can passed legislation be reconsidered or amended?

[Gina]

Good afternoon,

A legislative body passed a resolution last week, and put it on the agenda for this week to "reconsider and amend". Once a resolution has been passed by an assembly, can it be reconsidered? Or would a separate resolution have to be presented?

Thanks for your insights,

Gina

[Benjamin Geiger]

There is the motion to Rescind or Amend Something Previously Adopted (p. 305ff). Assuming the legislative body follows RONR, that is possible. However, there may be (and probably is) other law that supersedes RONR.

Edited February 21, 2018 at 10:34 PM by Benjamin Geiger

[Gina]

thank you, Benjamin G.

[Guest Who's Coming to Dinner]

There is also a motion to Reconsider which, if adopted, brings back the main motion, opening it up to further debate, amendment, and a vote. The making of this motion is subject to a number of conditions. RONR (11th ed.) § 37.

[Richard Brown]

7 hours ago, Gina said:

Good afternoon,

A legislative body passed a resolution last week, and put it on the agenda for this week to "reconsider and amend". Once a resolution has been passed by an assembly, can it be reconsidered? Or would a separate resolution have to be presented?

Thanks for your insights,

Gina

Please tell us a little more.  For example, was there an actual motion to reconsider made?  If so, when was it made?  At the previous meeting?   Or was no such motion actually made at the last meeting but it is on the agenda for the next meeting as "reconsider and amend"?  

I suspect that what is really being proposed is a motion to rescind (or amend) something previously adopted.  As someone else pointed out, the motion to reconsider is subject to special rules and time limits. The motion to reconsider must usually be made at the same meeting at which the motion to be reconsidered was adopted, but it can get rather complex. See pages 315 ff

But, to answer your question, yes, a motion adopted at one meeting can be reconsidered and can also be rescinded or amended.  However, there is no motion in RONR to "Reconsider and amend'.  A motion to reconsider is a particular type of motion.  A motion to rescind or amend is a different motion. 

[Gary Novosielski]

If the motion to Reconsider is properly adopted, and the motion is once again before the assembly, it can be amended at that point, and readopted.  Of course it could also not be amended, and it could be defeated, with or without amendments.

[Benjamin Geiger]

I was under the impression that Reconsider would be out of order, given the time elapsed since the original motion's adoption. It seems as though the alternative would be to either Rescind the originally passed motion and then pass the modified version, or to Amend Something Previously Adopted.

Am I mistaken about the time limits for Reconsider (must be done before the end of a single-day session or by the end of the next meeting day in a multi-day session)?

EDIT: p. 316 ll. 22-30:

Quote

The making of this motion [i.e. the motion to Reconsider] is subject to time limits, as follows: In a session of one day---such as an ordinary meeting of a club or a one-day convention---the motion to Reconsider can be made only on the same day the vote to be reconsidered was taken. In a convention or session of more than one day, a reconsideration can be moved only on the same day the original vote was taken or on the next succeeding day within the session on which a business meeting is held.

How can a motion to Reconsider be in order if a week elapses between the original motion and the desired reconsideration?

Edited February 23, 2018 at 03:27 AM by Benjamin Geiger
Add citation.

[Gary Novosielski]

You're right about the limitations. 

It appears that this is does refer to the next meeting day, and as this was stated to be a legislative body, it is possible that a session might comprise a number of meetings. The question also appeared to allow for the possibility that Reconsider was moved but not taken up at the original meeting.

I did qualify the answer:  "if properly adopted", because my main point was to clarify that in general a motion  to Reconsider does not prevent amendment.  I leave it to the OP to determine if it is in order in their situation.  Rescind/Amend is the most likely to be in order, but if it should happen that the question is reachable by Reconsider, the vote threshold would be lower.  

[Benjamin Geiger]

Ah.  A fair point, well made.

I didn't consider the possibility that a legislative body could meet only once a week or that Reconsider could have been moved before the end of that day. I defer to your expertise.

[Josh Martin]

15 hours ago, Gary Novosielski said:

You're right about the limitations. 

It appears that this is does refer to the next meeting day, and as this was stated to be a legislative body, it is possible that a session might comprise a number of meetings.

Well, I question whether this is, in fact, a legislative body in the sense the term is used in RONR. I suspect this is really a local government body, such as a city council (which generally operates more like other societies), or perhaps just a society that likes to style itself as a “legislative body,” such as a student government.

If this truly is a legislative body, then RONR is probably not the parliamentary authority, and even if it is, it is no doubt superseded by a lengthy set of special rules of order, so what RONR says on this subject is probably not relevant anyway.

”The term legislative body refers to a constitutionally established public lawmaking body of representatives chosen by the electorate for a fixed term of office—such as Congress or a state legislature. Such a body typically (though not always) consists of two assemblies, or "houses." Its sessions may last for months, during which it meets daily and its members are paid to devote their full time to its work and can be legally compelled to attend its meetings.

Each state or national legislative assembly generally has its own well-developed body of rules, interpretations, and precedents, so that the exact procedure for a particular legislative house can be found only in its own manual. 

In this connection, however, it should be noted that certain smaller public bodies may serve a lawmaking function yet not assume the character of a full-scale legislative assembly, and instead may somewhat resemble a board or the assembly of a society. An example of such a body might be a city council that meets weekly or monthly and whose members continue their own full-time occupations during their term of service.” (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 8)