Weekly Rewind: Week of January 8th

(Published by the Office of Research of the House of Representatives)

HOUSE WEEK IN REVIEW
January 11, 2013

On Tuesday, January 8, 2013, the House of Representatives convened in Columbia for the commencement of the 120th South Carolina General Assembly.

As the House begins its legislative session, the body operates under the rules it adopted with resolution H.3001 at last month’s organizational session, including a rules change that revises the COMPOSITION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES LEGISLATIVE ETHICS COMMITTEE by increasing its size from six members to ten and providing for representation on the committee to be divided equally between the majority and minority parties. The House of Representatives Legislative Ethics Committee , which is elected by the House membership to address allegations of unethical conduct involving current and former House Members, House candidates, and House officers and staff, is composed, under the revised rules, of five House Members who are from the majority party and five House Members who are from a minority party or who have no party affiliation. The Chairman of the Ethics Committee must be one of the five members from the majority party and is elected by the members of the Ethics Committee. The other officers of the Ethics Committee are also elected by the committee’s membership, but are not required to be affiliated with a particular party.