The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 was an act of the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 to "improve the operation of the legislative branch of the Federal Government, and for other purposes". The act focused mainly on the rules that governed congressional committee procedures, decreasing the power of the chair and empowering minority members, and on making House and Senate processes more transparent.

Provisions

• Required that reports on a measure be made available 3 days before a floor vote.
• Established procedures for recorded votes in the House Committee of the Whole
  Committee of the Whole (United States House of Representatives)
  In the United States House of Representatives, the Committee of the Whole, short for Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, is a parliamentary device in which the House of Representatives is considered one large congressional committee...
  
   and led to the installation of electronic voting machines.
• Provided procedures to combat non-germane amendments in conference report
  Conference report
  In the United States Congress, a conference report refers to the final version of a bill that is negotiated between the House of Representatives and the Senate via conference committee. It is printed and submitted to each chamber for its consideration, such as approval or disapproval...
  
  s and compromises that exceeded the scope of the disagreement between House and Senate versions of the bill.
• Required that debate time on conference reports be equally divided between the two major parties.
• Allowed committees to meet while the Senate was in session, with approval of the Majority and Minority leaders.
• Expanded committee staffing, gave minority members greater say in staff selections, and required majority approval for committee staff hirings and firings.
• Renamed the Legislative Reference Service to the Congressional Research Service
  Congressional Research Service
  The Congressional Research Service , known as "Congress's think tank", is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a...
  
  , gave it greater autonomy from the Library of Congress
  Library of Congress
  The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
  
  , expanded the services that it provided, and directed it to triple its staff.
• Revised the executive oversight functions of standing committees, requiring committees to issue biennial reports.
• Authorized funding of computer technology in member offices.
• Authorized televising of open House committee hearings.
• Created the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations.

History

The origins of the act can be traced back to the formation of the Joint Committee on the Organization of the Congress

United States Congress Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress

The Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress is the name given to three separate temporary joint congressional committees established during the mid to late 20th century to study and make recommendations on measures to improve the structure of the U.S...

 in March 1965. The committee held extensive hearings and issued its recommendations on July 28, 1966. These recommendations "formed the backbone" of the act.

On April 22, 1969, the House Rules Committee formed the Special Subcommittee on Legislative Reorganization. The chairman of the committee was B. F. Sisk (D-CA) and the other members were Ray J. Madden

Ray J. Madden

Ray John Madden was a United States Representative from Indiana. He was born in Waseca, Minnesota. He attended the public schools and Sacred Heart Academy in his native city. He graduated from the law department of Creighton University with an LL.B...

 (D-IN), who was later replaced by John Young

John Andrew Young

John Andrew Young was an Democratic politician from Texas who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1957 to 1979....

 (D-TX), Richard Bolling

Richard Walker Bolling

Richard Walker Bolling , was a prominent Democratic Congressman from Kansas City, Missouri, and Missouri's 5th congressional district from 1949 to 1983...

 (D-MO), H. Allen Smith

H. Allen Smith

For the congressman see H. Allen SmithHarry Allen Wolfgang Smith was an American journalist and humorist whose books were popular in the 1940s and 1950s, selling millions of copies....

 (R-CA), and Delbert L. Latta (R-OH). The subcommittee held meetings over several months, creating a draft bill, held multiple briefings for House members, followed by hearings on the draft bill. After revisions to the draft bill, the subcommittee reported the bill to the full Rules Committee in early 1970. After further amendments, the committee reported the bill on May 12.

The full House began debate on the bill on July 13 and after amending it, passed the bill by a vote of 326–19 on September 17. The Senate took up the bill without referring it to committee, and passed the bill with amendments, by a vote of 59–5 on October 6. The House agreed to the Senate version by voice vote on October 8, and it was signed by President Nixon on October 26, 1970.