THE CALENDARS OF THE HOUSE

Calendars of the United States House of Representatives And History of Legislation is published and delivered to every Congressional office on a daily basis when the House is in session. It contains a wealth of information concerning the business of the House and the Senate.

Measures reported from committee are assigned by the Speaker to one of four regularly used calendars, namely the Union Calendar, the House Calendar, the Private Calendar and the Corrections Calendar. These calendars list bills in the chronological order in which they are reported by the various committees.

1. The Union Calendar - Clause 1 of Rule XIII (First): "A Calendar of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, to which shall be referred all bills raising revenue, general appropriations bills, and bills of a public character directly or indirectly appropriating money or property." All legislation dealing with raising, authorizing or spending money is assigned to this calendar.

2. The House Calendar - Clause 1 of Rule XIII (Second): "A House calendar, to which shall be referred all bills of a public character not raising revenue nor directly or indirectly appropriating money or property." Non-money measures and other measures dealing with internal House matters are put on this calendar.

3. The Private Calendar - Clause 1 of Rule XIII (Third): "A Calendar of the Committee of the Whole House, to which shall be referred all bills of a private character." Bills dealing with the relief of a private nature, those not of general application and usually dealing with identifiable private persons, are assigned to this calendar. Bills on this calendar are considered on special calendar days.

4. The Corrections Calendar - Clause 4 of Rule XIII: "After a measure has been favorably reported and placed on the Union or House Calendar, the Speaker may, after consultation with the Minority Leader, file with the Clerk a notice requesting that such bill also be placed on a special calendar to be known as the `Corrections Calendar'." Certain noncontroversial bills are assigned by the Speaker, after consultation with the bipartisan Corrections advisory panel, to this calendar. Measures so referred are also in order on special calendar days, namely the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. Measures that are rejected (fail to receive the required 3/5th vote) are placed back on the Union or House Calendar without prejudice.

CALENDARS also includes the Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees.

Clause 3 of Rule XXVII: "A Member may present to the Clerk a motion in writing to discharge a committee from consideration of a public bill or resolution which has been referred to it thirty days prior.....When a majority of the total membership shall have signed the motion, it shall be entered on the Journal, printed with the signatures thereto in the Congressional Record, and referred to the Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees." This "Discharge Calendar" lists all motions to discharge committees through special procedures. This calendar is only very infrequently used.

In addition to the above calendars, this publication contains a variety of other information including the following.

While the CALENDARS is a handy reference source, it should be noted that not every measure listed is called up and considered by the House.


Home Page | Members | POP | Rules News | Subcommittees | Rules Committee History | Links