Can members stop chairs from entertaining motions late in the meeting?

[TracyMartell]

What can I do...?  In the meeting I attend, the current chair sometimes lets people make motions 5-10 minutes before the meetings are scheduled to end.  It's chaotic, rushed.  Sometimes the issue is tabled or postponed, sometimes the meeting drags past the closing time.  Past chairs would ask for a vote to extend the meeting.  But the current chair doesn't do that.  I think it's a bad idea for the chair to let people make motions when there's so little time left. 

[Rob Elsman]

I am not sure why you say "the meetings are scheduled to end" at an assigned hour. Why so?

[Richard Brown]

 The answer depends upon the circumstances.

First, in the standard order of business, new business comes last, meaning that it’s generally near the end of the meeting. If it is particularly important that one or two items of new business be taken up earlier in the meeting to make sure there is adequate time to deal with them, those items can be made special orders of business and scheduled to be taken up earlier in the meeting.

Second, if your meetings have  a fixed adjournment time that has been established by something like a standing rule or a motion fixing the time of adjournment, when the scheduled time for adjournment arrives, the chairman should announce that the scheduled time for adjournment has arrived and that unless there is a motion to set aside the orders of the day, we will stand adjourned. After pausing for three or four seconds, if there is no motion made to set aside the orders of the day, the chair should announce that the meeting is adjourned. A motion to set aside the orders of the day requires a 2/3 vote.

However, if you do not have a fixed time for adjournment that is fixed by a standing rule or a motion, the situation is different. In this case, the chair has no obligation to adjourn the meeting at a certain time and the meeting may continue until a motion to adjourn is adopted or, when all business has been completed, the chair asks, “is there any further business?”  After pausing for a few seconds, he says “Hearing none, the meeting is adjourned”.  Once all business has been completed, an actual motion to adjourn is not necessary.

See pages  222-223 and pages 240- 241 of RONR for more information.

[Atul Kapur]

33 minutes ago, Richard Brown said:

when the scheduled time for adjournment arrives, the chairman should announce that the scheduled time for adjournment has arrived and that unless there is a motion to set aside the orders of the day, we will stand adjourned.

And, if the chair does not do this, then you as a member can stand and Call for the Orders of the Day. This is a demand that the chair follow the schedule and adjourn the meeting. As Mr. Brown notes, a motion to extend the meeting can be made at that point and it requires a two-thirds vote to be adopted.

35 minutes ago, Richard Brown said:

However, if you do not have a fixed time for adjournment that is fixed

In this case, you can, when recognized, make a motion to adjourn. Once seconded and stated by the chair, this motion is undebatable and requires a majority vote to be adopted.