Debate after exhausting your right to debate

[Tomm]

Motion to Reconsider 37:21:

Regarding the ability to debate after exhausting your right to debate; can you better explain "(But such a member can pursue an equivalent purpose while the motion to Reconsider is pending, since the motion proposed to be reconsidered is also open to discussion in debate on the motion to Reconsider)"

I get the point about exhausting your two, ten-minute rule on debate but not quite understanding the additional allowable allotted time?

[Weldon Merritt]

On 3/7/2022 at 1:48 PM, Tomm said:

I get the point about exhausting your two, ten-minute rule on debate but not quite understanding the additional allowable allotted time?

The limit is per debatable question. The motion to Reconsider is a separate debatable question, so even if a member has exhausted the right to debate the original question, the member still has a right to debate the motion to Reconsider. And since debate on that motion can go into the merits of the question to be reconsidered, the member, in effect, gets another bite (or two bites) at the apple,

[Tomm]

Okay, I think I've got it.

The member can exhaust his/her right to debate while debating the original "motion" to reconsider but once the motion is brought back he can once again debate the merits of the motion?  

[Josh Martin]

On 3/7/2022 at 3:05 PM, Tomm said:

The member can exhaust his/her right to debate while debating the original "motion" to reconsider but once the motion is brought back he can once again debate the merits of the motion?  

If a member has spoken twice on a motion, and a motion to Reconsider that motion is later made on the same day, the member may speak twice on the motion to Reconsider because it is a separate motion. In the event the motion to Reconsider is adopted, he may not speak on the motion which the assembly is reconsidering, because he already exhausted his right to speak in debate on the motion the first time it was considered. Because the debate on the motion to Reconsider may fully enter the merits of the underlying question, however, the member can say whatever he wanted to say about the motion during debate on the motion to Reconsider.

[Tomm]

On 3/7/2022 at 2:30 PM, Josh Martin said:

Because the debate on the motion to Reconsider may fully enter the merits of the underlying question, however, the member can say whatever he wanted to say about the motion during debate on the motion to Reconsider.

This is where you lose me??? So you're saying he can again speak twice for 10 minutes only on the motion to reconsider the original motion but once the original motion is again brought back and debatable, he can't speak during that debate process unless he gets additional permission from the assembly? 

[Josh Martin]

On 3/7/2022 at 3:51 PM, Tomm said:

This is where you lose me??? So you're saying he can again speak twice for 10 minutes only on the motion to reconsider the original motion but once the original motion is again brought back and debatable, he can't speak during that debate process unless he gets additional permission from the assembly? 

Yes, that's correct. The original motion is the same motion that was previously considered by the assembly. So if the member has already spoken twice on that motion, he can't speak on it again during reconsideration (assuming this occurs on the same day the original motion was originally voted on).

[Tomm]

On 3/7/2022 at 5:34 PM, Josh Martin said:

(assuming this occurs on the same day the original motion was originally voted on).

37:10 b says the motion has to be made on the same day as it was originally presented unless you're talking about a session and the next day!

Are you saying that if the motion to reconsider was made the next day of the session then those rules limiting debate don't apply?

Edited March 8, 2022 at 12:39 AM by Tomm

[Josh Martin]

On 3/7/2022 at 6:39 PM, Tomm said:

37:10 b says the motion has to be made on the same day as it was originally presented unless you're talking about a session and the next day!

Yes, I understand that the motion to Reconsider must be made on the same day as the original motion (or on the next business day in a multiple day session). Nonetheless, there are various reasons why the reconsideration may not occur until a later day (or may continue on a later day).

• In a multiple-day session, the motion to Reconsider might be made on the next business day.
• In rare circumstances, the motion to Reconsider might not be able to be "called up" at the time it is made. The time limit for a motion to Reconsider to be called up is longer than the time limit for making it.
• There are various motions which can be used to delay a pending motion to a later meeting, such as Postpone to a Certain Time.

 

On 3/7/2022 at 6:39 PM, Tomm said:

Are you saying that if the motion to reconsider was made the next day of the session then those rules limiting debate don't apply?

If the reconsideration does not occur until a later day (whether this is because the motion to Reconsider is made the next day or for some other reason), then members who have previously exhausted their speeches on the motion may speak again, because the full rule in regard to limits on debate reads as follows:

"Unless the assembly has a special rule providing otherwise, no member can speak more than twice to the same question on the same day—except that in the case of an Appeal (24), only the presiding officer can speak twice (the second time at the close of the debate), all other members being limited to one speech." RONR (12th ed.) 43:12, emphasis added

This is not unique to reconsideration. The same principle would apply if, for example, a motion was postponed to a meeting on another day - members would be free to speak twice on the motion regardless of how many speeches they made on the motion on previous days.

Edited March 8, 2022 at 12:55 AM by Josh Martin

[Tomm]

Awesome...thanks!