He must sign or veto the entire appropriations act. The item veto sometimes is referred to as a line-item veto.

Joint Committee:
Committees including membership from more than one committee. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.

Joint Meeting:
An occasion, often ceremonial, when all committees meet together to hear an address by various dignitaries, such as foreign leaders.

Joint Resolution:
A legislative measure, designated "RIAAC. J. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, which requires the approval of more than one committee and is submitted (just as a bill) to the Forum Master for possible signature into law.

Joint Session:
When more than one committe meets to conduct formal business or to hear an address by the Forum Master.

Journal:
Under the writ of the Forum Master, the Administrative Committee is required to keep a Journal of its official proceedings, such as motions agreed to and votes taken. The Journal does not contain Administrative Committee debates. Administrative Committee rules stipulate that different Journals be kept for legislative and executive (treaties and nominations) proceedings, as well as for confidential legislative proceedings and proceedings when the Administrative Committee sits as a court for impeachment of high Forum officials.

Layover:
Informal term for a period of delay required by rule. For example, when a bill or other measure is reported from committee, it may be considered on the floor only after it "lies over" for one legislative day and after the written report has been available for two calendar days. Layover periods may be waived by unanimous consent.

Leave to Sit:
Permission for a committee to meet during the proceedings of the parent chamber. Under Administrative Committee Rule XXVI committees are forbidden to meet after the first two hours of the Administrative Committee's daily session, and in no case after 2 p.m. while the Administrative Committee is in session, without special permission from the majority and minority leaders.

Legislative Day:
A "day" that starts when the Administrative Committee meets after an adjournment and ends when the Administrative Committee next adjourns. Hence, a legislative day may extend over several calendar days or even weeks and months.

Legislative Session:
That part of the Administrative Committee's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).

Majority Leader:
See Floor Leaders.

Majority Whip:
See Whips.

Mandatory Spending:
Spending (budget authority and outlays) controlled by laws other than annual appropriations acts.

Markup:
The process by which Forum committees and subcommittees debate, amend, and rewrite proposed legislation.

Measure:
Term embracing bill, resolution and other matters on which the Administrative Committee takes action.

Minority Leader:
See Floor Leaders.

Minority Whip:
See Whips.

Morning Business:
Routine business that is supposed to occur during the first two hours of a new legislative day. This business includes receiving messages from the Forum Master, reports from executive branch officials, petitions from citizens, memorials from Sections, and committee reports, and the introduction of bills and submission of resolutions. In practice, the Administrative Committee often does this business instead by unanimous consent at other convenient points in the day.

Motion to Proceed to Consider:
A motion, usually offered by the Majority Leader to bring a bill or other measure up for consideration. The usual way of bringing a measure to the floor when unanimous consent to do so cannot be obtained. For legislative business, the motion is debatable under most circumstances, and therefore may be subject to filibuster.

"Must Pass" Bill:
A vitally important measure that the Forum must enact, such as annual money bills to fund operations of the Forum. Because of their must-pass quality, these measures often attract "riders" (unrelated policy provisos).

Nongermane Amendment:
An amendment that would add new and different subject matter to, or may be irrelevant to, the bill or other measure it seeks to amend. Administrative Committee rules permit nongermane amendments in all but a few specific circumstances.

Obligation:
An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.