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amended motion recorded


Guest LizS

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I am the secretary of a board of directors. Recently we had a motion to change wording in a policy that resulted in a confusing discussion. An amendment to the motion (further changing wording) was made. The amendment was voted on, approved, but a second motion to "send the motion back to committee" was made, seconded, no discussion, and was approved by majority.  The question is, then is the policy (having been amended) recorded in the minutes? Recorded in original wording? Recorded in amended wording? Is the original motion enacted (i.e. have we actually changed the wording) if we have "sent it back to committee". (is that even a thing? In the future should it be "table the motion", or should we say" the motion is withdrawn".) I have a feeling we goofed, and never actually completed the vote on the original motion? 

Thanks. I hope someone is available to answer back quickly -- we are supposed to approve my minutes tonight! (PST)

Liz

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11 minutes ago, Guest LizS said:

The question is, then is the policy (having been amended) recorded in the minutes?

Yes.

11 minutes ago, Guest LizS said:

Recorded in original wording? Recorded in amended wording?

Recorded in amended wording.

11 minutes ago, Guest LizS said:

Is the original motion enacted (i.e. have we actually changed the wording) if we have "sent it back to committee"

No, the motion is not yet enacted. The motion, as amended, is currently in the hands of the committee.

11 minutes ago, Guest LizS said:

is that even a thing?

Yes, the motion to Commit (or Refer) is “a thing.” It is discussed in RONR, 11th ed., pgs. 168-179.

11 minutes ago, Guest LizS said:

In the future should it be "table the motion", or should we say" the motion is withdrawn".

No to both questions. The motion to Lay on the Table is used to set aside a motion temporarily in order to take up some other urgent business. Withdrawing a motion (a request which may be made only by the motion maker) is used to make it as if the motion had never been made. Based on the facts presented, it appears the intent was to send the motion back to committee, and the motion to Commit was the proper tool for this.

11 minutes ago, Guest LizS said:

I have a feeling we goofed, and never actually completed the vote on the original motion? 

You did not “goof.” It is correct that the vote was not completed on the original motion, but that is as it should be, since the motion was referred to committee. The motion (as amended) will be considered when the committee reports on it.

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Thank you so much! Our parliamentarian is unavailable, and as the discussions on both motions got not only confused, but a little tense, I am glad to be able to present this information at tonight's meeting - I didn't look forward to re-hashing the whole thing!

Thanks again!

Liz

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I think I agree with Mr. Martin, but I'd like to make sure of something:

2 hours ago, Guest LizS said:

The amendment was voted on, approved, but a second motion to "send the motion back to committee" was made, seconded, no discussion, and was approved by majority.  

I think the word "amendment" here is ambiguous. Did you vote on and adopt the amendment to the motion (meaning that, at that instant, the motion had not been adopted), or did you vote on and adopt both the amendment to the motion and the motion itself (which was, after all, an amendment to a policy)?

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It's never too late to  correct errors in the minutes, even if they have been approved.

I am not certain about Mr. Martin's advice. Is this policy something that was previously adopted and currently in force, or was this a proposal for a new policy from a committee that the board was considering whether to adopt? The way I read the OP, it seemed that this is an amendment to a policy currently in force. If that is correct, then the motion was to Amend Something Previously Adopted and we are told it was adopted.

Then a motion was made to send it back to the committee. I would take this as a main motion to refer the policy to the committee.

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