Where does a club start with Parliamentary Procedure?
4-H meetings are often the first exposure young people will have to parliamentary procedure. There are volumes of material written on the fine points of parliamentary procedure, but only the basics are necessary for 9% of the business conducted at a local 4-H club meeting. Start with the basics of parliamentary procedure.
How to use Parliamentary Procedure in a 4-H Club Meeting:
- Call to order
(President stands, strikes gavel) “This meeting of the _______4-H Club will come to order. Please stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance led by _______ and the 4-H Pledge led by _________.” Generally, the president stands when talking and sits when someone else is delivering a report.
- Roll Call
President: “The secretary will call the roll.” (The president or secretary will announce the preferred way to answer roll call.) The secretary remains seated to take roll to make recording of attendance easier.
- Reading of the minutes
President: “The secretary will read the minutes of the last meeting.” (The secretary stands, reads minutes, and then sits.) The president stands and asks, “Are there any additions or corrections?” Pause for a moment. “If not, they stand approved as read.”
If there are corrections, the president asks them to be made, then says, “The minutes stand approved as corrected.” (If someone questions the accuracy of the minutes or the correction that has been proposed, it may be necessary to take a formal vote to approve the minutes. This is usually not needed.)
- Treasurer’s Report
“We will now have the treasurer’s report.” The president sits while the treasurer stands to report on the following: money received, money spent, and the present balance. The president stands and says, “Are there any questions about the treasurer’s report?” Pause for a moment. If not, the report will be filed for audit.” The treasurer hands a copy of the report to the secretary and sits down. (At the end of the year, the auditor’s report is approved.
- Other Reports
The president asks for the following reports: Additional officers’ reports and committee reports. Put someone in charge of reporting on the newsletter published by the county Extension office. Encourage members to bring their copy.
If an officer or committee report requires action of the club, usually the person making the report makes a motion at the end of the report. Committee recommendations do not require a second since more than one person decided to make the recommendation from the committee. The president then repeats the motion and asks for discussion.
- Unfinished Business
Something discussed but not decided at a previous meeting. “Secretary, were there any motions postponed until this meeting?” “Is there any other unfinished business? If not, we will proceed to new business.”
- New Business
Business not previously discussed. “Is there new business to be brought before the club?”
Member 1: “Mr./Madam President, I moved that ______________________.”
Member 2: “I second the motion.”
President: “It has been moved and seconded that ______________________. Is there any discussion?”
After the discussion is over…
President: “All those in favor of (repeat motion), signify by raising your hand. All those opposed, raise your hand. Motion carries/fails.”
- Adjournment
The business portion of the meeting should be adjourned before the program and group building.
“Is there a motion to adjourn?” Receive motion and second.
“It has been moved and seconded that the meeting be adjourned. All in favor say ‘Aye.” All opposed, say, ‘No.’ Meeting adjourned.” (Tap the gavel.)
- Program
“We will now ask our Vice President to announce the program.” The president allows the Vice President/Program Chairperson to take charge.
- Group Building
During this part of the meeting, there can be team-building activities, recreation, refreshments, and/celebrating.