The closing of the business of the House of Representatives and the Senate, after each legislative session, and the preparation of the journals of the two houses, and the session laws, and the printing thereof, are hereby declared to be expenses of the Legislature of this state, and those expenses shall be paid from any appropriations made for the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, after each legislative session, shall have supervision of the preparation of the session laws for that session, shall contract for the printing thereof and supervise the publication of same, and all claims for expenses in connection with such printing shall, before payment, be approved by both the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House.

The session laws, when printed and paid for, shall be deposited with the Secretary of State, who shall distribute the same to the state officers, departments and institutions entitled thereto. After the adjournment of each session of the Legislature, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, respectively, are hereby authorized and directed as follows:

First: All outstanding and valid claims against the House of Representatives shall be presented to the Speaker of the House and shall be by him examined and audited, and all such claims and valid obligations of the House of Representatives, after approval by the Speaker, shall be paid from any legislative contingent or other expense funds available for that purpose; all outstanding and valid claims against the Senate shall be presented to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and shall be by him examined and audited, and all such claims and valid obligations of the Senate, after approval by the President Pro Tempore, shall be paid from any legislative contingent or other expense funds available for that purpose.

Second: To close all unfinished business of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and properly to prepare, index and superintend the publication of the permanent journals of the House of Representatives and the Senate of each legislative session; provided, that printed copies of said permanent journals shall be certified to by the presiding officers of the two houses, respectively, as being a true and correct copy of the proceedings of the House of Representatives and the Senate during all sessions of the Legislature, and filed with the Secretary of State; provided further, that in the process and work of indexing and superintending the publication of said journals and the closing of the unfinished business of the houses, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, respectively, are hereby authorized to retain or employ such assistants or help as may be found necessary to complete such work.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate are further authorized and directed, respectively, to make an inventory of the property of the two houses, after each session of the Legislature, to enter the same in the permanent book of records, and to preserve such record as the record of the respective houses. When the property and records of the House of Representatives have been invoiced after each session, the same, together with the House Chamber and all House committee rooms, shall be delivered to the Speaker of the House of Representatives or to such person as he may designate, who shall have the absolute care, custody and control of the same until the convening of the next session of the State Legislature, and when the property and records of the Senate have been invoiced after each session, such property and records, together with the Senate Chamber and all Senate committee rooms, shall be delivered to the Secretary of the Senate, who shall have the absolute care, custody and control of the same until the convening of the next session of the State Legislature. The State Treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to pay all claims audited and approved by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate for their respective houses as hereinafter authorized.

Added by Laws 1935, p. 25, § 5, emerg. eff. May 10, 1935. Amended by Laws 1947, p. 583, § 1, emerg. eff. May 16, 1947; Laws 1979, c. 47, § 92, emerg. eff. April 9, 1979.