Guest Gerald Posted October 25, 2015 at 07:01 PM Report Share Posted October 25, 2015 at 07:01 PM Is it in order for a voting member to "defer" their speaking time/rights to a person who does not have speaking rights? That is to say, can a member give their speaking rights/time to someone who has no right to speak at the assembly? Further, if they can, would it be in order for a member to defer their speaking rights to someone who has speaking rights, but has exhausted their use of them (i.e. they are entitled to speak 2x per day on a specific topic, and have used both)? If the above is possible/impossible, what section of Robert's Rules should I refer to, if this comes up? I hope the aforementioned is not too confusing. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Honemann Posted October 25, 2015 at 07:24 PM Report Share Posted October 25, 2015 at 07:24 PM Is it in order for a voting member to "defer" their speaking time/rights to a person who does not have speaking rights? That is to say, can a member give their speaking rights/time to someone who has no right to speak at the assembly? Further, if they can, would it be in order for a member to defer their speaking rights to someone who has speaking rights, but has exhausted their use of them (i.e. they are entitled to speak 2x per day on a specific topic, and have used both)? If the above is possible/impossible, what section of Robert's Rules should I refer to, if this comes up? I hope the aforementioned is not too confusing. Thank you! The answer is "no". "Rights in regard to debate are not transferable. Unless the organization has a special rule on the subject, a member cannot yield any unexpired portion of his time to another member, or reserve any portion of his time for a later time—that is, if a member yields the floor before speaking his full ten minutes, he is presumed to have waived his right to the remaining time." (RONR. 11th ed., p. 388) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gerald Posted October 25, 2015 at 07:44 PM Report Share Posted October 25, 2015 at 07:44 PM Thank you very much! That is exactly what I was looking for. As a follow-up, if a member has expired their speaking time, can they still propose amendments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Honemann Posted October 25, 2015 at 07:53 PM Report Share Posted October 25, 2015 at 07:53 PM As a follow-up, if a member has expired their speaking time, can they still propose amendments? Yes. Making a secondary motion is not counted as speaking in debate. "Thus a member who has exhausted the number of speeches permitted him on a main motion may still seek recognition to move its referral or amendment, for example. In such a case the chair should grant limited recognition by saying, "The member has exhausted his right to debate. For what purpose does he rise?" (Footnote, page 389) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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