Seconded Motions from Standing Committees

[Guest GCBH]

A question arose, if motions come out of a standing committee that has two general board members on it, does that motion passed by the committee and presented at the general board meeting come as a seconded motion?

[Edgar Guest]

No, but a second is not required.

[Bruce Lages]

"When a report contains recommendations ...the reporting board or committee member usually makes the necessary motion to implement the recommendations at the conclusion of his presentation, provided he is a member of the assembly... No second is required in these cases, since the motion is made on behalf of the board or committee. " (RONR, 11th ed. p. 507, ll.4-19.)

 

I'm not sure why this wouldn't be considered "coming as a seconded motion."

 

And the makeup of the committee, i.e., whether it contains board members or not, is immaterial to a second being unnecessary, as long as the committee has more than one member, and the reporting member is also a member of the assembly to which the motion is being presented. 

[Edgar Guest]

I'm not sure why this wouldn't be considered "coming as a seconded motion."

 

Because it hasn't been, and doesn't need to be, seconded?

 

It's simply a motion that, because it comes from a committee with more than one member, requires no second.

[jstackpo]

However, if the committee members are doing things right, the motion, in the committee, to "send the following motion forward..." presumably was seconded in the committee.  So that (sorta) seconds the motion that comes to the parent body. 

 

Except, of course that seconds are not required in any committees - p. 500 & 488 - so that kills that argument.  At least it could have been seconded.

[Timothy]

I'm not sure why this wouldn't be considered "coming as a seconded motion."

 

 

I don't either, though I've never called it that. Since it came from a committee with more than one person, the motion has at least two people who want it to be brought before the assembly. To say that it isn't seconded is to put more importance on the action of calling out "Second!" rather than on having more than one person to support the motion.

[Edgar Guest]

I don't either, though I've never called it that.

 

No one's ever called it that. A "second" doesn't adhere to a motion and follow it through the parliamentary process. It's an action that moves the motion along. In this instance the motion is made without a second. The fact that it might (or might not) have been seconded in committee is immaterial. In fact, though it might be an identical motion, it's not the same motion.

[Timothy]

No one's ever called it that. A "second" doesn't adhere to a motion and follow it through the parliamentary process. It's an action that moves the motion along. In this instance the motion is made without a second. The fact that it might (or might not) have been seconded in committee is immaterial. In fact, though it might be an identical motion, it's not the same motion.

 

I think you missed my point. I couldn't care less if it was seconded in committee. A second isn't a motion but a person. The motion automatically has a second (in the person of one of the committee members) because it requires that at least two of the committee members voted for it in committee. If it were a committee of one, it would require a second because the committee didn't have two people to vote for the recommendation.

[Edgar Guest]

A second isn't a motion but a person.

 

No, a second is an action, not a person.

[Timothy]

No, a second is an action, not a person.

 

It sounds better to say that it is a person. However, if it is an action, the action is nothing other than agreeing that the motion should move forward. A committee of two or more that has made a recommendation has at least one person who agrees with the person making the motion that it should move forward. As such, a recommendation from a committee has a second.

[Edgar Guest]

It sounds better to say that it is a person.

If you say so.

 

. . . a recommendation from a committee has a second.

I think you're confusing the recommendation of the committee with the motion made at the board meeting, The latter not only doesn't have a second, it doesn't need a second.

[Timothy]

If you say so.

 

I think you're confusing the recommendation of the committee with the motion made at the board meeting, The latter not only doesn't have a second, it doesn't need a second.

 

If the report doesn't have recommendations, motion isn't needed, so it would be impossible to second it. But on page 507 concerning Motions to Implement Recommendations, if the report containing recommendations is given by a member of the committee who is also a member of the assembly then he can make the motion and no second is required in the assembly because he is making the motion on behalf of the committee. If he were unable to make the motion or chose not to, a member of the assembly could make the motion, but a second would be required. It seems obvious to me that the reason for this is that a committee consists of enough people who are in favor of the motion moving forward that they are essentially the second.