Consent calendar

[Angie N]

I am looking for some guidance on a consent calendar and unanimous consent. If a committee chair is giving a report and wants to use the consent calendar. The committee chair  asks if there are any objections to items on consent calendar and no one says anything. Does the committee chair say the items are adopted or does that go back to the presiding officer to say? 

[Joshua Katz]

3 minutes ago, Angie N said:

The committee chair  asks if there are any objections to items on consent calendar and no one says anything.

This should not happen. The presiding officer should ask if there are any objections.

4 minutes ago, Angie N said:

Does the committee chair say the items are adopted or does that go back to the presiding officer to say? 

The presiding officer.

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What seems to be happening here is a fairly common mistake, which is mentioned briefly in RONR. There sometimes arises a perception that the chair of a reporting committee takes over some aspects of presiding. This is incorrect, and would be very problematic if it were correct, since it would call the impartiality of the presiding officer into question. The reporting member of the committee is making motions on behalf of the committee; the presiding officer continues to preside.

[Angie N]

49 minutes ago, Joshua Katz said:

This should not happen. The presiding officer should ask if there are any objections.

Thank you so much for this! I definitely thought the committee chair asked for objections. 

[Rob Elsman]

It is unlikely that a standing committee needs to use a consent calendar at all.  I recommend discontinuing it.  A special committee has just one item of business, so the use of a consent calendar would be absurd.

[Angie N]

30 minutes ago, Rob Elsman said:

It is unlikely that a standing committee needs to use a consent calendar at all.  I recommend discontinuing it.  A special committee has just one item of business, so the use of a consent calendar would be absurd.

Bylaws committee?

[Rob Elsman]

Nope.

[Angie N]

6 minutes ago, Rob Elsman said:

Nope.

I thought in the case of bylaw amendments. The chair can make recommendations by using a consent calendar. Is that because the presiding officer should present the consent calendar? Can you please explain your nope so I better understand? Thank you

[Josh Martin]

57 minutes ago, Rob Elsman said:

It is unlikely that a standing committee needs to use a consent calendar at all.  I recommend discontinuing it.  A special committee has just one item of business, so the use of a consent calendar would be absurd.

I think it is the assembly itself using the consent calendar, and the committee's request is for its recommendations to be a part of the consent calendar.

11 minutes ago, Angie N said:

I thought in the case of bylaw amendments. The chair can make recommendations by using a consent calendar. Is that because the presiding officer should present the consent calendar? Can you please explain your nope so I better understand? Thank you

It should first be noted that if a consent calendar is to be used at all, the assembly should adopt special rules of order governing its use. A consent calendar is generally used in an assembly which routinely has numerous items of non-controversial business.

"Legislatures, city, town, or county councils, or other assemblies which have a heavy work load including a large number of routine or noncontroversial matters may find a consent calendar a useful tool for disposing of such items of business. Commonly, when such a matter has been introduced or reported by a committee for consideration in the assembly, its sponsor, or, sometimes, an administrator, may seek to have it placed on the consent calendar. This calendar is called over periodically at a point established in the agenda by special rule of order, at least preceding standing committee reports. The matters listed on it are taken up in order, unless objected to, in which case they are restored to the ordinary process by which they are placed in line for consideration on the regular agenda. The special rule of order establishing a consent calendar may provide that, when the matters on the calendar are called up, they may be considered in gross or without debate or amendment. Otherwise, they are considered under the rules just as any other business, in which case the "consent" relates only to permitting the matter to be on the calendar for consideration without conforming to the usual, more onerous, rules for reaching measures in the body." (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 361)

If your organization regularly uses a consent calendar, it should have rules relating to the consideration of motions on the consent calendar, how items are placed on the consent calendar, and other such matters. If the society has no such rules governing the use of the consent calendar, it should adopt some if it intends to continue using one.

If this is more of a one-off situation, then the reporting member could accomplish a similar objective by making a single motion to adopt a series of resolutions. If the resolutions are on independent subjects, a single member may demand that a particular resolution be considered separately.

"If a single composite proposal for taking a number of actions in reference to a particular subject has too many elements to be conveniently written into one resolution (even of several clauses), it can be set forth in a series of separate resolutions that can be numbered and offered by means of a single main motion, thus: "Mr. President, I move the adoption of [or "I offer"] the following resolutions: ..." Such a series of resolutions can include orders as described above. In the case of a series of resolutions relating to a single subject, if members desire one or more of the resolutions to be considered separately, the motion for Division of a Question (27) must be made and adopted by a majority vote. Sometimes a series of independent resolutions relating to completely different subjects is offered by a single main motion in the same way. In the latter case—where the subjects are independent—any resolution in the series must be taken up and voted on separately at the demand of a single member. Such a demand can be made even when another has the floor, at any time until the vote has been taken on adopting the series. A member wishing to make this demand rises and says, for example, "Mr. President, I call for a separate vote on Resolution No. 2." (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 110)

The chair could request unanimous consent for adoption of the motion in question, which includes a number of bylaw amendments. As noted above, a member may request that a particular amendment be considered separately.

[Guest Zev]

Usually a consent calendar is used by legislative bodies and each one may have special rules as to its use and effect. If this organization is a legislative body then I would suggest examining its rules to determine how that body uses this device. If this is not a legislative body then it would be strange indeed as to why they are attempting to use this device.

[Rob Elsman]

I'm sticking with "nope".  You all need to drop the consent calendar.

[Angie N]

42 minutes ago, Josh Martin said:

If your organization regularly uses a consent calendar, it should have rules relating to the consideration of motions on the consent calendar, how items are placed on the consent calendar, and other such matters. If the society has no such rules governing the use of the consent calendar, it should adopt some if it intends to continue using one.

Yes we do. My confusion wasn't the consent calendar itself. Mr Katz best answered my question. Thank you!

[Angie N]

Thank you everyone for your responses! 

[Atul Kapur]

1 hour ago, Guest Zev said:

If this is not a legislative body then it would be strange indeed as to why they are attempting to use this device.

I believe Mr. Martin's quotation answered that: "other assemblies which have a heavy work load including a large number of routine or noncontroversial matters may find a consent calendar a useful tool for disposing of such items of business."

I have seen several non-legislative assemblies use it profitably.

[Gary Novosielski]

From what I can tell reading this thread, that we are not in fact talking about a consent calendar at all, but a simple case of a unanimous consent request, which is something entirely different.

 

[Josh Martin]

7 hours ago, Gary Novosielski said:

From what I can tell reading this thread, that we are not in fact talking about a consent calendar at all, but a simple case of a unanimous consent request, which is something entirely different.

I am less certain. In response to my comment that "If your organization regularly uses a consent calendar, it should have rules relating to the consideration of motions on the consent calendar, how items are placed on the consent calendar, and other such matters. If the society has no such rules governing the use of the consent calendar, it should adopt some if it intends to continue using one," the OP replied "Yes, we do." Presumably, this means the assembly does regularly use a consent calendar and has rules governing its use.

So my impression is that the organization does, in fact, use a consent calendar, but the question was how this is handled when some or all of the items on the consent calendar are recommendations from a committee.