Committee of the Whole with nothing pending.

[J. J.]

Is it possible for the assembly to go into a Committee of the Whole (COW) or a Quasi Committee of the Whole (QCOW) without a pending motion being referred to either?

I am looking at this situation.  A member wants to investigate the possibility of getting some equipment for the club gym, but doesn't know what.  Is it in order for the member to to move, "I move to go into a committee of the whole to investigate the possibility of purchasing some equipment for the gym?"  There would be no pending motion.  If in order, the COW could either report back recommending the adoption of a motion, or report that it does not recommend a motion be adopted.

 

Would this answer be any different if it was referred to QCOW?

[Dan Honemann]

I think that a subject on which no motion or resolution has been introduced can be referred to a committee of the whole for recommendations, but an assembly goes into quasi committee of the whole only for the purpose of considering a motion or resolution which has already been introduced.

[J. J.]

1 hour ago, Daniel H. Honemann said:

I think that a subject on which no motion or resolution has been introduced can be referred to a committee of the whole for recommendations, but an assembly goes into quasi committee of the whole only for the purpose of considering a motion or resolution which has already been introduced.

I agree on the first part (based on p. 535, ll. 6-7), but am not as sure about a QCOW, either way. 

[Shmuel Gerber]

2 hours ago, Daniel H. Honemann said:

I think that a subject on which no motion or resolution has been introduced can be referred to a committee of the whole for recommendations, but an assembly goes into quasi committee of the whole only for the purpose of considering a motion or resolution which has already been introduced.

I agree with this. As the book says, a committee of the whole is a real committee in the parliamentary sense, but neither a quasi committee of the whole nor informal consideration is.

The example on page 532 even provides language for referring a subject to a committee of the whole. Except, for some reason, the introduction to the example says that "the motion to go into a committee of the whole is a form of the motion to commit (13)," which I suppose is technically true even in this case, since "commit" is spelled with a lowercase "c."

[J. J.]

53 minutes ago, Shmuel Gerber said:

I agree with this. As the book says, a committee of the whole is a real committee in the parliamentary sense, but neither a quasi committee of the whole nor informal consideration is.

The example on page 532 even provides language for referring a subject to a committee of the whole. Except, for some reason, the introduction to the example says that "the motion to go into a committee of the whole is a form of the motion to commit (13)," which I suppose is technically true even in this case, since "commit" is spelled with a lowercase "c."

As I indicated I could go either way on QCOW, but I am in agreement that it could be done by a COW  (mooooo).  I specifically did not ask about Informal Consideration because that motion seems to apply only to a pending question, and I could not think of an example where it would not apply to a pending question. 

Could you cite where RONR says that a QCOW isn't a real committee in a parliamentary sense?

[Shmuel Gerber]

1 hour ago, J. J. said:

Could you cite where RONR says that a QCOW isn't a real committee in a parliamentary sense?

<<Unlike the processes of quasi committee of the whole and informal consideration, a committee of the whole is a real committee in the parliamentary sense. Therefore, during the time that a meeting is "in committee of the whole," even though the committee consists of the entire body of members in attendance at the assembly's meeting, it is technically not "the assembly.">> (RONR, 11th ed., p. 531, ll. 15-21)

<<In contrast to a committee of the whole, the quasi committee of the whole is not a real committee, but is "the assembly acting as if in committee of the whole.">> (p. 538, ll. 14-16)

[J. J.]

40 minutes ago, Shmuel Gerber said:

<<Unlike the processes of quasi committee of the whole and informal consideration, a committee of the whole is a real committee in the parliamentary sense. Therefore, during the time that a meeting is "in committee of the whole," even though the committee consists of the entire body of members in attendance at the assembly's meeting, it is technically not "the assembly.">> (RONR, 11th ed., p. 531, ll. 15-21)

<<In contrast to a committee of the whole, the quasi committee of the whole is not a real committee, but is "the assembly acting as if in committee of the whole.">> (p. 538, ll. 14-16)

That works; thank you.  In the other two cases, the assembly remains in session.  In the case of COW, the matter is not technically pending before the assembly.