Advisory Votes for the Parliamentarian
Chair and Agenda Chair commands the meeting Responsible for keeping order and following rules Maintaining the agenda Recognizing who can speak Punishing members for disobedience Chair creates the agenda
Agenda Chronology of an SGA GBM: Motion to call the meeting to order (start) Roll call Convening business (bringing everyone together) Amendment and approval of the agenda Public input Reports Non-legislative business First Reading Second Reading Prospective Legislation & Announcements Motion to adjourn the meeting (close)
First and Second Reading First Reading Legislation is introduced and described to the Senate No debate can happen Second Reading Must be passed by appropriate committee Debate can happen Actual vote on bill happens
Bill and Committees Must have 1 introducer and 2 SGA sponsors Must be passed by majority vote Several standing committees: Academic Affairs, Civic Engagement, Finance, Health, Safety, and Sustainability, Internal Affairs, Student Organizations, Student Services Bills are given to committees in first reading Bills must be passed by a majority vote in committee to make it to second reading
Motions RRoR allows every member of SGA to make motions for what they want at a time Many motions require a second, or someone else who agrees to put the motion forward NOTE: Motion is the noun, Move is the verb. You move for a motion
Motions MORE :) Main motions: most common and can only be brought forth when no other motions are on the floor Subsidiary motions: change or modify main motions Privileged motions: allowed to interrupt other motions and take precedence over other motions on the floor Incidental motions: allowed to interrupt other motions but are short and tend to be questions or statements
Incidental Motions “Point of Order”: said when to call out rule breaking “Point of Information”: said when to inquire about the business at hand or to give valuable information to a question “[Point of] Parliamentary Inquiry”: said when to inquire about the rules of the SGA Constitutions, Bylaws, RRoR Objection: said when to stop an irrelevant, inappropriate, or undesirable motion or item from being considered “I object to the consideration of this question” Needs a 2/3 vote to stop consideration
Incidental Motions MORE :) Appeal: said when to challenge a ruling made by the chair “I appeal the Chair’s decision” Needs a 2/3 vote to reverse the chairs decision NOTE: these are not all incidental motions, just the important ones, there are more niche ones NOTE: All can interrupt the speaker, don’t need a second, and are all at the chair’s discretion
Privileged Motions Motion to Adjourn Motion to Recess Point of Privilege Proceed to Orders of the Day Motion to Suspend the Rules Motion to Address the Senate NOTE: Motion to Adjourn, Motion to Recess, and Point of Privilege take priority above all motions in the mentioned order
Motion to Adjourn Said when to end a meeting Second is needed Cannot interrupt speaker Needs simple majority vote to pass “I move to adjourn” Can also be to set a time to adjourn “I move to adjourn at [time]”
Motion to Recess Said when to have a break in the meeting Second is needed Cannot interrupt speaker Needs simple majority vote to pass “I move that the Senate recess until [time]” or “I move to recess for [period of time]”
Point of Privilege Said when to complain about something that may affect the whole meeting, ex: noise, temperature, etc. Second is not needed Can interrupt speaker No vote needed “Point of Privilege, [reason]”
Proceed to Orders of the Day Said when to make the meeting conform to the agenda Second is not needed Can interrupt speaker Chair obeys or 2/3 vote to deny “Will the assembly proceed to the orders of the day?”
Motion to Suspend the Rules Said when to change the normal rules of procedure Second is needed Cannot interrupt speaker Needs 2/3 votes of all senators to pass “I move to suspend [specific rules] in order to [describe purpose of suspending rules]” NOTE: SGA Constitution cannot be suspended
Motion to Address the Senate Said when to speak to the senate as a whole and not related to what’s happening at hand Second is not needed Cannot interrupt speaker At Chair's discretion “I move to address the Senate”
Subsidiary Motions Motion to Amend Motion to Postpone Motion for Moderated Caucus Motion for Q&A Motion to Limit or Extend Debate Motion to Lay on the Table Motion to Vote Motion to Reconsider
Motion to Amend Said when to change a motion or bill Second is needed Cannot interrupt speaker Needs simple majority vote “I move to amend this [bill/resolution/motion]”
Motion to Postpone Said when to move discussion of an item or motion to a certain time and/or date Second is needed Cannot interrupt speaker Needs simple majority vote “I move to postpone this question until [time/date]” Can also postpone indefinitely (i.e. without a set time/date), which often “kills” the item
Motion for Moderated Caucus Said when to debate an item or motion and for senators to add themselves to a speakers list to speak Second is needed Cannot interrupt speaker Needs simple majority vote “I move for a moderated caucus for [time frame] with [time frame] speaking time”
Motion for Q&A Said when to debate an item or motion and for senators to add themselves to a speakers list to ask questions to the speaker Second is needed Cannot interrupt speaker Needs simple majority vote “I move for a Q&A for [time frame] with [time frame] speaking time”
Motion to Limit or Extend Debate Said when to prolong or end ongoing debate that hasn’t expired Second is needed Cannot interrupt speaker Needs simple majority vote to extend, 2/3 to end “I move to extend [type of debate] by [time amount]” or “I move to end [type of debate]” NOTE: type of debate refers to moderated caucus or Q&A
Motion to Lay on the Table Said when to temporarily stop discussion of an item in place for a more urgent item Second is needed Cannot interrupt speaker Needs simple majority vote “I move to lay the question on the table”
Motion to Lay on the Table MORE :) To take up a tabled item, you say “I move we take from the table [item/motion]” Any item “on the table” still at the end of a meeting must be resolved before adjournment: Postponing until later date Voting on it
Motion to Vote Said when to move into voting procedures Second is needed Cannot interrupt speaker Needs simple majority vote “I move to have a vote (on the previous question)”
Motion to Vote MORE :) Senators can move for different voting procedures Roll Call vote: counted and recorded who voted for what Secret Ballot vote: counted but who voted for what is not recorded Unanimous consent: passes an item or motion quickly, but if someone objects, it fails A second is needed, RRoR is ambiguous as to the vote needed
Motion to Reconsider Said when to reopen debate and vote again on a motion or item already decided upon Second is needed Can interrupt speaker Needs simple majority vote “I move to reconsider [item/motion]” NOTE: you must be from the winning side and only some motions can be reconsidered (ex: adjournment cannot be reconsidered)
Actual Advisory Votes Needed
Motion to Discharge Committee Remove a bill from committee consideration and bring it to the Senate Floor for a debate and vote Requires a second and a simple majority vote Problem: Can be abused with essentially every bill and if it is, then what would be the point of having committees?
Motion to Rescind or Expunge from Minutes Would remove anything mentioned in the motion from the minutes of the SGA Record. Requires a second and a simple majority vote Problem: SGA has a constitutional duty to publicize minutes
Request to Be Excused from Duty This request would free from any obligations stated in the Bylaws Can be asked by any senator to the JHU Senate Simple majority vote Problem: Obligations are in the Bylaws for a reason, but this could be useful for any exception that may pop up in the future
Chair’s Power to Recess in Emergencies Common thing in medium to large assemblies where voting and debate can take time I would like to add it for formality's sake Remember: senators would be able to appeal the chair's decision to recess with a 2/3 vote
Vote Required to Use a Different Voting Method Problem: Any senator can call for a new voting method, which could take time to agree upon Generally, less than a majority is needed to use a different method
Other Changes I Suggest Motion for a Moderated Caucus would not require a speaking time Senators would be free to speak for how long they want and how many times they want, at the discretion of the chair. This would just make a motion for a Q&A and a motion for a moderated caucus more distinct and lessen confusion. Change the Bylaws to allow debate for the first reading of a bill, but it cannot exceed more than 15 minutes