Reconsideration w/o a motion

[Guest Vern L]

If discussion ensued before there was a call for a motion by the chair and no motion was made, can discussion continue at a subsequent meeting if placed in the agenda or is it a dead issue?

[jstackpo]

Yeah... sure... but... it would be MUCH better if the motion was made BEFORE the "discussion" got under way.  That way the folks at the meeting will have a clear understanding of what they are supposed to be discussing.

[Setemu]

"Discussion of any subject is permitted only with reference to a pending motion...For a member to begin to discuss a matter while no question is pending, without promptly leading to a motion, implies an unusual circumstance and requires permission from the assembly, in addition to obtaining the floor. In larger assemblies, this rule requires firm enforcement. In smaller meetings, it may sometimes be relaxed with constructive effect if the members are not accustomed to working under the standard rule. Unless the assembly has specifically authorized [it], such a discussion can be entered only at the sufferance of the chair or until a point of order is made, and in the latter case, the chair must immediately require that a motion be offered or the discussion cease" (RONR, 11th ed., p. 34, ll. 7-32).