A lapse in Robert’s Rules of Order during the last ASUO Senate meeting may cause a delay in the budget process.
During the Nov. 17 session of ASUO Senate, senators voted down an amendment that would increase the ASUO Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee by roughly $160,000. Later in the meeting, they approved it without making the mandatory “motion to reconsider” described in Robert’s Rules.
Sen. Kaitlyn Lange took issue when the rule was broken Wednesday.
“My biggest problem is that it’s not just a rule like ‘You have to meet once a month,’ and that once a month falls on December where we have break,” Lange said. “We voted on that motion and we voted it down. By voting down that motion, it was the body saying, ‘We don’t support that motion.’”
According to Robert’s Rules, if a senator makes a motion that is voted down, that same motion cannot be made again. In order to make that same motion again, a “motion to reconsider” is required.
Additionally, a footnote in that section says the member who re-raises the issue must be a member of the majority opinion.
“That majority has to realize that something went wrong to go back and to vote on it,” Lange said. “However, no one felt that way; everyone felt that the discussion was thorough, the voting happened in a correct, respectful manner; we voted on it and it died.”
The Green Tape Notebook states that today is the final day for the primary ASUO Senate benchmarks. The GTN is the primary rulebook of the ASUO and contains rules for every branch within the body. Senate Chair Zachary Stark-MacMillan said if this benchmark was struck down for issues within Robert’s Rules, Senate would be violating the GTN.
Sen. Lange said she realizes that it would be difficult to make a grievance against the Senate and recognizes that it would be a problem because it would be past the benchmark deadline.
“It feels like there’s no way to correct what happened,” Lange said. “Because if you bring it up, people are going to be mad at you for wanting to discuss it again, and then if someone grievances; the grievance is almost, it’s meaningless kind of right now.”
Lange’s reasoning had to do with the speed at which the ASUO Constitution Court operates. She said that by the time Con Court deliberated and delivered an opinion, we would already be in the middle of the budget season.
Con Court associate justice Megan Benevento said there was nothing brought before the court yet. She said that when a grievance is filed, the process would be for the Con Court to go to the rulebook and the GTN to see if a rule was broken.
“I can’t say because I wasn’t at the meeting, so I can’t contextualize it,” Benevento said.
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ASUO fails to follow Robert’s Rules of Order, may pay the price
Daily Emerald
November 29, 2010
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