STANDING RULES COMMITTEE

[Guest 0LIVIA HEADLEY]

 

Is a 'Standing Rules' Committee...

...a Standing committee?

OR

...a Special committee?

[Guest Puzzling]

15 minutes ago, Guest 0LIVIA HEADLEY said:

 

Is a 'Standing Rules' Committee...

...a Standing committee?

OR

...a Special committee?

It could be both.

Some questions that might help: (But could also lead you astray) 

What was the motion to set up the committee?

Is the committee mentioned or regulated in the bylaws,, or special rules of order?

Was the committee set up by a membership meeting or by a boardmeeting? 

What do the bylaws say about standing Committees? 

 

[Atul Kapur]

There is yet another option. This may also be a convention committee. 

Edited May 7, 2021 at 09:34 AM by Atul Kapur

[Richard Brown]

2 hours ago, Guest 0LIVIA HEADLEY said:

 

Is a 'Standing Rules' Committee...

...a Standing committee?

OR

...a Special committee?

Guest Olivia, I’m curious: the name of the committee is apparently “Standing Rules Commitee” (assuming you have properly stated its name). What is it that makes you question whether it is a standing committee or a special committee? It’s very name says it is a standing committee. Although that is not controlling, it is certainly persuasive.  

Ultimately, the type committee it is will be determined by its purpose and the manner in which it was established. If it is listed as a standing committee in the bylaws, it is almost certainly a standing committee. If it is not named in the bylaws but was created by the society by means of a motion or special rule of order, it could be either a standing committee or a special committee, depending upon the circumstances of its creation.  How exactly was it created? 

2 hours ago, Guest Puzzling said:

It could be both.

Um, no. It could be one or the other but not both.  Perhaps you meant to say “It could be either”.  
 

Edited May 7, 2021 at 09:52 AM by Richard Brown
Added last sentence

[Guest Puzzling]

1 hour ago, Richard Brown said:

Um, no. It could be one or the other but not both.  Perhaps you meant to say “It could be either

Mea culpa , 

But the differences between them are not very big.  And it is even possible that it is undecidable: What of a committee that is long ago set up by the board while there are no standing committees of the board mentioned in the bylaws? (And the minutes are vague)

[Joshua Katz]

2 hours ago, Richard Brown said:

Guest Olivia, I’m curious: the name of the committee is apparently “Standing Rules Commitee” (assuming you have properly stated its name). What is it that makes you question whether it is a standing committee or a special committee? It’s very name says it is a standing committee. Although that is not controlling, it is certainly persuasive.  

 

I read that as the committee on standing rules, not the standing committee on rules. But perhaps I am wrong.

[Josh Martin]

30 minutes ago, Guest Puzzling said:

But the differences between them are not very big.

Perhaps not, but what differences there are can be important. The key difference is in the rules regarding the committee's continuing existence.

30 minutes ago, Guest Puzzling said:

And it is even possible that it is undecidable:

It has to be decided somehow. It can't be a quantum committee.

30 minutes ago, Guest Puzzling said:

What of a committee that is long ago set up by the board while there are no standing committees of the board mentioned in the bylaws?

Such a committee might be a standing committee or a special committee, depending on what was determined by the board. And if it was a special committee, the committee quite possibly no longer exists in this case, depending on how "long ago" it was set up.

30 minutes ago, Guest Puzzling said:

(And the minutes are vague)

If a situation arises in which the available facts - the rules, the minutes, the member's memories, etc. - are such that it cannot be conclusively determined what type of committee it is, then the assembly will have to do the best it can to interpret the matter, the same as it would if some other ambiguity in the assembly's records arose. This will hopefully also be a lesson to keep better records in the future.

2 hours ago, Richard Brown said:

Guest Olivia, I’m curious: the name of the committee is apparently “Standing Rules Commitee” (assuming you have properly stated its name). What is it that makes you question whether it is a standing committee or a special committee? It’s very name says it is a standing committee. Although that is not controlling, it is certainly persuasive.  

It could be a special committee created to review the assembly's standing rules.

Edited May 7, 2021 at 12:06 PM by Josh Martin

[Richard Brown]

1 hour ago, Josh Martin said:

It could be a special committee created to review the assembly's standing rules.

Yes,  I agree that a “standing rules committee“ could be interpreted either way. It could be a standing committee on rules or a special committee on standing rules.  I first interpreted it to mean a standing committee on rules, but the other interpretation is equally plausible.  Its true nature cannot be determined from its name alone.