Unanimous Consent in Minutes

[Roman.76]

Could someone provide examples of how to write something that was adopted by unanimous consent in the minutes?  I provided two examples below.  Thanks!

Example 1 (Motion):

Member A: "I move to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m."

Chair: "Is there an objection?" [pause] "Without objection, it is so ordered."

Example 2 (Unanimous Consent):

Member A: "I ask unanimous consent to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m."

Chair: "Without objection, it is so ordered."

[Greg Goodwiller, PRP]

The wording is the same for each example: On motion by member A, it was agreed by unanimous consent to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

 

[Roman.76]

21 minutes ago, Greg Goodwiller, PRP said:

The wording is the same for each example: On motion by member A, it was agreed by unanimous consent to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

 

Thank you, Greg!  I know you said the wording is the same but asking for unanimous consent isn't necessarily making a motion, correct?  So why would you say "On motion by..."?

[Greg Goodwiller, PRP]

Well, I think the way you stated it, it was a motion. The maker was just asking that the motion be adopted by unanimous consent. There are process motions handled by unanimous consent (such as extending a speaker's time) that might not make it into the minutes (although they might). But you can't set a date for party in a meeting without a motion. The motion can be made by someone or assumed,  and whichever it is should be noted in the minutes (such as "On an assumed motion to hold a party . . .) . And then it can be adopted by a variety  of methods (such as voice vote), one of which is by unanimous consent.

[Joshua Katz]

Agreeing with the answer above, I think some further clarification is in order, in light of this and other posts on similar topics. A "motion" is simply a proposal placed before the body. Even if the word "move" is not said, nothing is done at a meeting without a motion. Even in this case:

21 minutes ago, Greg Goodwiller, PRP said:

There are process motions handled by unanimous consent (such as extending a speaker's time) that might not make it into the minutes (although they might).

there is still a motion, even if it might be understood rather than explicitly stated.

Therefore, this is not true:

2 hours ago, Roman.76 said:

asking for unanimous consent isn't necessarily making a motion, correct? 

When you ask for unanimous consent (and generally a member does not, but the chair might say "is there any objection to..." if the motion seems unlikely to have any opposition) you are proposing an action. Thus, you are making a motion.

[J. J.]

17 hours ago, Roman.76 said:

Could someone provide examples of how to write something that was adopted by unanimous consent in the minutes?  I provided two examples below.  Thanks!

Example 1 (Motion):

Member A: "I move to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m."

Chair: "Is there an objection?" [pause] "Without objection, it is so ordered."

Example 2 (Unanimous Consent):

Member A: "I ask unanimous consent to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m."

Chair: "Without objection, it is so ordered."

Nothing related to unanimous consent as a method of voting need appear in the minutes.  Examples of the wording would be:

1.  The motion made by Member A "to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m." was adopted.

2a.  A motion "to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m" was adopted.

2b. The chair put the motion "to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m" which was adopted.

Page 472, ll. 10-14 gives a good example. 

 

[Gary Novosielski]

Agreeing with prior answers, the following three forms all represent motions, i.e., placing a question before the assembly:

• ...therefore, be it Resolved that....
• I move that....
• I ask unanimous consent that....

They are handled differently, but a decision reached by one method is as good as one reached by another.

[Shmuel Gerber]

Have you guys looked at the book?

Under the heading "Adoption of a Motion or Action Without a Motion, by Unanimous Consent", it says "the method of unanimous consent can be used either to adopt a motion without the steps of stating the question and putting the motion to a formal vote, or it can be used to take action without even the formality of a motion."

It seems pretty clear to me that if an assembly takes action without a motion, it has taken action without a motion.

[Josh Martin]

3 hours ago, Shmuel Gerber said:

Have you guys looked at the book?

Under the heading "Adoption of a Motion or Action Without a Motion, by Unanimous Consent", it says "the method of unanimous consent can be used either to adopt a motion without the steps of stating the question and putting the motion to a formal vote, or it can be used to take action without even the formality of a motion."

It seems pretty clear to me that if an assembly takes action without a motion, it has taken action without a motion.

How should such actions be recorded in the minutes? Perhaps “By unanimous consent, the assembly agreed to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.”?

[Shmuel Gerber]

Well, in the particular case of Example 2 above, I'm still wondering why Member A needs anyone's consent to host a Christmas party. 🙂

[Gary Novosielski]

Well, whether it's a motion or not, it's a decision reached, and therefore qualifies as something that was "done" and therefore belongs in the minutes.  If we're not going to treat it as a motion, what's the proper way of getting that recorded?  Josh's suggestion works for me, but treating it as a non-motion, while intended to simplify matters, seems to be complicating them.

Edited February 5, 2019 at 09:56 PM by Gary Novosielski

[Roman.76]

On 2/4/2019 at 3:15 PM, Greg Goodwiller, PRP said:

The wording is the same for each example: On motion by member A, it was agreed by unanimous consent to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

 

22 hours ago, Joshua Katz said:

Agreeing with the answer above, I think some further clarification is in order, in light of this and other posts on similar topics. A "motion" is simply a proposal placed before the body. Even if the word "move" is not said, nothing is done at a meeting without a motion. Even in this case:

there is still a motion, even if it might be understood rather than explicitly stated.

Therefore, this is not true:

When you ask for unanimous consent (and generally a member does not, but the chair might say "is there any objection to..." if the motion seems unlikely to have any opposition) you are proposing an action. Thus, you are making a motion.

4 hours ago, Shmuel Gerber said:

Have you guys looked at the book?

Under the heading "Adoption of a Motion or Action Without a Motion, by Unanimous Consent", it says "the method of unanimous consent can be used either to adopt a motion without the steps of stating the question and putting the motion to a formal vote, or it can be used to take action without even the formality of a motion."

It seems pretty clear to me that if an assembly takes action without a motion, it has taken action without a motion.

1 hour ago, Josh Martin said:

How should such actions be recorded in the minutes? Perhaps “By unanimous consent, the assembly agreed to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.”?

It seems that Josh provided a good example.  I was looking at the U.S. Senate "Floor Activity" and found an example that may also work.  Although the Senate does not use RRNR, they can still use unanimous consent.

By unanimous consent, on the request of Mr. McConnell, at 5:05 p.m., the Senate adjourned, under its order of today, until 10 a.m. tomorrow. - U.S. Senate Floor Activity: Adjournment

So a similar wording could be: "On the request of Member A, it was agreed by unanimous consent 'to host a Christmas party on December 21, 2019, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.'"

 

1 hour ago, Shmuel Gerber said:

Well, in the particular case of Example 2 above, I'm still wondering why Member A needs anyone's consent to host a Christmas party. 🙂

It is just a hypothetical question, but it could be for the body to host the party.

12 minutes ago, Gary Novosielski said:

Well, whether it's a motion or not, it's a decision reached, and therefore qualifies as something that was "done" and therefore belongs in the minutes.  If we're not going to treat it as a motion, what's the proper way of getting that recorded?  Josh's suggestion works for me, but treating it as a non-motion, while intended to simplify, seems to be complicating them.

I agree, it should definitely be in the minutes.  Probably just in different wording.