When does a motion become effective?

[GregoryHofer]

When does a motion become effective and on what page might I find that language in RONR 11th edition.

[Josh Martin]

When does a motion become effective and on what page might I find that language in RONR 11th edition.

 

A motion becomes effective immediately upon adoption unless the motion itself or the assembly's rules provide otherwise.

 

There isn't really a good general citation for this, unfortunately. See RONR, 11th ed., pg. 49 for information on the chair's declaration of the result - you'll note that in one of the examples, the chair immediately orders the Secretary to carry out the motion. On pg. 597, the text clarifies that an amendment to the bylaws takes effect immediately upon adoption. If something as important as an amendment to the bylaws takes effect immediately, it stands to reason that other motions would as well.

 

If other members of your society are claiming that, for instance, a motion cannot take effect until the minutes are approved, they will not find any support for that claim in RONR.

[GregoryHofer]

Josh,

So as long as the language in the motion itself allows for it, the motion can take effect whenever it is so stated.
Is that correct?.

We had many Members pay their initiation fee and become Members in our Union for years,  then they found out they were

legally not required by Federal law to be Members and then excercised their legal right to give up their Membership in our Union and become non Members back in October 2013.

Then in November of 2013, our Executive Board makes the following motion.
Any current non-member who elects to become a Member will be charged the current initiation fee.

So this rule to re-charge the second initiation fee didn't exist when Members excercised their legal right to become

non Members.

Since you say, unless the motion provides otherwise, this motion would then rightfully force non Members to pay a second initiation fee that 

did not exist when they became non Members. 

Does anything in RONR prevent this from happening?  How can an organization change the rules mid stream to penalize or retaliate against Members for becoming non Members.
 

[Josh Martin]

So as long as the language in the motion itself allows for it, the motion can take effect whenever it is so stated.

Is that correct?.

 

Yes. The assembly is free to include a proviso in a motion specifying that the rule shall take effect at some other time.

 

We had many Members pay their initiation fee and become Members in our Union for years,  then they found out they were

legally not required by Federal law to be Members and then excercised their legal right to give up their Membership in our Union and become non Members back in October 2013.

Then in November of 2013, our Executive Board makes the following motion.

Any current non-member who elects to become a Member will be charged the current initiation fee.

So this rule to re-charge the second initiation fee didn't exist when Members excercised their legal right to become

non Members.

Since you say, unless the motion provides otherwise, this motion would then rightfully force non Members to pay a second initiation fee that 

did not exist when they became non Members. 

Does anything in RONR prevent this from happening?  How can an organization change the rules mid stream to penalize or retaliate against Members for becoming non Members.

 

There is nothing in RONR which prevents this from happening, and I'm not sure the motion was even necessary. It seems to me that, unless your rules provide otherwise, it is already the case that a new member must pay any required initiation fee, notwithstanding the fact that the individual was previously a member. Even if it was the case that your rules previously exempted members who rejoined from paying the initiation fee, it is still in order to change that rule, and new members would then need to pay the initiation fee when they rejoined, notwithstanding that the rule was different at the time that they left the society. As noted, this motion takes effect immediately unless the motion provides otherwise.

 

Now, it's possible that this motion conflicts with something in your organization's rules. Since it's a union, it's also possible that there is some applicable law on this subject. Both of these issues, however, are beyond the scope of RONR and this forum.

[Thomas Ralph]

An organization may set whatever prerequisites it wishes for membership.

Nothing in RONR would prevent what is being described, unless the motion contravenes the bylaws somehow. (For example, if the bylaws say that a member whose membership is lapsed by no more than six months need not pay the initiation fee on rejoining, then the executive board motion of November 2013 is out of order.)

I would note that someone is either a member or a non-member. These groups are mutually exclusive and exhaustive.

Since you mention a legal matter, the usual proviso applies that your bylaws and applicable laws supersede RONR.

I hope this answers your question; in the event you do find yourself needing further assistance in the future we will be glad to help but you'll find this board works best when you ask your specific question with full details at the start rather than asking a question in very generalized terms and following up with more information.

[Guest wes]

Does RR state anywhere that the effectiveness of all motions is immediate unless otherwise stated?

[Hieu H. Huynh]

Please post as a new topic.

[Guest Who's Coming to Dinner]

27 minutes ago, Hieu H. Huynh said:

Please post as a new topic.

Why? This is the same question.

RONR doesn't have to make such a statement because it is the only reasonable default. If it weren't, then just exactly when do you think motions would become effective? Would you really argue that a motion is in limbo forever if it didn't provide an effective date?

[Hieu H. Huynh]

Guest Wes, when you post as a new topic, more details may be helpful.

[SaintCad]

Didn't we handle this same question a little while back and we were split with some (me included) saying it was when the vote was announced and other saying it was when the Chair announced the motion adopted?  IIRC that question was if there were enough votes to pass but no announcement then was the motion adopted.