Agenda: Items Under Special Orders, General Orders, Or New Business?

[Roman.76]

Hi everyone!
I am curious to hear from you regarding where items should be placed in the order of business when a board adopts an agenda.  Assume the board uses the order of business outlined at the end of this message.  The president and secretary work together to develop the agenda, compiling specific items that have been requested by the officers of the board.  In the interest of time, some agenda items specify the hour when they are supposed to be considered.  Which heading should the agenda items be placed under (header #6, #7, or #8)?

Call to Order
Prayer
1.  Adoption of the Agenda
2.  Approval of the Minutes
3.  Reports of Officers
4.  Reports of Standing Committees
5.  Reports of Special Committees
6.  Special Orders
7.  Unfinished Business and General Orders
8.  New Business
9.  Announcements
Adjourn

[Gary Novosielski]

In the first place, no agenda is needed if an order of business has been adopted.

But if you do have one, the items with a specified time are technically special orders, but they are listed with their times.  When the time arrives, it makes no difference what .class of business you are considering--that stops, and the item is taken up at its specified time.

[Roman.76]

The order of business has been adopted but there is also a rule that the president and secretary draft the agenda with the order of business and include items on the agenda requested by board members so everyone is aware of what is going to be considered.  Anyone is still permitted to bring up any new business under new business.  So essentially, the goal is to help everyone come to the meeting prepared for discussion.  (This is a small board, so discussion is allowed to ensue before a motion is proposed.)

So I guess there are a few questions here:

1) When the agenda is drafted, should the items with specific times go under special orders and the ones without times go under general orders?

2) Should/Can items with or without specific times be listed under new business?

3) Can both general orders and special orders have a time set for them or just special orders?  What is the real difference?

4) If one item is scheduled to be considered at 4:30 p.m. and concludes at 4:45 p.m., but the next item is not scheduled until 5:00 p.m., what happens?  Is there a way to say that an item will last a maximum of 30 minutes (for example), and if consideration ends before the 30 minutes, the next item will be considered under its allotted time?

I have heard of different boards doing it in different ways, but have never seen a proper example.  So I want to make sure we do this in a way that makes sense and follows RONR.  Below are two examples of draft agendas.  Please let me know your thoughts and what would be the proper way to organize the agenda.  Any additional feedback that I can take to my board is much appreciated!

Example 1:
Call to Order
Prayer
1.  Adoption of the Agenda
2.  Approval of the Minutes
2.A    Minutes of the Annual Membership meeting held on October 8, 2023.
3.  Report of Officers
3.A    President’s Report. (Officer's Name)
3.B    Vice President of Baseball’s Report. (Officer's Name)
3.C    Vice President of Softball’s Report. (Officer's Name)
3.D    Secretary’s Report. (Officer's Name)
3.E    Treasurer’s Report. (Officer's Name)
3.F    Information Officer’s Report. (Officer's Name)
4.  Reports of Standing Committees
5.  Reports of Special Committees
6.  Special Orders
7.  Unfinished Business and General Orders
8.  New Business
8.A    Item title. (Requestor's Name)
8.B    Item title. (Requestor's Name)
8.C    Item title. (Requestor's Name)
9. Announcements
Adjourn

Example 2:
Call to Order
Prayer
1.  Adoption of the Agenda
2.  Approval of the Minutes
2.A    Minutes of the Annual Membership meeting held on October 8, 2023.
3.  Report of Officers
3.A    President’s Report. (Officer's Name)
3.B    Vice President of Baseball’s Report. (Officer's Name)
3.C    Vice President of Softball’s Report. (Officer's Name)
3.D    Secretary’s Report. (Officer's Name)
3.E    Treasurer’s Report. (Officer's Name)
3.F    Information Officer’s Report. (Officer's Name)
4.  Reports of Standing Committees
5.  Reports of Special Committees
6.  Special Orders
4:30 p.m. 6.A    Item title. (Requestor's Name)
5:00 p.m. 6.B    Item title. (Requestor's Name)
5:30 p.m. 6.C    Item title. (Requestor's Name)
7.  Unfinished Business and General Orders
7.A    Item title. (Requestor's Name)
8.  New Business
8.A    Item title. (Requestor's Name)
8.B    Item title. (Requestor's Name)
9. Announcements
Adjourn

[Gary Novosielski]

The second example seems more in line with the way RONR considers items of business but it's hard to tell without knowing if any of the items in the first example would be duplicated in the second. And there are other consideration.

To understand the finer point of the mechanics of orders of the day, agendas, and standard orders of business will require a reading of RONR (12th ed.) §41.  

The meat of the matter would be in 41:41, quoted below, but the potatoes will be found in other paragraphs.

41:41
Orders of the day are divided into the classes of general
orders and special orders. A special order is an order of the
day that is made with the stipulation that any rules interfering
with its consideration at the specified time shall be suspended
except those relating: (a) to adjournment or recess (8, 20, 21);
(b) to questions of privilege (19); (c) to special orders that
were made before this special order was made; or (d) to a
question that has been assigned priority over all other
business at a meeting by being made the special order for the
meeting as described in 41:57. An important consequence of
this suspending effect is that, with the four exceptions just
mentioned, a special order for a particular hour interrupts any
business that is pending when that hour arrives. Since the
making of a special order has the effect of suspending any
interfering rules, it requires a two-thirds vote (except where
such action is included in the adoption of an agenda or
program for a session having no prescribed order of
business). Any matter that is made an order of the day without
being made a special order is a general order for the time
named.
[emphasis in original; highlight added]

I'm not certain how the highlighted section applies to your situation.  Apparently you use an "agenda" for a session that does have a prescribed order of business, which complicates matters.  Were it not for the fact that you formally approve this document, it would be closer to the memorandum discussed in 41:7, which is an order of business, but with notations of items included, so as not to overlook any.  But voting on the entire instrument at the outset appears to treat it as an agenda, even though several of the classes of business have no particular details listed.

I'd be interested to see what some other members might make of this neither-fish-nor-fowl arrangement. 

 

[Dan Honemann]

On 11/2/2023 at 5:01 PM, Roman.76 said:

Hi everyone!
I am curious to hear from you regarding where items should be placed in the order of business when a board adopts an agenda.  Assume the board uses the order of business outlined at the end of this message.  The president and secretary work together to develop the agenda, compiling specific items that have been requested by the officers of the board.  In the interest of time, some agenda items specify the hour when they are supposed to be considered.  Which heading should the agenda items be placed under (header #6, #7, or #8)?

Call to Order
Prayer
1.  Adoption of the Agenda
2.  Approval of the Minutes
3.  Reports of Officers
4.  Reports of Standing Committees
5.  Reports of Special Committees
6.  Special Orders
7.  Unfinished Business and General Orders
8.  New Business
9.  Announcements
Adjourn

First some questions:

1.  What type of board is this (executive board of larger organization of some sort, school board, etc.) and how frequently does it meet?

2.  Has Robert's Rules of Order been adopted as its parliamentary authority?  If so, how and by whom?

3.  Later on you say: "The order of business has been adopted but there is also a rule that the president and secretary draft the agenda with the order of business and include items on the agenda requested by board members so everyone is aware of what is going to be considered." 

a) How and by whom was this order of business adopted?

b) How and by whom was this rule adopted, and what, exactly, does it say?

 

 

[Josh Martin]

On 11/2/2023 at 4:01 PM, Roman.76 said:

Assume the board uses the order of business outlined at the end of this message.  The president and secretary work together to develop the agenda, compiling specific items that have been requested by the officers of the board.  In the interest of time, some agenda items specify the hour when they are supposed to be considered.  Which heading should the agenda items be placed under (header #6, #7, or #8)?

Call to Order
Prayer
1.  Adoption of the Agenda
2.  Approval of the Minutes
3.  Reports of Officers
4.  Reports of Standing Committees
5.  Reports of Special Committees
6.  Special Orders
7.  Unfinished Business and General Orders
8.  New Business
9.  Announcements
Adjourn

Well, first, I will rather fruitlessly point out that generally, an assembly which meets at least as often as quarterly should just use the order of business and not bother with an agenda. Further, the purpose of using an agenda when the assembly already has an order of business is because the order of business is not suitable for a particular meeting. So the entire question makes no sense. The answer is "the assembly puts stuff where it wants."

But no one listens to this rule anymore, and everyone routinely adopts agendas, and it also seems the assembly has a rule requiring the adoption of an agenda. (Which seems paradoxical when there is also a specified order of business, but whatever.) So I'll answer these questions as best as I can, with the understanding that the assembly routinely adopts an agenda which generally follows its order of business, with the qualification that specific times are sometimes assigned to items.

So, to your questions...

Generally, they should be placed under General Orders, unless a specified hour is assigned, in which event they should be placed under Special Orders.

Nothing should ever be placed under New Business. That's for items which are raised spontaneously at the meeting, when that heading arrives.

On 11/2/2023 at 11:38 PM, Roman.76 said:

1) When the agenda is drafted, should the items with specific times go under special orders and the ones without times go under general orders?

Yes.

On 11/2/2023 at 11:38 PM, Roman.76 said:

2) Should/Can items with or without specific times be listed under new business?

No. Nothing should ever be listed under New Business.

On 11/2/2023 at 11:38 PM, Roman.76 said:

3) Can both general orders and special orders have a time set for them or just special orders?  What is the real difference?

"When an hour is assigned to a particular subject in an agenda, that subject is thereby made a special order unless, by footnote or other means, it is stated that the time is intended merely for guidance, in which case the subject is only a general order. Subjects for which no hour is specified in an agenda are general orders." RONR (12th ed.) 41:58

On 11/2/2023 at 11:38 PM, Roman.76 said:

4) If one item is scheduled to be considered at 4:30 p.m. and concludes at 4:45 p.m., but the next item is not scheduled until 5:00 p.m., what happens?

You would move on to the next item that has no specific time assigned. If everything has a specific time assigned, I suppose you would take a recess.

Unless, of course, the assembly votes to set aside the orders of the day by a 2/3 vote or by unanimous consent, in order to take up the 5 PM item early.

On 11/2/2023 at 11:38 PM, Roman.76 said:

Is there a way to say that an item will last a maximum of 30 minutes (for example), and if consideration ends before the 30 minutes, the next item will be considered under its allotted time?

Yes, but not through an agenda.

What the assembly would instead do to accomplish this objective would be to adopt a motion to Limit Debate, "that debate on the pending resolution be limited to thirty minutes," perhaps adding "during which time all applicable secondary motions shall remain in order," if the assembly does not wish to limit usage of motions to Postpone to a Certain Time or Commit.

On 11/3/2023 at 12:49 AM, Gary Novosielski said:

I'm not certain how the highlighted section applies to your situation.  Apparently you use an "agenda" for a session that does have a prescribed order of business, which complicates matters.  Were it not for the fact that you formally approve this document, it would be closer to the memorandum discussed in 41:7, which is an order of business, but with notations of items included, so as not to overlook any.  But voting on the entire instrument at the outset appears to treat it as an agenda, even though several of the classes of business have no particular details listed.

I'd be interested to see what some other members might make of this neither-fish-nor-fowl arrangement. 

I have seen a great many organizations routinely adopt an agenda which simply regurgitates the standard order of business in RONR (or at least least something approximating it).

In any event, RONR provides that if an agenda is adopted, the agenda is controlling, and what RONR provides for the rules for orders of the day in an agenda is as follows:

"When the assigned time for taking up a topic in an agenda arrives, the chair announces that fact. Then he puts to a vote any pending questions without allowing further debate, unless someone immediately moves to lay the question on the table, postpone it, or refer it to a committee. If any of these subsidiary motions are moved, they are likewise put to a vote, together with any amendment to them, without debate. Besides these subsidiary motions, a motion to extend the time for considering the pending question is in order. While an extension under these conditions is seldom desirable and is often unfair to the next topic, it is sometimes necessary, and a motion for the extension can be adopted without debate by a two-thirds vote (see also 18). As soon as the business that was pending has been disposed of as described, the chair recognizes the member who is to offer the motion or resolution embodying the scheduled topic (unless the question has previously been introduced and has come over from an earlier time, in which case the chair announces it as the pending business)." RONR (12th ed.) 41:65

Edited November 3, 2023 at 12:46 PM by Josh Martin

[Dan Honemann]

On 11/3/2023 at 8:41 AM, Josh Martin said:

So, to your questions...

Generally, they should be placed under General Orders, unless a specified hour is assigned, in which event they should be placed under Special Orders.

While waiting for a response to the questions I have asked, it may be worth noting that, if an agenda is adopted for an entire meeting there should be no heading on it called "Special Orders" or "General Orders". Everything on the agenda is either one or the other.

[Rob Elsman]

Executive boards almost always meet frequently enough that they should adhere either to the standard order of business or an order of business adopted by the proper rule-making authority. The adoption of an agenda at the beginning of each meeting should be scrapped.

It is proper and often useful for the presiding officer or the secretary to prepare before each regular meeting a memorandum which distributes items of business that have been previously introduced but not permanently disposed of within the various headings of the established order of business in the proper order that they will be called up in accordance with the rules. Such a memorandum is not intended to be adopted, but is only for the guidance of the presiding officer in calling up business in the proper order.

Nothing in the rules prevents this memorandum from being distributed to all the members of the board for information only if the society is willing to undertake the expenses associated with printing and distributing.

[Roman.76]

On 11/3/2023 at 12:49 AM, Gary Novosielski said:

Apparently you use an "agenda" for a session that does have a prescribed order of business, which complicates matters.  Were it not for the fact that you formally approve this document, it would be closer to the memorandum discussed in 41:7, which is an order of business, but with notations of items included, so as not to overlook any.  But voting on the entire instrument at the outset appears to treat it as an agenda, even though several of the classes of business have no particular details listed.

I'd be interested to see what some other members might make of this neither-fish-nor-fowl arrangement. 

 

I see what you're saying.  The Board might not fully understand the significant differences between an order of business and an agenda.

On 11/3/2023 at 6:35 AM, Dan Honemann said:

First some questions:

1.  What type of board is this (executive board of larger organization of some sort, school board, etc.) and how frequently does it meet?

2.  Has Robert's Rules of Order been adopted as its parliamentary authority?  If so, how and by whom?

3.  Later on you say: "The order of business has been adopted but there is also a rule that the president and secretary draft the agenda with the order of business and include items on the agenda requested by board members so everyone is aware of what is going to be considered." 

a) How and by whom was this order of business adopted?

b) How and by whom was this rule adopted, and what, exactly, does it say?

 

 

1. This is a Board of Directors or a local sports league.  The Board's regular meetings are once a month (per the Constitution).

2. Yes, the Constitution establishes RONR as the parliamentary authority.

3. Below are the Special Rules of Order that the Board has adopted regarding this topic:

1. The order of business for agendas for regular meetings of the Board shall be as follows:
Call to Order
Prayer
1. Adoption of the Agenda
2. Approval of the Minutes
3. Reports of Officers
4. Special Orders
5. Unfinished Business and General Orders
6. New Business
7. Announcements
Adjourn

2. The President or his or her designee is responsible for drafting the agenda for regular meetings of the Board, with the authority to include specific items of business to be considered under “New Business.” The agenda is subject to adoption and amendment by the Board during “Adoption of the Agenda.”

3. The President or his or her designee shall send the draft agenda to the Secretary at least one day before the notice of the regular meeting of the Board is required to be sent as prescribed in the Constitution. The agenda shall be sent with the notice of the meeting. The Secretary shall send the notice of the meeting without the agenda if the President or his or her designee fails to send the agenda to the Secretary as outlined above. The absence of the agenda in the notice does not affect the validity of the notice or the proper conduct of business at the regular meeting. If the agenda is not sent with the notice, the Board shall adhere to the order of business outlined in Special Rule of Order No. 1.

Please feel free to provide any suggestions or red-line the rules above to how it should read.  I am working with the president to make these changes to be consistent with RONR and plan on proposing these changes to the Board at our next regular meeting in two weeks.

On 11/3/2023 at 7:41 AM, Josh Martin said:

Well, first, I will rather fruitlessly point out that generally, an assembly which meets at least as often as quarterly should just use the order of business and not bother with an agenda. Further, the purpose of using an agenda when the assembly already has an order of business is because the order of business is not suitable for a particular meeting. So the entire question makes no sense. The answer is "the assembly puts stuff where it wants."

I see, we should either have a standard order of business or an agenda, but not both.  I guess the reason the Board previously established both was in case a draft agenda was not prepared there is an order of business to follow.

On 11/3/2023 at 7:41 AM, Josh Martin said:

Nothing should ever be placed under New Business. That's for items which are raised spontaneously at the meeting, when that heading arrives.

I agree.  So, it seems like the Board should change Special Rule of Order No. 2 to be consistent with this.

On 11/3/2023 at 7:41 AM, Josh Martin said:

Yes, but not through an agenda.

What the assembly would instead do to accomplish this objective would be to adopt a motion to Limit Debate, "that debate on the pending resolution be limited to thirty minutes," perhaps adding "during which time all applicable secondary motions shall remain in order," if the assembly does not wish to limit usage of motions to Postpone to a Certain Time or Commit.

Is there a way to do this when there is no motion pending?  Since this Board is a "small board," the president allows discussion while no motion is pending.  In this case, I assume a motion to limit debate would not be in order without a pending motion.

On 11/3/2023 at 11:57 AM, Dan Honemann said:

While waiting for a response to the questions I have asked, it may be worth noting that, if an agenda is adopted for an entire meeting there should be no heading on it called "Special Orders" or "General Orders". Everything on the agenda is either one or the other.

Got it.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 11/4/2023 at 4:36 PM, Roman.76 said:

Is there a way to do this when there is no motion pending?  Since this Board is a "small board," the president allows discussion while no motion is pending.  In this case, I assume a motion to limit debate would not be in order without a pending motion.

You can make a motion to Limit or Extend... without a motion pending.  It can be made to apply to a motion about to be introduced, or to all main motions (or a subset) for the remainder of that one session.

If no motion is pending when it is moved, it becomes an incidental main motion. [See 6:23]:

6:23
Incidental Main Motions Corresponding to Incidental
Motions. Counterparts of some of the incidental motions may
occur as incidental main motions. For example, a standing rule
(2) can be suspended for the duration of a session (8); and a
motion for such a suspension, made when no business is
pending, is an incidental main motion. Similarly, a motion
prescribing how nominations shall be made is an incidental
main motion if it is moved while no election is pending.
 

[Dan Honemann]

On 11/4/2023 at 4:36 PM, Roman.76 said:

1. This is a Board of Directors or a local sports league.  The Board's regular meetings are once a month (per the Constitution).

2. Yes, the Constitution establishes RONR as the parliamentary authority.

3. Below are the Special Rules of Order that the Board has adopted regarding this topic:

1. The order of business for agendas for regular meetings of the Board shall be as follows:
Call to Order
Prayer
1. Adoption of the Agenda
2. Approval of the Minutes
3. Reports of Officers
4. Special Orders
5. Unfinished Business and General Orders
6. New Business
7. Announcements
Adjourn

2. The President or his or her designee is responsible for drafting the agenda for regular meetings of the Board, with the authority to include specific items of business to be considered under “New Business.” The agenda is subject to adoption and amendment by the Board during “Adoption of the Agenda.”

3. The President or his or her designee shall send the draft agenda to the Secretary at least one day before the notice of the regular meeting of the Board is required to be sent as prescribed in the Constitution. The agenda shall be sent with the notice of the meeting. The Secretary shall send the notice of the meeting without the agenda if the President or his or her designee fails to send the agenda to the Secretary as outlined above. The absence of the agenda in the notice does not affect the validity of the notice or the proper conduct of business at the regular meeting. If the agenda is not sent with the notice, the Board shall adhere to the order of business outlined in Special Rule of Order No. 1.

Please feel free to provide any suggestions or red-line the rules above to how it should read.  I am working with the president to make these changes to be consistent with RONR and plan on proposing these changes to the Board at our next regular meeting in two weeks.

Since your Constitution establishes RONR as your parliamentary authority, the standard order of business outlined in RONR, 12th ed. 41:5-27 is the prescribed order of business for your Board.

"The executive board of an organized society operates under the society's bylaws, the society's parliamentary authority, and any special rules of order or standing rules of the society which may be applicable to it. Such a board may adopt its own special rules of order or standing rules only to the extent that such rules do not conflict with any of the rules of the society listed above."   RONR, 12th ed., 45:15, with emphasis supplied by me.

[Gary Novosielski]

Thank you Dan!  I had assumed (yeah, I know) that when the OP said this order of business had been adopted, it was duly adopted via a special rule of order approved by the membership.  The fact that the Board adopted its own special order of business was not made clear at the outset.  And that is basically the ball game.

Dan asked exactly the right questions.   

[Roman.76]

On 11/4/2023 at 6:29 PM, Dan Honemann said:

Since your Constitution establishes RONR as your parliamentary authority, the standard order of business outlined in RONR, 12th ed. 41:5-27 is the prescribed order of business for your Board.

"The executive board of an organized society operates under the society's bylaws, the society's parliamentary authority, and any special rules of order or standing rules of the society which may be applicable to it. Such a board may adopt its own special rules of order or standing rules only to the extent that such rules do not conflict with any of the rules of the society listed above."   RONR, 12th ed., 45:15, with emphasis supplied by me.

Gotcha.  So since the Board adopted a special rule of order to establish its order of business, the Board has to adhere to the order listed in RONR.  That would deem Special Rule of Order No. 1 void.  However, the membership would be permitted to adopt a special rule of order and establish the order of business for the Board.  The Board can still adopt an agenda if it wishes to.  Did I get that right?

[Dan Honemann]

On 11/4/2023 at 9:42 PM, Roman.76 said:

Gotcha.  So since the Board adopted a special rule of order to establish its order of business, the Board has to adhere to the order listed in RONR.  That would deem Special Rule of Order No. 1 void.  However, the membership would be permitted to adopt a special rule of order and establish the order of business for the Board.  The Board can still adopt an agenda if it wishes to.  Did I get that right?

No, the Board may not adopt an agenda for its meeting since it already has an order of business prescribed for its meeting.  It can, however, during its meeting, take up business out of its proper order by following the procedure outlined in RONR, 12th ed., 41:37-39.

Please understand that my responses are based solely upon the information which you have provided.  I have not read your Constitution, and I know nothing whatsoever about your organization other than what you have provided. There may be something else in your Constitution (or Charter or Bylaws if you have them), or in a special rule of order adopted by your membership and made applicable to your Board, or perhaps even applicable law, which conflicts with what RONR says, in which case the advice I am giving you should be disregarded. 

 

[Josh Martin]

On 11/5/2023 at 6:54 AM, Dan Honemann said:

No, the Board may not adopt an agenda for its meeting since it already has an order of business prescribed for its meeting.

The board may adopt an agenda, however, this will require a 2/3 vote if the agenda conflicts in some manner with the standard order of business, and/or if the agenda includes special orders.

"At a session that already has an order of business, an agenda can be adopted by a majority vote only if it does not create any special orders and does not conflict with the existing order of business; otherwise, a two-thirds vote is required (see also 25:12)." RONR (12th ed.) 41:61

[Dan Honemann]

On 11/5/2023 at 9:22 AM, Josh Martin said:

The board may adopt an agenda, however, this will require a 2/3 vote if the agenda conflicts in some manner with the standard order of business, and/or if the agenda includes special orders.

"At a session that already has an order of business, an agenda can be adopted by a majority vote only if it does not create any special orders and does not conflict with the existing order of business; otherwise, a two-thirds vote is required (see also 25:12)." RONR (12th ed.) 41:61

Thank you, Mr. Martin; I'm afraid I overlooked what is said in 41:61.

[Rob Elsman]

In boards that regularly go through their order of business in one meeting lasting a few hours, there is little need to adopt an agenda. If there is the odd occasion where it is necessary to handle an item of business in advance of its assigned place, a motion can be adopted when no other motion is pending to suspend the rules that interfere and take up the appropriate main motion immediately. Although such a motion requires a two-thirds vote for adoption, the requirement is no more onerous than the requirement to adopt an agenda that includes a special order.

[Guest Gary Leach]

I agree with Josh that, "Nothing should ever be placed under New Business. That's for items which are raised spontaneously at the meeting, when that heading arrives." However, I see items listed under "New Business" all the time. Unfortunately, I cannot find anyplace in RONR that definitively says it's improper to do so, so making the masses understand it is frustrating. The closest I can find is under 3:16 (6) "...matters initiated in the present meeting." Is it in black and white someplace that I've missed?

[Gary Novosielski]

Yes, it is predominantly black and substantially white in 41:58, where we learn that all the items on an adopted agenda are either general orders or special orders, and therefore belong nowhere else.

41:58
By a single vote, a series of special orders or general
orders—or a mixture of both—can be made; such a series is
called an agenda. When an hour is assigned to a particular
subject in an agenda, that subject is thereby made a special
order unless, by footnote or other means, it is stated that the
time is intended merely for guidance, in which case the subject
is only a general order. Subjects for which no hour is specified
in an agenda are general orders.

Edited November 18, 2023 at 04:47 PM by Gary Novosielski
insert "adopted"

[Josh Martin]

On 11/18/2023 at 10:26 AM, Guest Gary Leach said:

I agree with Josh that, "Nothing should ever be placed under New Business. That's for items which are raised spontaneously at the meeting, when that heading arrives." However, I see items listed under "New Business" all the time. Unfortunately, I cannot find anyplace in RONR that definitively says it's improper to do so, so making the masses understand it is frustrating. The closest I can find is under 3:16 (6) "...matters initiated in the present meeting." Is it in black and white someplace that I've missed?

Well, the reason this primarily happens is because most organizations have never heard of "General Orders" or "Special Orders." To most organizations, everything that isn't part of a report from an officer or committee is either "Unfinished Business" (or worse, "Old Business") or "New Business." So with this level of understanding of the order of business, I can understand why organizations would place items under New Business. So I'd start by explaining those concepts and see if they're still confused.

It also seems pretty clear to me from the explanation of New Business in the standard order of business that it's for items raised spontaneously at that time.

"After unfinished business and general orders have been disposed of, the chair asks, “Is there any new business?” Members can then introduce new items of business, or can move to take from the table any matter that is on the table (17, 34), in the order in which they are able to obtain the floor when no question is pending, as explained in 3 and 4. So long as members are reasonably prompt in claiming the floor, the chair cannot prevent the making of legitimate motions or deprive members of the right to introduce legitimate business, by hurrying through the proceedings." RONR (12th ed.) 41:27

Edited November 18, 2023 at 07:43 PM by Josh Martin