VOTING IN THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

A Member requesting a recorded vote must get at least 25 Members to stand in support of the request, and will usually simultaneously make a point of order that a quorum is not present as a safeguard for rounding-up sufficient support. However, the Member will usually ask unanimous consent to withdraw the no-quorum point of order when it is clear that a sufficient number of members are present and standing to demand the recorded vote. Each amendment must be germane to the text it proposes to amend. An amendment cannot propose to amend something that already has been amended in its entirety. Whatever text the Committee is considering (the bill, a section of the bill, or a first degree amendment) remains subject to amendment until it has been completely amended or passed in the reading. Most points of order against an amendment should be made or reversed before debate on it begins.

After the Committee of the Whole has voted on the final amendment offered to the bill, it does not vote on the original text of the bill itself. Instead, the Committee rises and reports the bill back to the House with the amendments it has approved. The House then must vote on agreeing to those amendments before voting on the final passage of the bill.