Members getting swamped in amendments... any ideas?

[jcool]

Hello all. Our organization recently started following RONR, and we experiencing growing pains. Recently, a motion was brought up that brought long swaths of debate and the motion was amended 6 times, taking about 2 hours to eventually become tabled to the next meeting. It was brought up by a member that maybe the Chapter should approve the "general idea" of a motion, and then defer to a committee to create the exact wording of the motion to be discussed and voted upon at a later date. Is this an effective time saver? How can our group more efficiently maneuver the dozens of amendments and associated discussions that come with a complicated motion?

For context, I am chair of a Professional Fraternity at a college campus. The motions and business portion of each Chapter meeting is not everyone's cup of tea. I suspect we have members that check out mentally during this time period, and as such we would like to make this time more efficient to increase engagement.

Thank you for your time.

Edited October 15, 2020 at 02:28 AM by jcool

[Hieu H. Huynh]

Referring the item to a committee may help.

[Joshua Katz]

10 hours ago, jcool said:

It was brought up by a member that maybe the Chapter should approve the "general idea" of a motion, and then defer to a committee to create the exact wording of the motion to be discussed and voted upon at a later date. Is this an effective time saver?

I don't think so. I do think it would be an effective time saver to refer the motion to a committee, then approve or not (or amend further, but hopefully not so much will be necessary) when it comes back. 

As to the original suggestion, as a general matter I think it can cause problems. In specific cases (the convention will be held the week of October 1; the committee is instructed to secure a location that will cost no more than $100 and to set the date) I think it works. But in general, there's not going to be full agreement on what the "general idea" was.

[Rob Elsman]

The assembly is in complete control of its time.  Subsidiary motions are used to limit, extend, or shut off debate.  Take a look at RONR (12th ed.) §§ 15, 16.

As the other respondents have pointed out, it is very often advantageous to refer controversial, lengthy, or complex main motions (and what goes with them) to committees for thorough investigation, consideration, and recommendations.  The motion to send to committee is discussed at length in RONR (12th ed.) §13; it can take several different forms depending on precisely what the assembly wants to do and what it wants the committee to do.

[Josh Martin]

16 hours ago, jcool said:

Recently, a motion was brought up that brought long swaths of debate and the motion was amended 6 times, taking about 2 hours to eventually become tabled to the next meeting.

I believe you mean to say "taking about 2 hours to eventually become postponed to the next meeting." See FAQ #12.

16 hours ago, jcool said:

It was brought up by a member that maybe the Chapter should approve the "general idea" of a motion, and then defer to a committee to create the exact wording of the motion to be discussed and voted upon at a later date. Is this an effective time saver?

I think it would have been an effective time saver if the member cut out the part of approving the "general idea of a motion" and skipped to the part where the motion be referred to a committee.

Referring a motion to a committee to work out the exact wording is often a very effective strategy for saving time, but this notion of approving the "general idea of a motion" is not one which is supported in parliamentary law. The assembly should only adopt clear motions with exact wording, not "general ideas." This would leave the assembly's boards, committees, and officers in an ambiguous situation as it is not clear exactly what the assembly has just agreed to. In addition to just being a bad idea generally, I don't know that it would actually be at all effective at saving time, since members may all have quite different ideas of what the "general idea" of the motion is, so the debate might actually take more time than debating a clearly worded, thoroughly researched motion.

16 hours ago, jcool said:

How can our group more efficiently maneuver the dozens of amendments and associated discussions that come with a complicated motion?

Refer to committee is an excellent tool for this purpose.

Edited October 15, 2020 at 06:32 PM by Josh Martin

[Richard Brown]

On 10/14/2020 at 9:25 PM, jcool said:

Hello all. Our organization recently started following RONR, and we experiencing growing pains. Recently, a motion was brought up that brought long swaths of debate and the motion was amended 6 times, taking about 2 hours to eventually become tabled to the next meeting. It was brought up by a member that maybe the Chapter should approve the "general idea" of a motion, and then defer to a committee to create the exact wording of the motion to be discussed and voted upon at a later date. Is this an effective time saver? How can our group more efficiently maneuver the dozens of amendments and associated discussions that come with a complicated motion?

I tend to agree with the advice of Mr. Elsman and Mr. Martin.  In this case, simply referring the matter to a committee might well have been the best option.  I also agree that approving a "general idea" of a motion and referring it to a committee is probably not wise.  I think it best to either refer the original main motion to a committee (either prior to or after adoption of the amendments already adopted) or to refer a specific subject matter, such as "to study and make a recommendation regarding purchasing new computer equipment for the secretary" to a committee.   Then let the committee take it from there.  The committee might make specific recommendations regarding equipment to purchase or might report back that the current equipment is satisfactory and that there is no need to purchase new equipment.   That's what committees are for:  to study and make recommendations on things like that.

[Nathan Zook]

Taking the example of Mr Brown further, it is possible to empower the committee to act as well.  I'm in politics, and at this time in the cycle, we are getting donations which need to be allocated.  As the months have passed, we have had increasingly short periods with which to allocate funds.  We have appointed committees to determine how various funds should best be allocated, and directed the chairman to spend funds based on these determinations.

Some organizations create arraignments committees which set the date and direct the chairman to sign contracts for the facilities and services.

Of course, such empowerment requires a significant amount of trust.  Often there are substantial limitations on the authority of such a committee.