Referring a motion to the larger organization.

[Guest Dale]

If the board of an organization approves motion A to refer motion B to the larger organization for approval, does the board need to approve motion B first? 

[Richard Brown]

On 4/22/2023 at 11:07 PM, Guest Dale said:

If the board of an organization approves motion A to refer motion B to the larger organization for approval, does the board need to approve motion B first? 

We need more information. The correct answer probably depends in large part on what your bylaws provide about your procedures and about how the board and the larger society interact. Do your bylaws require that all motions be approved by the board before they are adopted by the general membership?  RONR does not, but your own rules supersede the rules in RONR. I would think that if motion A says simply “we, the board of directors of XYZ organization recommend that the organization adopt motion B”, it seems to me like that is sufficient, but I can’t say for sure without having more information. For that matter, I’m not sure I really understand your question.

[Guest Dale]

I will try to be more specific.  We had a member of the larger organization ask to revisit a structure issue we voted on previously.  It was a close vote originally.  We know this is a hot button topic in the organization.  The board wants to refer it to the larger organization without prejudice.  The motion is essentially "The board approves sending motion B to the organization for a vote".  Does the board have to approve motion B to send it.  I see nothing in our bylaws that addresses this.  Thanks for the quick response.

 

[Atul Kapur]

Assuming that the board's approval is required, it can approve sending the motion to the general membership for a vote without taking a position on the motion. An example is a union with a draft ("tentative") negotiated agreement. If the union's rules require that the board authorize that the tentative agreement be sent out for a ratification vote, then the board can authorize such a vote without endorsing the tentative agreement.

To be explicitly clear, the motion could read, "The board approves sending motion B to the membership for a vote but takes no position on motion B"

[Gary Novosielski]

On 4/23/2023 at 11:39 AM, Guest Dale said:

I will try to be more specific.  We had a member of the larger organization ask to revisit a structure issue we voted on previously.  It was a close vote originally.  We know this is a hot button topic in the organization.  The board wants to refer it to the larger organization without prejudice.  The motion is essentially "The board approves sending motion B to the organization for a vote".  Does the board have to approve motion B to send it.  I see nothing in our bylaws that addresses this.  Thanks for the quick response.

 

I'm a little confuse about who the "we" is who voted previously, the board or the membership. And the fact that it was voted on previously may affect the results here.  What was nature of the vote and did it narrowly pass or narrowly fail?  And was the final vote held by the membership? A member of the body in which it was considered may, if it was adopted, move to amend or rescind the motion.  There's a higher vote threshold to change something that already passed.  (If it was originally rejected, then a new motion, or the same motion, can be reintroduced.)

So I'm not certain it would be appropriate for the board to insert itself into that process.  If the rules in RONR apply. it would not be in order for the board to make a motion that would, if adopted, conflict with a decision already made by the membership.  But it's not clear that was the case.

I think by reporting a certain motion to the membership, even without a recommendation, the board will be seen as tacitly supporting the reversal of the previous decision, since they could support the status quo by simply doing nothing.

 

[Josh Martin]

On 4/23/2023 at 10:39 AM, Guest Dale said:

The board wants to refer it to the larger organization without prejudice.

I assume what you mean to say is that the board wants to refer it without recommendation. "Without prejudice" is a legal term, not a parliamentary one, and is not really applicable to what you're describing here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudice_(legal_term)

On 4/23/2023 at 10:39 AM, Guest Dale said:

The board wants to refer it to the larger organization without prejudice.  The motion is essentially "The board approves sending motion B to the organization for a vote".  Does the board have to approve motion B to send it.  I see nothing in our bylaws that addresses this. 

I see no reason why the board could not refer this motion to the larger organization without recommendation, unless something in your rules suggests otherwise.

I would add, however, that if the board has no recommendation on this matter, I don't think there is a need for the board to take any action at all, unless something in your rules suggests otherwise. A member could simply make a motion on this subject, so far as RONR is concerned.