§ 6 — Officers and employees of the senate

§ 6. Officers and employees of the senate. 1. The senate may choose a\nsecretary, a sergeant-at-arms, and an official stenographer. The\nsecretary of the senate shall be elected for the term of the senate. If\nthe senate shall be unable to choose any such officer at the time of the\norganization of the senate, the temporary president of the senate may\nappoint a person to fill the vacancy thus created, and the person so\nappointed shall serve as such officer until his successor has been\nchosen by the senate and thus qualified.\n 2. The president of the senate, the temporary president of the senate\nand the minority leader of the senate may each appoint such employees to\nassist him in the performance of his duties as may be authorized and\nprovided for in the legislative appropriation bill. Employees of the\npresident of the senate who are paid from appropriations made for the\nlegislature shall be considered as employees of the legislature for all\npurposes. The secretary of the senate may appoint a\nstenographer-secretary and a stenographer.\n 3. A general clerk, or stenographer, or other employee shall be\ndesignated by and appointed for and assigned to each member of the\nsenate for whom no provision is made for employees in the legislative\nappropriation bill.\n 4. The temporary president of the senate may from time to time appoint\nsuch additional employees as may be necessary for the work of the senate\nand fix their compensation, respectively, within the amounts\nappropriated and available therefor.\n 5. In case of the death or resignation of the secretary of the senate,\nor his inability to exercise the powers or discharge the duties of his\noffice, and notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the\ntemporary president of the senate shall appoint an acting secretary to\nserve until a secretary is chosen by the senate to fill the vacancy. The\nacting secretary shall have and exercise all of the powers of the\nsecretary of the senate until a secretary has been chosen and has\nqualified.\n 6. When an appropriation has been made for the services, temporary or\notherwise, of employees of the senate, and their appointment is not\notherwise authorized or provided for by law, the temporary president of\nthe senate may appoint such employees and fix their compensation,\nrespectively, within the amounts appropriated and available therefor.\n 7. Whenever the temporary president of the senate is authorized or\nrequired, singly or jointly, to certify or approve warrants or vouchers\nfor the compensation of any person, it shall be sufficient if he execute\nthe first such warrant or voucher, and thereafter the same may be\ncertified or approved by his designee or designees, so long as the rate\nof such compensation is not increased, and upon proof by affidavit or\notherwise that the same is due. Such designation shall be in writing and\nfiled in the office of the temporary president and in the office of the\ncomptroller, and shall remain in effect during the term of office of the\ntemporary president unless sooner revoked by him.\n 8. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the temporary president of\nthe senate or his or her designee may authorize expenditures to be made\nfrom appropriations or reappropriations made to the senate finance\ncommittee, or the allocable portion of an appropriation or\nreappropriation so made to a legislative council, commission or task\nforce the expenditures from which are for senate purposes in whole or in\nallocable part; and may also suballocate or transfer such appropriations\nor reappropriations, or any portion thereof, to any department or agency\ndeemed necessary for the purpose of implementing such expenditures. The\ntemporary president of the senate may effect such authorization by\nfiling his or her approval of such authorization with the state\ncomptroller.\n