Horace Mann Governing Council:

Parliamentary Procedure in Brief

Basic Rights and Procedures

Obtaining the floor: in order to address the council, any person attending the meeting must "obtain the floor". In order to do so, raise your hand and wait until the chair has acknowledged you. One you have been recognized the floor is yours. Speak loud enough to be heard by everyone in the room; Feel free to stand up. You are entitled to the undivided attention of the entire council. You can say almost anything you like. Please keep in mind, however, that what you say will be recorded on the record in the minutes. You may use your time to comment on the proposed legislation, to pose a question, to make an amendment, or to make a motion. The only rule is that you limit your comments to the issue being discussed. For example, if 'we are discussing an amendment, and you have a comment on the bill as a

until debate on the, amendment has concluded.

Note: In the actual rules of procedure motions take precedence over all other comments (i.e. you can call out a motion with out raising your hand). For the purposes of our meetings, however, it is best to wait until you have been acknowledged before making a motion.

Amending the bill: There are two parts to every bill or resolution: a "proposed" and a "rationale". The proposed states the basic change the bill hopes to make. The rationale is the argument for making that change. The rationale represents the "spirit" of the bill. As either a full or non-voting member of the council, you may propose to change any part of the "proposed". Parliamentary procedure forbids any amendment that changes the spirit of the bill, and so the rationale therefore may not be amended.

Proposing and amendment: After obtaining the floor, state the part of the bill you wish to amend and the wording of your amendment. Please also hand a copy of this wording to the secretary. You may also wish to state reasons explaining why this amendment would benefit the bill. After the council has heard your amendment, it must be seconded. A full member needs to receive one second; Alternate members or non-members need two seconds. Any full member in support of an amendment is permitted to shout out a second. If the appropriate number of seconds is heard, the amendment comes to the bill's author. The author of the, bill may accept the amendment as friendly: thus immediately inserting the amendment into the bill, or as unfriendly: thus opening debate on the amendment up to the council.

Note: An amendment that is declared unfriendly does not necessarily mean that the author does not like it. It may simply mean that he or she feels that the council's opinion would be helpful.

Motions: Motions can be thought of as the way to get what you want. If you want to vote - motion, you want to leave - motion, you want change something - motion. Some motions are very popular and come up every meeting. Others are more obscure and my never come up at all. For a fist of some of the most common motions and their meaning, refer to the "Parliamentary Procedure Reference Sheet". This sheet covers most of the motions that are brought up at EEM GC meetings. Motions not on this sheet can be found in Robert's Rules of Order.

Points: "Points" (of order, personal privilege, etc) differ from motions in several ways. It is not necessary to obtain the floor before making a "Point"; just yell it out. "Points" do not introduce anything that would require a vote. A summary of some commonly used "points" and their meaning may be found on the "Parliamentary Procedure Reference Sheet".

Voting Procedure: When legislation or an amendment has been called to question a vote will take place to determine if a vote on the legislation or the amendment should be held. If this motion passes, the council is in voting procedure. Votes will be counted by a show of hands. If a role call vote is motioned for it automatically goes into action. You may vote in one of three ways: Yes, No, or Abstain. The Chair may not vote except to break a tie. The total number of student and faculty votes is equal. All student voting members have one vote. All faculty voting members have two votes. In the 1999-2000 school year the faculty voting members will have one and one third votes, rather than two in order to account for the absence of middle school members. The passing of a bill or amendment requires a one half majority of the council. Certain motions require a two‚-thirds majority. Please refer to the "Parliamentary Reference Sheet" for more details.