I. Election of Chair and Vice-Chair
II. Powers of Chair
III. Procedural Rules
IV. Local Bills
V. Committees
VI. Staff and Office
VII. General and Miscellaneous 

I. Election of Chair and Vice-Chair  

A. Time

1. Election year: Within the first ten (10) days of November, after the general election.
2. Non-election year: One year from election year elections.
3. Within fifteen (15) days from vacancy of office.

B. Qualifications

1. Fifty (50) percent of precincts shall be within Broward County for either Chair or Vice-Chair.
2. Elected member of the Delegation.
3. Alternate House and Senate member each year unless member of the Chamber, whose turn it is, does not desire to be Chair or Vice-Chair.
4. Chair and Vice-Chair will not be members of the same House of the Legislature.

C. Voting for Chair

1. Each legislative member representing any portion of Broward County is entitled to one vote of equal weight.
2. Roll call vote.

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II. Powers of Chair  

A. Conduct meetings and rule on procedural matters.

B. Propose and submit annual budget to the County Commissioners for approval.

C. Approve expenditures of funds for the Delegation.

D. Hire staff as prescribed by rules, subject to approval of the Delegation.

E. Operate Delegation Office to serve all members and the people of Broward County.

F. Schedule meetings and hearings with reasonable notice and reasonable accommodation to members' schedules.

G. Appoint committees or sub-committees composed of the members and designate chair.

H. Establish agenda for meetings and distribute to members.

I. All powers of the Chair and rulings on procedural matters are subject to appeal to the membership after notice to members.

III. Procedural Rules  

A. Meetings, other than for general policies, shall be held in Broward County on substantive issues except when Legislature is in session, when Legislative committees are meeting, or in an emergency, and with two-thirds (2/3) of the Legislative Delegation.

1. All public hearings to be held in Broward County except in an emergency and with unanimous consent.
2. Public hearings will be held in the general area affected by the subject matter, whenever possible.

B. Notice of all meetings to be given to all members, the press, and public bodies and offices concerned with subjects of the meeting and published as required by law, whenever possible. Members to receive materials at least forty-eight (48) hours before meeting, except in an emergency.

C. Chair shall have full authority to conduct meetings, recognize members and other persons desiring to be heard and may request such assistance as necessary to maintain order.

D. All communications will be directed through the Chair.

E. Procedural matters will be governed by the Chair subject to appeal to the members, and a majority vote of all members present will govern as to such matters.

F. A majority of all of the members of the Delegation shall constitute a quorum.

G. Rules of the House of Representatives govern.

H. Agenda items to include public to be heard on general matters as time permits. Limit of three (3) minutes for each public speaker, unless waived by the chair.

I. Delegation shall advertise notice of public hearing (10) days prior to hearing.

J. A public hearing shall mean a hearing conducted by the Broward Legislative Delegation open to full participation by all of its members and not a subcommittee of the Delegation, unless the Chair specifically authorizes a subcommittee to act in the stead of the full Legislative Delegation.

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IV. Local Bills 

A. No local bill or general bill of local application may be introduced unless approved by a majority of the members of each Chamber as evidenced by the signature of the chair.

B. Voting on Local Bills

1. Public agencies submitting bills to the Delegation will be required to submit proposed bills in bill form prior to asking Delegation approval.
2. No bill will be voted on unless in proper form.
3. No bill will be voted on unless a public hearing is held with notice to the public.
4. Subjects or "concepts" may be placed on agenda for hearing at the request of at least one Delegation member.
5. Chair shall have discretion to ask for straw votes or indications from members as to concepts for local bills prior to having the bills drafted in order to save money and expense.
6. Fiscal impact statement on local bills shall be required.
7. All members in the Chamber shall vote and no abstention shall be allowed unless a member shall publicly announce a private conflict on any proposed bill.

C. Annexation/Deannexation:

No local bill for annexation/deannexation shall be approved without two readings by the Legislative Delegation. Subsequent to the submission of a local bill for annexation/deannexation to the Delegation, the following information shall be provided:

1. A report from the county filed with the Delegation on employee displacement three weeks following the filing of a local bill concerning annexation, which report shall be forwarded to the annexing city(ies).
2. A report from the Sheriff filed with the Delegation on public safety employee displacement three weeks following the filing of a local bill concerning annexation, which report shall be forwarded to the annexing city(ies).
3. Plans from the annexing city(ies) concerning employee displacement and plans for law enforcement and fire rescue services filed with the Delegation within 30 days following receipt of reports on employee displacement from the county and the sheriff, with consideration for contractual services with Broward County and the sheriff, respectively.
4. A plan for fire/rescue services to the affected area with consideration for contractual services by Broward County, submitted at the same time as the transition plan.
5. Provision within each local bill that annexation shall be effective on September 15, of a year certain and no referendum on annexation may be held within 180 days of the September 15 effective date.

D. Annexation/Deannexation Pursuant to Chapter 171, F.S.

No hearing will be scheduled by the Legislative Delegation unless there is submission of a transition plan providing for impact on employees of the government affected, which shall be submitted no later than ten days prior to a hearing by the Legislative Delegation or the annexation subcommittee, whichever is first. A plan for law enforcement and fire/rescue services as provided in C.3 and C.4 above should also be submitted.

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V. Committees  

A. Membership on committees shall be composed of at least one member of each House of the Legislature.

B. Committees may be established at a meeting of the Delegation with a quorum present by majority vote of the members present.

VI. Staff and Office 

C. The Delegation shall have an executive director and a secretary to be hired by and responsible to the Chair to aid in fulfilling the Chair’s responsibilities and to aid all members of the Delegation, subject to approval of the Delegation.

D. The Delegation shall have an attorney on a part-time basis to advise and counsel the Delegation, to be hired by the Chair and responsible through the Chair to all members of the Delegation, subject to approval of the Delegation.

E. Use of the Delegation attorney's time (and fees thereby incurred) shall be approved by the Chair.

F. All records of the Delegation shall be open and available to members at all times during normal business hours.

VII. General and Miscellaneous  

G. The Delegation is dedicated to serving the people of Broward County.

H. To this end, meetings and procedures will be conducted with priority given to an opportunity for the public to be heard.

I. Debate among members may be limited in time by motion and approval of a majority of the members present.

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