City Council meetings may become a bit more contentious under proposed rules changes announced yesterday by Speaker Christine Quinn.

New procedures would allow lawmakers to propose amendments to bills during stated meetings, which the full council could debate and approve or reject. Council members yesterday applauded the proposals and some said they could open up and enliven a body known to approve – by overwhelmingly majorities – all measures that reach the floor.

“We’ll be acting like typical New Yorkers, arguing about everything,” a Democrat of Queens, Leroy Comrie, said.

The amendment change is part of a broader reform package ushered in by Ms. Quinn in her first month as speaker. The proposed reforms are intended to make the council more accessible, transparent, and open to debate.

Among the other proposed changes are requirements to process more quickly members’ requests for the drafting of bills; to give at least three days’ notice for committee hearings, and to use the council’s Web site to post hearing schedules and updated versions of legislation. Although bills could face more scrutiny on the chamber floor, a new rule reduces the number of member signatures – to seven from nine – needed to move legislation out of committee, meaning it will be easier for measures to come up for a vote by the full council.

Surrounded by nearly a third of the council’s 51 members at a City Hall news conference yesterday, Ms. Quinn stressed that the changes are “a first step,” and that she would appoint a working group to examine further reform.

The council has drawn criticism in recent years from political watchdog groups like the Citizens Union, which released a report earlier this month calling for reform. The report pushed for greater transparency and for committees and individual members to have more power and responsibility.

Though the changes announced yesterday did not address all of the Citizens Union’s concerns, the group’s executive director, Dick Dadey, praised the proposals as “important first steps.”

“What’s important today is that the speaker has indicated she’s reform minded and wants to change the council for the better,” Mr. Dadey said.

While many council members praised Ms. Quinn’s leadership, one Democrat, Council Member Charles Barron of Brooklyn, called for more far-reaching changes in how funds are distributed to neighborhoods and how committees and their leaders are chosen. Currently, the speaker determines committee assignments and chairmanships.

The council’s minority leader, James Oddo of Staten Island, said the new amendment rules would make the stated meetings more “entertaining” and could foster closer votes.

He cautioned against more dramatic reforms, criticizing proposals that would “gut the power of the speaker.”

“I think that’s an invitation for legislative anarchy,” Mr. Oddo said.