Debate

§ 6. Debate. a. No member rising to debate, to give notice, make a motion or report, or to present a petition or other paper, shall proceed until such member shall have addressed the Speaker from his or her place and has been recognized by the Speaker. While a member is speaking, no member shall entertain any private discourse or pass between the member speaking and the Chair. b. Unless otherwise provided by these Rules, no member shall speak, except in his or her place, nor more than twice on any question, without leave of the House and no member shall speak for more than fifteen minutes at a time except by consent of two-thirds of the members present; provided, however that a member desiring to explain his or her vote upon the final passage of a bill or upon the passage of a resolution requiring the expenditure of money may make a brief statement, not to exceed two minutes, in explanation of such vote; and further provided that in addition to the foregoing, the sponsor of a bill or resolution may make a statement not to exceed five minutes for the purpose of opening debate on such bill or resolution. c. If any member, in speaking, transgresses the Rules of the House, the Speaker may call such member to order, in which case the member so called to order shall immediately sit down, and shall not rise unless to explain or proceed in order. d. While the Speaker is putting a question, or a roll call is in progress or a count is being had, no member shall speak or leave his or her place. When the House shall be equally divided on any question, including the Speaker's vote, the question shall be deemed to be lost. All questions relating to the priority of one question or subject matter over another, under the same order of business, shall be decided without debate. If any question contains several distinct propositions, it shall be divided by the Chair at the request of any member, but a motion to strike out and insert shall be indivisible. All questions of order, as they shall occur, with the decisions thereon, shall be entered in the Journal, and, at the close of the session, a statement of all such questions and decisions shall be printed at the close of and as an appendix to the Journal.