SESSIONS

The annual legislative session begins at noon on the second Tuesday in January, when both houses meeting in joint session hear the Governor deliver his annual "State of the State" message. Thereafter, the legislature traditionally meets on Mondays and Thursdays until the budget is received--as required by law, 21 days from the beginning of the session, although this date is frequently changed. It then adjourns for about three or four weeks while the Joint Appropriations Committee holds hearings on the budget. Reconvening in March, the legislature continues its regular Monday and Thursday meetings until the end of June. The legislature then reconvenes in September.

Special sessions of the legislature must be called by the Governor when a majority of each house petitions him to do so, and may be called when he deems it in the public interest. The New Jersey Legislature is free to meet 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, should it so choose. Constitutional limitations on the length of legislative sessions and the number of calendar days permitted a State Legislature, so common in other states, are absent in New Jersey.

A typical legislative day begins with committee meetings at 10:00 a.m.and prayer, a call to order, and other opening ceremonies later in the day. Next come the speeches welcoming visitors and the resolutions marking events of momentous or more usually, momentary importance. Bills are introduced, referred to committee, reported out of committee, placed on second reading. Party conferences and committee meetings are scheduled throughout the day. The debate on amendments and final passage of bills takes place usually late in the afternoon. All members receive printed copies of bills, although if amendments have been made on the floor or in the majority caucus, amended copies may not be available until the morning on which the final vote is scheduled. Notice of which bills are scheduled to come up for final passage is sent to members by telegram over the preceding weekend.

The Rules of the General Assembly and the Senate establish the order of precedence on the day's agenda, and for the conduct of debate. Questions as to proper procedure are decided by the presiding officer in each house, who may be overruled by a majority vote. Neither of the presiding officers may speak on an issue unless he relinquishes the chair. Unlike the United States Senate, which allows unlimited debate and filibustering on any matter, New Jersey's legislature imposes precise limits on the oratory of its members. A senator may speak three times on any one bill or motion: 30 minutes the first time; 15, the second; and five, the third. An assemblyman may speak three times on any issue: 15 minutes the first and second times; and five, the third. Nonetheless, each house provides for "moving the previous question" by which debate can be cut off by a simple majority regardless of whether each member has used all his speaking time. The Senate now requires only a majority vote to suspend any standing rule.

In the New Jersey Constitution and in the rules of New Jersey's General Assembly and Senate, when a majority of either house is required to establish a quorum or for passage of a bill, resolutions, or motion, a majority of the total authorized membership of each house is meant--41 in the Assembly and 21 in the Senate--regardless of a vacancy or temporary absence of absentention. When a fraction in the membership is required to pass a bill or resolution, such as the three-fifths required in the case of resolutions calling for constitutional amendments or the two-thirds required to override a gubernatorial veto, the fraction is again that of the total authorized membership, not of those present or voting.