DELAWARE STATE SENATE

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 5

TO

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 2

AMEND Senate Resolution No. 2 on line 229 and 230 by deleting “allocate the desks on the floor of the Senate and”.

FURTHER AMEND Senate Resolution No. 2 by inserting the following after line 230 and before line 231:

“(f) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this rule, the desks on the floor of the Senate are to be arranged on the floor and assigned to the members by the Secretary as follows:

(1) The desks on the floor of the Senate are to be arranged in 3 rows separated in the middle by a center aisle as follows:

a. The first row is to consist of 6 desks, with 3 desks on each side of the center aisle.

b. The second row is to consist of 8 desks, with 4 desks on each side of the center aisle.

c. The third row is to consist of 7 desks, with 4 desks on the left side of the center aisle and 3 desks on the right side of the center aisle.

(2) The desks on the floor of the Senate are to be assigned to members as follows:

a. The 3 desks in the first row on the left side of the center aisle are to be assigned as follows from the desk on the center aisle: the President Pro Tempore, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Senate Majority Whip.

b. The first 2 desks in the first row on the right side of the center aisle are to be assigned as follows from the desk on the center aisle: the Senate Minority Leader and the Senate Minority Whip.

c. The remainder of the desks are to be assigned in numerical order of the Senate district number of the members other than the members under paragraph (f)(2)a. and (f)(2)b. of this rule, starting with the desk next to the Senate Minority Whip and then progressing from left to right through the second and third rows.

(3) For purposes of this subsection, positions for the rows of desks and “left” and “right” are from the perspective of the President of the Senate’s seat in the Senate Chamber, which is located on the dais in the Senate Chamber.”.

SYNOPSIS

This Amendment requires that the desks on the floor of the Senate, other than for Senate leadership, are to be assigned by the Secretary of the Senate based on a member's Senatorial district number rather than by the President Pro Tempore as provided by Senate Rule 14(e).

The goal of this Amendment is to seat Senators of different parties together rather than separating the Senate Chamber into a majority side and minority side.

Author: Senator Buckson