Section 1. Powers and Duties. The Speaker shall: a. take the chair
each day at the hour to which the House adjourned;

b. call the House to order, lead the Members of the Assembly in the
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and,
except in the absence of a quorum, proceed to business in the manner
prescribed in these Rules; and

c. possess the powers and perform the duties herein prescribed. The
Speaker:

(1) shall preserve order and decorum, name the member entitled to the
floor when more than one member seeks to be recognized and, in debate,
prevent personal reflections and confine members to the question under
discussion;

(2) shall decide all questions of order subject to appeal to the House
and on every appeal shall have the right, from the Chair, to assign the
reason for such decision; in case of such appeal no member shall speak
more than once, nor for more than 15 minutes;

(3) shall appoint the chairpersons and members of all committees
thereof, except where the House shall otherwise order;

(4) shall create such sub-committees of each standing committee,
jointly with the chairperson of the standing committee, as may be deemed
necessary;

(5) shall appoint the chairpersons and members of all sub-committees
thereof, except where the House shall otherwise order;

(6) may designate by an appointment in writing duly entered upon the
Journal of the House, any member to perform the duties of the Chair for
a period not exceeding five consecutive legislative days, but for no
longer period, except by special consent of the House and the member so
designated shall be, during the time designated, vested with all the
powers and duties conferred by these rules and section 40 of the
legislative law;

(7) shall not be required to vote in ordinary legislative proceedings,
except where such vote would be decisive;

(8) shall be a member and Chairperson of the Committee on Rules;

(9) shall appoint a Majority Leader, who shall be a member of the
Committee on Rules, and who, together with the Minority Leader, shall be
a member ex-officio of all other standing committees of the House, and
entitled to the same rights and privileges as other members of said
committees except the right to vote;

(10) shall appoint such other officers as he or she deems necessary to
the conduct of the affairs of the Assembly;

(11) may direct a standing committee to conduct any investigation
which the Assembly or a committee thereof is authorized to conduct,
provided, however, that the Speaker may not so direct the Committee on
Oversight, Analysis and Investigation unless requested in writing by a
majority of the membership of such Committee;

(12) shall execute the judgment of the House, without debate, in cases
of adjudged breach of its privileges; and

(13) may create such task forces of the Assembly as he or she may deem
necessary or advisable and shall appoint the chairperson and members of
each such task force.

(14) shall adopt rules and regulations, and take such other measures
as may be necessary to provide for the establishment and maintenance of
a system of internal controls and a program of internal control review
for the Assembly in accordance with the guidelines set forth in Rule VII
hereof.