To amend section 101.35 of the Revised Code to make the officers of a legislative committee limited, ex officio members of the Joint Committee on Agency Rule when a rule coming within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative committee is under consideration.

Section 1. That section 101.35 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 101.35.  There is hereby created in the general assembly the joint committee on agency rule review. The Except as the membership is augmented under the second paragraph of this section, the committee shall consist of five members of the house of representatives and five members of the senate. Within fifteen days after the commencement of the first regular session of each general assembly, the speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint the members of the committee from the house of representatives, and the president of the senate shall appoint the members of the committee from the senate. Not more than three of the members from each house shall be of the same political party. In the first regular session of a general assembly, the chairperson of the committee shall be appointed by the speaker of the house from among the house members of the committee, and the vice-chairperson shall be appointed by the president of the senate from among the senate members of the committee. In the second regular session of a general assembly, the chairperson shall be appointed by the president of the senate from among the senate members of the committee, and the vice-chairperson shall be appointed by the speaker of the house from among the house members of the committee. The chairperson, vice-chairperson, and members of the committee shall serve until their respective successors are appointed or until they are no longer members of the general assembly. When a vacancy occurs among the officers or members of the committee, it shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

When the joint committee takes up a rule, amendment, rescission, or part thereof for consideration, the chairperson, vice-chairperson, and ranking minority member of the standing committee of the senate and of the house of representatives having jurisdiction over the subject matter of the rule, amendment, rescission, or part thereof also are members of the joint committee during, and with regard to only, that consideration.

Notwithstanding section 101.26 of the Revised Code, the members, when engaged in their duties as members of the committee on days when there is not a voting session of the member's house of the general assembly, shall be paid at the per diem rate of one hundred fifty dollars, and their necessary traveling expenses, which shall be paid from the funds appropriated for the payment of expenses of legislative committees.

The committee has the same powers as other standing or select committees of the general assembly. Six Nine members constitute a quorum, and the with regard to consideration of a rule and six members constitute a quorum for all other purposes. The concurrence of six nine members is required for the recommendation of a concurrent resolution invalidating a proposed or effective rule, amendment, rescission, or part thereof, or for the suspension of a rule, amendment, rescission, or part thereof, under division (I) of section 119.03 or section 119.031 of the Revised Code.

When a member of the committee is absent, the president or speaker, as the case may be, may designate a substitute from the same house and political party as the absent member. The substitute shall serve on the committee in the member's absence, and is entitled to perform the duties of a member of the committee. For serving on the committee, the substitute shall be paid the same per diem and necessary traveling expenses as the substitute would be entitled to receive if the substitute were a member of the committee.

The president or speaker shall inform the executive director of the committee of a substitution. If the executive director learns of a substitution sufficiently in advance of the meeting of the committee the substitute is to attend, the executive director shall publish notice of the substitution on the internet, make reasonable effort to inform of the substitution persons who are known to the executive director to be interested in rules that are scheduled for review at the meeting, and inform of the substitution persons who inquire of the executive director concerning the meeting.

The committee may meet during periods in which the general assembly has adjourned. At meetings of the committee, the committee may request a rule-making agency, as defined in section 119.01 of the Revised Code, to provide information relative to the agency's implementation of its statutory authority.

A member of the committee, and the executive director and staff of the committee, are entitled in their official capacities to attend, but not in their official capacities to participate in, a public hearing conducted by a rule-making agency on a proposed rule, amendment, or rescission.

Section 2. That existing section 101.35 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.

Section 3. The amendment by this act of section 101.35 of the Revised Code first applies on January 1, 2008.