Parliamentary Procedure Quick Start

At a recent meeting a member made a motion and another member seconded the motion. Aftera spirited discussed, the vote was taken and the motion was lost. After the meeting was over two members met in the parking lot.  Unhappy about the decision, they decided at the next meeting to move to reconsider the motion. 

Many times members want to bring an idea up again and are unsure about what can be done.  The motion to reconsider must be made at the same meeting where the motion in question was made. The motion to reconsider may also be made at the next session of a convention or meeting that has more than one session. After that, it is too late to make it.

It is possible, though, that a motion to introduce the subject again at the next meeting may be made as a new item of business. If the motion was lost at the previous meeting, it may be brought up again at a subsequent meeting. If the motion was adopted and the provisions of the motion were not carried out, it is possible that it might be introduced again to defeat it the second time.  If any of the provisions were carried out, it is too late to bring it up again, unless some of the actions could be separated and dealt with separately. 

To summarize:  the motion to reconsider must be made at the same meeting the motion was originally disposed of, assuming it is a motion that can be reconsidered.

A motion that was lost may be brought up again at a later meeting as a new topic.