Difference between tabling and postponing a motion

[kenmccaz]

When our small HOA board wants to take up a motion at a later date we "Table" the motion.  But I'm thinking if we want to take it up at a later meeting after referring it to another committee for their recommendation, or we just want to think on it longer (or gather more info), we really should be Postponing the motion.  Not sure of the difference between Tabling and Postponing.

[Josh Martin]

On 11/27/2022 at 11:43 AM, kenmccaz said:

When our small HOA board wants to take up a motion at a later date we "Table" the motion.  But I'm thinking if we want to take it up at a later meeting after referring it to another committee for their recommendation, or we just want to think on it longer (or gather more info), we really should be Postponing the motion.  Not sure of the difference between Tabling and Postponing.

You are correct that "if we just want to think on it longer (or gather more info), we really should be Postponing the motion."

"Isn't it always in order to move to table a motion to the next meeting?

This question confuses the motion to Lay on the Table with the motion to Postpone to a Certain Time. The purpose of the motion to Lay on the Table is to enable an assembly, by majority vote and without debate, to lay a pending question aside temporarily when something else of immediate urgency has arisen or when something else needs to be addressed before consideration of the pending question is resumed. In ordinary societies it is rarely needed, and hence seldom in order. [RONR (12th ed.) 17:1–24; see also p. 127 of RONR In Brief." (FAQ #12)

If the intent is to refer the motion to a committee, the proper motion is the motion to Commit (or Refer).

[Weldon Merritt]

I was about to write a response when I saw that Mr. Martin had responded. Since his response says pretty much what I would have said, I will just concur.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 11/27/2022 at 12:43 PM, kenmccaz said:

When our small HOA board wants to take up a motion at a later date we "Table" the motion.  But I'm thinking if we want to take it up at a later meeting after referring it to another committee for their recommendation, or we just want to think on it longer (or gather more info), we really should be Postponing the motion.  Not sure of the difference between Tabling and Postponing.

To elaborate on @Josh Martin's correct response, the reason Lay on the Table is rarely in order is that it is not debatable, and cuts off debate on the pending motion with less than the two-thirds vote needed to order the Previous Question.  If not taken from the table in a timely manner, it can kill the motion entirely.  Its intended purpose justifies this sort of handling, but routine use to put off consideration does not.

The motion to Postpone to a Certain Time (a.k.a Postpone Definitely) temporarily suspends debate on the pending motion, but fixes a time and day when it will be taken up again, in the same condition as when it was postponed, which can't be beyond the next regular meeting.  Additionally, it is debatable--not with respect to the merits of the original motion, but only as to why and whether it should be postponed, or considered now.

[Richard Brown]

Agreeing with my colleagues,  the motion you want to use is absolutely either a motion to post pone to a definite time or a motion to refer to a committee. The motion to lay on the table (it is incorrect to simply say “table“) is, like Josh Martin explained, to set a matter aside temporarily in order to take up something more pressing and then take it from the table and finish it at the same meeting.

If the intent is to delay something  until the next meeting, the motion lay on the table is not the correct motion. The correct motion is to postpone to a definite time, which cannot be beyond the next regular meeting. However, it can be postponed over and over, at meeting after meeting. It simply cannot be postponed for more than one meeting at a time. It is also subject to a few other provisions, such as the fact that it can only be used to postponed to the next meeting if the next meeting is going to occur within a quarterly time interval.

PLEASE stop using the incorrect “motion to table“!

[Joshua Katz]

On 11/27/2022 at 11:43 AM, kenmccaz said:

But I'm thinking if we want to take it up at a later meeting after referring it to another committee for their recommendation, or we just want to think on it longer (or gather more info), we really should be Postponing the motion.

It is not exactly what you asked, but if you'd like a committee to take it up and report back, postpone is not right, either, and the right motion is to refer to a committee.