Our organization is in the process of amending bylaws. The committee charged with doing so went past its charge, and created a completely new set of bylaws (a revision). I, as parliamentarian, have the following questions:
1. During the initial meeting when the new bylaws document is introduced, is it open to primary and secondary amendments (to be moved/seconded, but not voted upon until the next meeting)? It seems to me that if advance notice is to be comprehensive, such would need to be the case. I understand that amendments can't go beyond the scope of the new bylaws/revision. The option to consider such amendments seems to be present in the following statement: "When notice of a bylaw amendment is given in open meeting, it cannot be considered at that time, except to be discussed informally and briefly at the discretion of the presiding officer” (p. 596, lines 31-35).
2. Within Section 57, revisions are said to be treated as new, and not compared with the original bylaws.
"Notice of such a revision is notice that a new document will be submitted that will be open to amendment as fully as if the society were adopting bylaws for the first time. In other words, in the case of a revision, the assembly is not confined to consideration only of the points of change included in the proposed revision as submitted by the committee that has drafted it. The revision can be perfected by first-degree and second-degree amendments, but as in the case of any other bylaw amendment, the old document is not pending; and therefore, while the revision can be rejected altogether, leaving the old bylaws intact, the old document cannot be altered with a view to retaining it in a changed form.” (p. 593, lines 16-31).
This seems to contradict the following: “A revision of bylaws or a lengthy amendment involving more than one section should be considered seriatim" (page 593, lines 33-35, emphasis added).
I created the attached file, which I think is inclusive of relevant text, but if I am missing something, I would appreciate a correction.
Thank you very much for your assistance.
Relevant Robert’s Rules.docx